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From Academia to Agriculture: How Verdant Robotics Built Product-Market Fit Through Customer Immersion

Most tech founders believe their breakthrough technology will sell itself. But even the most sophisticated AI and robotics solutions need deep customer understanding to find product-market fit. In a recent episode of Category Visionaries, Gabe Sibley shared how Verdant Robotics evolved from a cutting-edge robotics venture into a customer-pulled agricultural technology company.

The Power of Customer-Led Development

Rather than leading with their technical capabilities, Verdant Robotics spent their first six months immersed in customer discovery. As Gabe explains: “We spent the first six months of this business on the road listening to growers… It was a two way dialogue. I was trying to peek people’s imagination around what was technically possible, but at the same time, really listening to try and understand what are the problems that you actually face.”

This intensive customer development process led to several pivotal realizations. Through conversations with farmers, they discovered opportunities where their technical expertise intersected with urgent market needs. According to Gabe, “There was a number of aha moments where we recognized, hey, we’re sort of uniquely well suited to do that. Technically, it’s a very defensible play for us to do that, and a lot of value for the grower if we can pull it off.”

Breaking Agricultural Tech Stereotypes

Many assume farmers are resistant to new technology. Gabe forcefully counters this misconception: “Growers are totally switched on businessmen, right? Like they run very complicated businesses. I’ve never seen a business that’s more econ 101 in terms of supply and demand and the quickness that these guys have to act.”

This sophisticated customer base has actually pulled Verdant’s technology into the market faster than expected. As Gabe notes: “The customers, I’ve found, in my experience, are chomping at the bit… We’re really being pulled by the nose, and we’re more supply limited than we are demand limited.”

Pivoting Based on Customer Preferences

Perhaps most importantly, Verdant demonstrated the flexibility to adapt their business model based on customer feedback. While they initially planned to offer their technology as a service, they quickly pivoted when major customers expressed different preferences. Gabe recalls: “I think we wanted to run it as a service and as a service that looks really good, and the growers want it as something they can buy.”

Rather than forcing their original vision, they adapted: “If the customer wants it like x, you say okay… ultimately the value is there and how you get that in the hands of the growers almost doesn’t matter.”

Building the Right Founding Team

Gabe credits much of their success to having complementary founding team expertise. His co-founder Curtis brought deep agricultural industry knowledge and connections that proved crucial for customer development. As Gabe explains: “When I say Curtis is the better half of the company, he’s a farmer, and he knows the people I need to talk to… Go into business with somebody that knows the market deeply and is respected in the market that you want to be in. I don’t know how you would do it otherwise.”

The Value of Aligned Investors

For technical founders, Gabe offers a refreshing perspective on investor relationships: “I see a lot of advice for founders that’s adversarial to investors and to your board. I think that’s kind of crazy, actually. If you really think about it, your interests are totally aligned. You just want to succeed.”

He advocates choosing investors who share your vision and can actively help: “If you do your job as a Founder and you find investors that are really aligned with you that really can help you have connections and relationships that can help you… might as well do it with people that you like working with.”

Key Takeaway for Technical Founders

When asked for his most important advice for technical founders entering agricultural markets, Gabe emphasizes rapid customer engagement: “Get out early and sell it as early as you can so you can get some scar tissue. Just start getting scar tissue from your customer fast as you possibly can.”

This focus on accelerated customer learning, even before having a perfect product, stands in stark contrast to the typical technical founder’s instinct to optimize technology first. Verdant’s success suggests that deep customer understanding, combined with technical excellence, creates the strongest foundation for breakthrough technology companies.