by Rachel Noe
Sensing and data are likely to be a major component of future gains in agricultural productivity. Smart systems help to reduce waste, increase productivity and produce more food on the same amount of ground, according to Steve Tippery, co-founder, president and CEO of IntelliFarm. IntelliFarm is a startup product development company headquartered at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s Nebraska Innovation Campus.
“IntelliFarm is not just another company creating products to gather data. We’re interested in aggregating Small Data into useful information and providing data-driven solutions to real problems,” Tippery said. “Farmers are looking for solutions that combine their data in insightful ways and provide ways of saving time and money while increasing productivity. The farmers don’t need more data. They need more answers or recommendations on what to do with their data. They need solutions that make their job easier, not more complicated.”
IntelliFarm is developing sensing technologies to connect with connected IoT devices in the field and on the farm. The term IoT, or “Internet of Things,” refers to technology that can connect a variety of smart devices to the internet. According to Tippery, such devices can vary from a smart mobile phone to a smart grain bin to a smart combine to a smart irrigation system. The electronics hardware developed by IntelliFarm allows for collection of agricultural data, uploading the resulting data to the information cloud for aggregation, analysis, and generation of insights, and ultimately autonomous control of machines. Tippery explained that the value IntelliFarm provides lays in having the expertise to develop low-cost electronics to help producers and agricultural retailers obtain sufficient and accurate data for data-driven decision-making.
“IntelliFarm is in the process of capturing a variety of forms of data on the farm. Some of these agricultural data sets come from traditional sources; other data is now possible because of technology that has made collection cost-effective,” Tippery said. “We’re leveraging high-volume mobile phone technology into new electronics hardware that significantly lowers product cost.”
Developing the product
IntelliFarm works with customers to understand problems that exist in the agricultural industry.
“The company plans its product roadmap around solving common customer problems,” he said. Tippery and his team perform “Voice of Customer” (VOC) visits where they converse with their target market to better understand challenges customers face in their operations.
When a similar problem, or “pain point,” occurs in multiple conversations, IntelliFarm might add a specific feature to its product roadmap. “Once sufficient market demand has been demonstrated, the prospective feature shows sufficient payback, and adequate development resources are available, the company initiates a project to deliver the product to the market to alleviate that pain point,” Tippery explained.
“You can create a product that a few people want to buy or you can create a product that many people want to buy,” Tippery said. “We’re trying to focus our activities on really scalable products that the masses want to buy.
“One of the advantages of a startup company is the ability to make rapid decisions and iterate products quickly, compared with more established companies,” Tippery said. When IntelliFarm launches a product into the market, it might take large competitors several years to respond. The IntelliFarm team knows that a given product launch must be exploited because its competitive advantage only lasts for a period of time. “One of the biggest competitive risks that startup companies face comes from other startups because of their relative fast speed-to-market,” he explained.
“It’s a matter of satisfying the customer need with the right technology, at the right price, at the right time,” Tippery said. Once other startup companies see a good idea, they are more apt to react quickly and develop a competitive product versus a larger competitor. Over the long term, mature companies present competitive pressures, specifically in regard to distribution and customer service.
“You give away your ‘secret sauce’ and somebody else might respond in the market pretty quickly,” Tippery said.
10 times better
“Being a startup company, we target at being at least 10 times better than an established company or product,” Tippery said. “No customers are even going to try our product if we are only two times better. We have to literally be 10 times better or 10 times cheaper to get noticed.”
One of the ways IntelliFarm is achieving its goals is by headquartering at Nebraska Innovation Campus. IntelliFarm is an innovative, patent-generating company because its co-founders see great value in owning assets that can be protected prior to product commercialization, Tippery explained. “Nebraska Innovation Campus is the ideal location where IntelliFarm can collaborate with university professors on state-of-the-art technology,” he said.
“IntelliFarm desires access to industry-respected professors and researchers who are performing leading-edge research. It’s a perfect combination when applicable research ties directly into products that we are already trying to commercialize,” Tippery said. “Startup companies face the challenge of the industry not knowing who they are. By collaborating with professors conducting research at a respected, independent university, such as the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, the relationship adds credibility to the startup’s products and reputation,” Tippery explained. “Companies are often interested in technology that can be quickly taken to market because it pays the bills while research universities are typically interested in long-term underlying research; many researchers do not initiate a research project with the intent to commercialize their technology.
“A potentially big value of the Nebraska Innovation Campus is the target to merge the short-term commercial goals of a private company with the long-term goals of a research university,” he said. Tippery is working to harness these partnerships by working with UNL professors to supplement research and development that IntelliFarm is already performing internally.
Startup challenges
Tippery identified cash and speed-to-market as the two biggest challenges currently facing startups like IntelliFarm.
“If we had more cash, we would be hiring more people right now and developing products faster,” he said. While some startups find hiring the right people a challenge, Tippery said that hasn’t yet been the case for IntelliFarm. “Fortuitous timing is beneficial for startup companies and IntelliFarm’s founders have a wide network and has had little trouble thus far finding the people the company needs,” he explained.
Tippery and his two co-founders all worked in industry before founding their company. They have been able to use their professional connections to set up meetings with corporate partners who, according to Tippery, wouldn’t have given them the “time of day” had they started the business right out of college.
Creating your own destiny: insight into the mind of an entrepreneur
While growing up on the farm, Steve Tippery imagined driverless tractors and the creation of his own company. Now co-founder, president and CEO of IntelliFarm, Tippery is making his childhood dreams a reality.
“I remember growing up on the farm and my dad always wanted me to cultivate. I was thinking, ‘why doesn’t the tractor drive itself? Why do I have to be here doing this?’” Tippery said. After 20 years in progressive product development leadership roles in the agricultural equipment industry, Tippery decided that the time was right to follow his dream of starting his own product company.
IntelliFarm wasn’t Tippery’s first foray into the entrepreneurial world. While growing up on the farm, he owned his own swine production business and farrow-to-finish hog operation. All he had to do was go back to his roots to remember how to be an entrepreneur. Tippery said he credits much of IntelliFarm’s success to his and his co-founders’ professional industry experience, industry connections, as well as a good bit of luck along the way.
“I can’t imagine starting the business we’re in right now with no previous work experience,” he said.
Taking the leap
“It is a difficult decision to leave a highly compensated position in an established company to start your own business,” Tippery said. He explained that there are limitations when working for a company, especially when playing politics becomes a large part of the job.
“Every job has some kind of limit to what it allows you to do,” Tippery said. “There’s always some glass ceiling no matter what job you’re in. So if you’re going to work for somebody else, you’re always going to limit yourself over time.” Despite these limitations, Tippery advised potential entrepreneurs to work for a company before founding a startup. He explained that working for a company can train entrepreneurs to think critically about a target industry, understand how Standard Operating Procedures make a good company operate efficiently, learn how to manage people, and to learn from early mistakes.
“I have heard many people suggest that you should jump feet first into your startup. I completely disagree with that,” Tippery said. “I think there’s a lot of value to working for a company and finding out what good and bad looks like.” Tippery even suggested working for more than one company before starting a business. He explained that these experiences prepare entrepreneurs to compare the workings of mature companies to the company they are trying to build.
“I think it’s valuable to know what good is and that only comes from experience. I don’t think you can learn that without seeing it somewhere and feeling some personal frustration,” Tippery said. “Without working in those environments and feeling some workplace pain, I don’t think you can effectively manage people. You just don’t know what you don’t know.”
Listen to your gut
“The biggest and most surprising thing I’ve learned in the last year is to listen to my gut,” Tippery said. “Mentors all have an opinion and some people may get offended when you don’t use their suggestions. While other people may give great advice, they aren’t necessarily looking out for your best interests,” he explained. “Listen to what other people say, but then make up your own mind on what to do.
“Your job as CEO or leader of any business, or any entity for that matter, is to make the best possible decisions for your organization based on the best information you have available at that time,” Tippery said. “It doesn’t really matter what other people think. You cannot continuously second-guess yourself. You have to be confident making decisions that you believe are healthy for your organization and that are self-sustaining over time. It’s also about inspiring people to participate in a greater vision than they could accomplish on their own.”