In Agtech, Keep Your Boots on the Ground
Orange Silicon Valley (OSV), the innovation arm of the French telecom group in the Bay Area, recently released an agtech report: “Smart Growth: Technology Connecting Agriculture.”
“In recent years, investment in ag‑food has reached $6B. We felt a deep dive was needed,” said report lead Seibei. “So we kicked off a project on sustainable food.”
Seibei’s team focused on growers using technology to transform agriculture and deliver more diverse foods. To complete the report, they spent over six months in fields speaking with farmers, learning how end users really feel about high‑tech products.
The report shares many concrete lessons. The most important: founders must have substantive conversations with farmers, understand their needs in depth, and feed farmer feedback directly into product design.
“From my product development experience, I see why agtech often gets misaligned with farmers. Too many products follow a Silicon Valley pattern: build something usable, hand it to distributors, iterate fast. That cadence doesn’t fit agricultural production.”
On farms, time is tied to seasons. A field usually grows one crop a year. Because most income depends on that crop, farmers are reluctant to risk new varieties or inputs. If a new irrigation system or seed disappoints, it’s hard to rip out and switch. Unlike phones, you can’t just swap in a few days.
“Companies that truly grasp farming realities from day one and design from real‑world conditions are the ones that win customers — and fit agricultural rhythms.”
During six months in the field, countless moments showed Seibei why founders and investors must wear boots into muddy fields.
“One March day we visited a poultry farm near Petaluma. It was rainy season, intensified by El Niño — raining daily. We stood in the cold wind, boots sinking into mud and manure. Getting a single clear shot of hens and the coop took real effort; I was terrified of dropping my white iPhone 6 into the muck.”
On a bright day in the Clachella valley visiting vineyards, every photo meant stepping back into the shade, removing sunglasses, and checking focus. To really understand, you have to be there.
Farmers won’t spend long at a desk. Hardware must work outdoors and remain stable in remote mountains and forests. Ag founders should take products outside and let them face storms, heat, and cold to meet real needs.
On the software side, interfaces must match actual on‑farm workflows. Many tasks happen mid‑operation; if a command forces a farmer to stop field work to tap through screens, it’s a bad product.
Connectivity matters too. Field networks aren’t like office Wi‑Fi; patchy links remain a major hurdle for digital agriculture.
The report also urges investors to be patient. In Silicon Valley, a 10× return in five years is a common bar. In agtech, biology and seasons cap throughput; reaching 10× often takes longer.
Published at: Dec 30, 2018 · Modified at: Jan 14, 2026
