Experiential learning in agri
Reflections on agribusiness, insights from an interview with industry experts, and link to the motivator about "taste" for the latest post
A thought experiment
A financial quarter has passed since I left the domain(agri-space) that fed me (figuratively and literally).
My contributions in the space have dwindled but my intellectual pursuit just skyrocketed. Recent conversations with folks from the domain served as jet fuel.
My main participation now is restricted to attending community town halls. Spend time talking with friendly strangers who reach out through DMs. Simultaneously, invest heavily in coaching the upcoming talent in the space. Also, assist founders still battling it out there.
My past experience as a founder and operator is local and limited. It is turning stale ever since I stopped operating as well.
So, the focus of my pursuit is to come up with frameworks or models that could explain the system at play. People still in the space or new entrants could then adapt these to their context if they find it valuable.
While I was busy for the better part of 4 years operating. I didn’t update any of my priors in terms of macro policy conditions in Indian agri. I am currently compensating by trying to develop a reading curriculum of papers.
While I process and update. Why not share my experiential learning in a very biased and hypothetical thought experiment.
My recent essay on the personal blog is the answer to -'if given the opportunity to run an agribusiness again by a big corporation'.
If I ran an agribusiness
If you end up reading it and think, none of it is new. Aren’t the big corporations doing the same thing. My answer, at least now you know why.
Intense reflection and learning
I was part of this conversation that Venky of Agribusiness hosted with Jagdeesh Sunkad and Emmanuel Murray.
This interview is not for the interested, It’s for the invested who are deep in the weeds. There are no bullet takeaways but both the stalwarts shared some insights that made me nod violently in agreement. It turned few heads in the neighbouring tables of the cafe I was using as a makeshift office of the day.
Inspite of the duration, we barely scratched the surface. Hard recommend!!
ABM Townhall Dialogues: Divergent Agritech Futures
I will write more about the topics we discussed and where I stand but I really liked what Jagdeesh phrased on the prices of food.
"The pursuit of making food cheap should be abandoned at the earliest for agriculture to evolve in India." - paraphrasing it over here.
Links that resonated
Ted Gioia has been a recent find for yours truly. He is a Jazz musician and music critic. His newsletter covers a wide range of topics. He is a hard recommend if you like a person who is strongly opinionated about the craft he loves.
Addendum: This weeks post was inspired from this post only.
If I ran a Major Record Label by Ted Gioia
Music listening was an integral part of my life up until podcasts took up the mantle. It happened unknowingly. A recent discussion on the social media on bad UX of music streaming apps made me also take notice. The problem is addressed in Ted's plan. Few snippets over here.
(4) I would build a management team from people who love and understand music. .... (5) The days when A&R makes decisions based on the musical tastes of 14-year-olds must end.
Bringing people who are domain oriented pays off in the trade-off quality. They are inherently willing to ship product or build a service that values association with end customer. Like, in this case. Music listeners are passionate folks. But, the current streaming apps are built for car listening customers.
Lastly, he mentions what is often missed when working. It always comes down to be prepared to lose the job because you made the status quo uncomfortable. It's where transformational work takes shape.
(10) I’m willing to get fired—and would rather lose my cushy music mogul job than embrace the dumbing down and other failed strategies of the current moment.
Whenever you try to change a huge organization, there’s tremendous pushback and inertia. But the current approach of the major labels has (1) destroyed the economics of music-making, (2) led to a collapse in demand for new music, and (3) undermined artistry and creativity.
Continuing the streak
The draft of this issues was sitting for a couple of weeks now. Finally finished the main post just in time. Missing the streak also contributed this fear.
Signing off till next time,
Vivek, busy updating his priors while sipping lot of coffee.