2. Need to decide between mowing and weeding Used framework from class #3 and 12 tips for customer interviews
3. Weeding – 6 interviews Bolthouse Farms, Large Agri-Industry in Bakersfield Rincon Farms, large grower in Salinas Valley REFCO Farms, large grower in Salinas Valley White Farms, Large Peanut farmer in Georgia 2 Small organic farmers at farmers market
4. Found weeding in organic crops is HUGE problem; 50 - 75% of costs Crews of 100s-1000 Back-breaking task (Ilegal) labor harder to get 1-5 weedings per year/field $250-3,500 per acre and increasing Food contamination risk
5. Organic Weeding Value proposition Labor costs are significant YES!; $250-3,500/ac each year; Weeding is 75% of cost of producing the crop! Traditional weed solutions can’t be used in Organic Duh! Only solution today is manual labor Crews of 100s-1000 are issue Market is very large 2.6 M organic acres in US. TAM $2.5B, Initial target market is $150M (veggies & specialty), size doubling every 4 yrs. Combination of Autonomous vehicles and video weed recognition would solve problem Problem is plant vs. weed recognition. No real need for autonomous vehicle, but real need for a solution
6. Mowing – 6 interviews Stanford Grounds Supervisor Maintenance Lead operator (has crew of 6) Stanford Golf curse Toro (large mower manufacturer) dealer User of back-yard mowing system More lined-up for later in the week
7. Labor is large part of ground maintenance Three segments: Golf courses Stadiums Parks Each has 2-3 sub types (eg greens, fairways, rough in golf) uses different machines,
8. Weeding Value proposition Are Labor costs are significant? For 100 acres in Stanford, crew of 6, $43 - $63/hr Work in progress…
