Mar 14, 2023

The Amazon for Farmers: How Two Guys Started It with $600

Learn how two guys created a $4 billion 'Amazon for Farmers' with just a $600 subscription. Find out how they made agricultural data accessible to individual farmers.

AGRICULTURE BUSINESS FARMING

Codie Sanchez

Investing millions in boring businesses & sharing what I learn. On a mission to create 1M financially free humans | My bio, not my tombstone, I hope it changes

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There's an "Amazon for Farmers" worth $4 Billion...

And you've never heard of it.

Here's how two guys started it with a $600 subscription:
— Codie Sanchez (@Codie_Sanchez) March 14, 2023
Farming is actually a complicated space:

• A ton of $$ in R&D
• 1000s of SKUs and inputs
• Millions of rows of data on everything from seed & pesticide prices to agricultural forecasting
— Codie Sanchez (@Codie_Sanchez) March 14, 2023
But monopolies dominate.

Huge manufacturers (Dow, DuPont, Monsanto) made all this data inaccessible to individual farmers.

This was what Amol Deshpande and Charles Baron learned during their trip across the farm belt.
— Codie Sanchez (@Codie_Sanchez) March 14, 2023
It was an unconventional, yet logical pairing:

Charles is a Harvard MBA who had spent his youth working at his brother-in-law's Nebraska farm.

Amol was a partner at Kleiner Perkins focused on agriculture.
— Codie Sanchez (@Codie_Sanchez) March 14, 2023
They met at an event in 2011 and hit it off.

2 years later, they decided to travel through the farm belt.

Their goal: To get to know farmers & the ag industry...

• What are the biggest struggles?
• What solutions do they need?
• What do the processes look like?
— Codie Sanchez (@Codie_Sanchez) March 14, 2023
Their epiphany: Farmers needed data.

Most farmers were operating blind, just agreeing to the rates that larger companies would charge them.

So, Amol & Charles founded Farmer's Business Network.
— Codie Sanchez (@Codie_Sanchez) March 14, 2023
Their power move?

A $600/year subscription that shared data on what combination of seeds, chemicals, and fertilizers offered the best yields.
— Codie Sanchez (@Codie_Sanchez) March 14, 2023
Over time, FBN has expanded to:

• a fintech stack for farmers
• Online store w/ 1900+ products
• A network of 33,000 farmers in the US, Canada, and Australia
— Codie Sanchez (@Codie_Sanchez) March 14, 2023
In ~8 years, FBN went from 0 to $4B.

Boring to billions. My favorite story.
— Codie Sanchez (@Codie_Sanchez) March 14, 2023
Here's my takeaway & how you can replicate:

• Listen to the needs of the people you want to buy your product

• Be the alternative in a monopolized industry

• Offer the right pricing structure
— Codie Sanchez (@Codie_Sanchez) March 14, 2023
Be sure to follow @Codie_Sanchez for more boring biz breakdowns.

If you enjoyed this thread, RT before you go so more people can find it:https://t.co/FBbeNr3udp
— Codie Sanchez (@Codie_Sanchez) March 14, 2023
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— Codie Sanchez (@Codie_Sanchez) March 14, 2023