645: WeFarm Helps 140k Off-Grid Farmers Learn Faster, $1.7M Raised, 90% Still Active After 3 Months with CEO Kenny Ewan

Published: April 30, 2017, 9 a.m.

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Kenny Ewan. He is in charge of the overall strategic direction for WeFarm where he oversees the day-to-day activities of the business. After graduating, he spent 7 years in Peru running an international NGO, specializing in work with indigenous communities. Kenny played the lead role in developing WeFarm, before launching it as a startup in 2015.

Famous Five:

  • Favorite Book? \\u2013 Chaos Monkeys
  • What CEO do you follow? \\u2013 Elon Musk
  • Favorite online tool? \\u2014 Slack
  • Do you get 8 hours of sleep?\\u2014 6
  • If you could let your 20-year old self, know one thing, what would it be? \\u2013 \\u201cI\\u2019m happy to let him make mistakes\\u201d

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Time Stamped Show Notes:

  • 01:18 \\u2013 Nathan introduces Kenny to the show
  • 01:49 \\u2013 WeFarm is a growth focus model
  • 02:29 \\u2013 WeFarm offers their services to farmers
    • 02:37 \\u2013 WeFarm leads farmers to the sellers and WeFarm will take a small transaction commission
  • 03:00 \\u2013 WeFarm offers information in the space
    • 03:08 \\u2013 A farmer in Kenya who has no internet access can ask WeFarm a question, through SMS, for free
    • 03:30 \\u2013 10-15 people in WeFarm\\u2019s network will try to answer the question
    • 03:45 \\u2013 The people who answer want to share their knowledge about farming
  • 04:12 \\u2013 WeFarm has generated revenue, but they\\u2019re still on pre-profit
  • 04:20 \\u2013 WeFarm just closed a seed round for $1.7M
  • 04:27 \\u2013 WeFarm started as an Impact project for Google and they won
    • 04:36 \\u2013 They used the prize as capital
    • 04:42 \\u2013 The prize was \\xa3500K
  • 05:04 \\u2013 Team size is 20 and is still growing; they\\u2019re around the globe
  • 05:41 \\u2013 WeFarm uses radio to connect with more farmers
    • 05:51 \\u2013 WeFarm partnered with radio stations and invited farmers on
    • 06:00 \\u2013 4-5K people were joining WeFarm in just an hour
    • 06:12 \\u2013 WeFarm also partners with businesses where farmers buy
  • 06:45 \\u2013 WeFarm currently has 140K farmers on their platform
  • 06:55 \\u2013 WeFarm measures activity by the number of users who actively contribute every month
  • 07:55 \\u2013 WeFarm is also available online
  • 08:15 \\u2013 WeFarm has a super active marketplace
  • 08:32 \\u2013 WeFarm doesn\\u2019t incentivize people who answer inquiries, just like Quora
  • 08:50 \\u2013 WeFarm\\u2019s roadmap this year
  • 09:00 \\u2013 WeFarm has 20 people
  • 09:30 \\u2013 WeFarm already has a couple of commercial contacts with a major retailer in UK
    • 09:48 \\u2013 \\u201cWe have validated our revenue sources\\u201d
  • 10:00 \\u2013 2017 target revenue is around $50K
  • 11:30 \\u2013 The Famous Five

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3 Key Points:

  1. A business does NOT always have to be revenue focused; helping people can be a goal in and of itself.
  2. We have a responsibility to help guide those who need it and access those who still do not have the internet.
  3. Don\\u2019t be afraid to make mistakes, but be sure to learn from them.

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Resources Mentioned:

  • The Top Inbox \\u2013 The site Nathan uses to schedule emails to be sent later, set reminders in inbox, track opens, and follow-up with email sequences
  • Organifi \\u2013 The juice was Nathan\\u2019s life saver during his trip in Southeast Asia
  • Klipfolio \\u2013 Track your business performance across all departments for FREE
  • Acuity Scheduling \\u2013 Nathan uses Acuity to schedule his podcast interviews and appointments
  • Host Gator\\u2013 The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for the cheapest price possible
  • Audible\\u2013 Nathan uses Audible when he\\u2019s driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5-hour drive) to listen to audio books
  • Freshbooks \\u2013 Nathan doesn\\u2019t waste time so he uses Freshbooks to send out invoices and collect his money. Get your free month NOW
  • Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives
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