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FarmLogs

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Re: FarmLogs

#41

Post by bootload »

kfcm wrote: post #35

The problem with FarmLogs is the same problem with anyone wanting to provide cloud-based services to agriculture: who owns the data? And specifically, FarmLogs Terms of Service clause 7 "Content" does not leave one feeling warm and fuzzy on this topic. This has become more of an issue with farmers over the past year, as they realize their data is a commodity just like what they raise--whether crops or livestock. How…

"... This has become more of an issue with farmers over the past year, as they realize their data is a commodity just like what they raise--whether crops or livestock. ..."

What is stopping a local server/you own the data solution? Is it the cloud solution is the only one on offer or is it too hard to get the hardware/software to the gate?

Re: FarmLogs

#42

Post by ryanSrich »

mayankag wrote: post #34
[deleted] wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[deleted]

@sshykes, as an employee at Farmlogs I can attest that people here work long hours, if at all, out of their own will. In addition, I have worked at other startups before and I don't think I work super long hours here. There are 5 stars on Glassdoor for a reason. Most of us start late and stay late and love the flexibility in the work hours. Overall, the team really believes that we are building something world changi…

Are you guys at least given the opportunity to work remotely?

Re: FarmLogs

#43

Post by coffeemug »

rsp1984 wrote: post #37
coffeemug wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a silly question to ask, and I don't think most people ask it (or at least, not in this way). For almost anything any team can do, you have to assume there will be five other teams, just as good or better, doing the same exact thing. So the right question to ask is "what is the distribution edge of this particular team?" For example, if you're first to market and have incredibly high growth, there is a good c…

> For almost anything any team can do, you have to assume there will be five other teams, just as good or better, doing the same exact thing. That may be true for your typical cloud / SaaS / consumer internet / AirBnb for XYZ -kind of startup but there is many many fields in technology where killer teams are exceptionally rare. Most of these technology fields are not as sexy as building the next Dropbox but very ofte…

> Think about bio-tech, energy, nanotech, lasers, (space) flight, AI, etc.

I'm not sure. I tend to assume the market is efficient and I found that far more often than not, the assumption proves correct. I don't know very much about most of the fields you mentioned, but think of space flight -- multiple space flight companies were founded around the same time as SpaceX (including John Carmack's now defunct space company, Virgin Galactic, Orbital Sciences, Blue Origin, Planetary Resources, and probably many others I'm missing).

I think that as a rule of thumb, the startup market is much more efficient than it originally seems, even in very deeply technical, capital intensive fields.

Re: FarmLogs

#44

Post by vollmarj »

kfcm wrote: post #35

The problem with FarmLogs is the same problem with anyone wanting to provide cloud-based services to agriculture: who owns the data? And specifically, FarmLogs Terms of Service clause 7 "Content" does not leave one feeling warm and fuzzy on this topic. This has become more of an issue with farmers over the past year, as they realize their data is a commodity just like what they raise--whether crops or livestock. How…

Great point. I'm one of the founders of FarmLogs and I can tell you we started this company to help make farmers (like my family) more successful. We don't have ulterior motives with regard to using farmer data. We help them use it to be more profitable and that is all.

That said, it looks like we aren't doing a good enough job making it obvious in our ToS. That page has not been updated in a very long time. I am going to be sure to update it to more accurately reflect our values.

Re: FarmLogs

#45

Post by andrewcamel »

This type of story is so motivating to build vertical software, but for people like me who are trying to identify a vertical software opportunity, it's discouraging that these developers needed to spend a couple years in the industry to truly understand the pain point behind FarmLogs.

Does anyone have thoughts / strategies around identifying these opportunities, ideally without the need to spend years in the target industry?

Re: FarmLogs

#46

Post by rajacombinator »

mbesto wrote: post #8

> And importantly, they started out doing something that any two programmers could have done. Which is funny because many VCs in SV ask the question (explicitly or implicitly) "is this something two Stanford CS students can do?" If the answer is yes, they move along. I want more FarmLogs stories to exist.

Indeed. Two Stanford CS students could have created Google ... and they did! There's a lot that two programmers can do.

Re: FarmLogs

#47

Post by ecesena »

andrewcamel wrote: post #45

This type of story is so motivating to build vertical software, but for people like me who are trying to identify a vertical software opportunity, it's discouraging that these developers needed to spend a couple years in the industry to truly understand the pain point behind FarmLogs. Does anyone have thoughts / strategies around identifying these opportunities, ideally without the need to spend years in the target i…

Co-founder(s) with domain expertise?

Re: FarmLogs

#48

Post by mrkurt »

coffeemug wrote: post #9
mbesto wrote: post #8

> And importantly, they started out doing something that any two programmers could have done. Which is funny because many VCs in SV ask the question (explicitly or implicitly) "is this something two Stanford CS students can do?" If the answer is yes, they move along. I want more FarmLogs stories to exist.

This is a silly question to ask, and I don't think most people ask it (or at least, not in this way). For almost anything any team can do, you have to assume there will be five other teams, just as good or better, doing the same exact thing. So the right question to ask is "what is the distribution edge of this particular team?" For example, if you're first to market and have incredibly high growth, there is a good c…

The problem with VCs is that they understand a lot, but sometimes to ask silly questions in search of intelligence. In the worst cases they verbalize a "no" as the silly question.

Re: FarmLogs

#49

Post by [deleted] »

dang wrote: post #38
[deleted] wrote: post #15

[deleted]

I see a lot of drive-by slanders on Hacker News, but this takes the cake, and I'm not letting it stand. You went through an anonymous internet forum looking for dirt, and the worst you could come up with are things like everyone has given it 5 stars and benefits could be better ? That's evidence for the opposite of what you say. Anonymous employees at a sweatshop would dish out stronger sauce than that. Something tel…

[deleted]

Re: FarmLogs

#50

Post by hemantv »

andrewcamel wrote: post #45

This type of story is so motivating to build vertical software, but for people like me who are trying to identify a vertical software opportunity, it's discouraging that these developers needed to spend a couple years in the industry to truly understand the pain point behind FarmLogs. Does anyone have thoughts / strategies around identifying these opportunities, ideally without the need to spend years in the target i…

There is no free lunch.
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