209: Alastair Monk on The Future of Growing Food.

Creating technology to help gardeners and farmers control their greenhouse watering systems.

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Monk - Ally Alastair, or Ally, is the CEO and Co-founder of Motorleaf, which created the first wireless, automated, indoor growing system. 
A native from the UK, Ally has lived and worked in North America since 1999.  He has a history of success within the technology sector, providing his 3 children, wife and Husky Dog (Shadow) a rich life filled with nature and opportunity.
Ally loves to keep it simple and he says he wakes up each morning feeling hungry. Hungry for company growth, hungry for new product features, and hungry for new happy customers.


In This Podcast: 

Greg talks to Ally and finds out what it is like to be a founding partner in a brand-new company that is focusing on making indoor gardening easier.


Listen in and learn about:

  • How Ally and his friend Ramen started a new company based on an idea to control the watering system of his indoor gardens
  • Why they were so invested in getting a system designed and on the market
  • How two home growers developed this system and
  • Predicting what the crops will need based on data from previous harvests
  • How the system takes data and learns what the patterns mean
  • The surprise that there was a lot of collaboration and support in agriculture technology
  • The goal is to help anybody be a farmer
  • His TED Talk on March 18th, 2017 in Montreal
  • The final stages of their Kickstarter campaign that is happening now
  • A team of people who come from all backgrounds to help make the system work

As well as:

  • His failure – One of their first deliveries of the product was overreaching the goals and even the shipping box
  • His success – Going from two guys with an idea and the goal to make a product to a fully functioning company about a year later
  • His drive – His determination to not be an employee again
  • His advice – Jump on the Kickstarter, give them a call, and share your indoor garden passion with others

Ally’s Book recommendations:        

By A. A. Milne – The Pooh Book of Quotations (Winnie-the-Pooh)

How to reach Ally:    

Website: Motorleaf.com

Email: monk@motorleaf.com

 UrbanFarm.org/MotorLeaf

 

*Disclosure:
Some of the links in our podcast show notes and blog posts are affiliate links and if you go through them to make a purchase, we will earn a nominal commission at no cost to you. We offer links to items recommended by our podcast guests and guest writers as a service to our audience and these items are not selected because of the commission we receive from your purchases. We know the decision is yours, and whether you decide to buy something is completely up to you. 

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