Four Business Building Takeaways Everyone Can Learn from Lumo Ag
05/31/2024
In an Upstream Ag post from April 27, 2024, Shane Thomas summarizes the lessons that the two founders of an irrigation technology business learned about solving problems. Lumo CEO Devon Wright and his co-founder Bennett Fitzgibbon designed and patented a new irrigation valve which is, “…the first irrigation valve to have a built-in controller, the first to have a built-in flow sensor, and the first valve that is completely wireless and internet connected. All of which are powered by Lumo’s irrigation management software.”
In an Upstream Ag post from April 27, 2024, Shane Thomas summarizes the lessons that the two founders of an irrigation technology business learned about solving problems. Lumo CEO Devon Wright and his co-founder Bennett Fitzgibbon designed and patented a new irrigation valve which is, “…the first irrigation valve to have a built-in controller, the first to have a built-in flow sensor, and the first valve that is completely wireless and internet connected. All of which are powered by Lumo’s irrigation management software.”
They are not only unique with their invention, they are also unique in their approach to solving problems that have plagued orchard growers and other ag businesses dependent on irrigation for decades.
The four lessons they shared with Thomas include:
1. Solve your own problem first: They focused on their small orchard’s irrigation challenges first, then looked at the issues for larger orchards.
2. Roll up your sleeves: Instead of going around interviewing managers of large orchards, Devon, “…took a job working for a viticulture management company for several months where he drove from vineyard to vineyard and got to learn the inner workings of large irrigation systems and the problems the farmers and irrigation managers face.”
3. Nail your customers’ “Job-to-be-done.”: What does the person really need? What is the specific problem to be solved? “People don’t want a quarter-inch drill bit, then need a quarter-inch hole.”
4. Focus, focus, focus, then focus some more: “Start-ups don’t starve, they drown…” This quote by Shawn Carolan emphasizes the common problem of investors in start-ups wanting to go after larger markets as the company is being developed, causing them to lose their focus. Bennett and Devon chose to ensure that their business worked operationally in a specific geography, in a specific crop before expanding anywhere else.
These four lessons are a good strategy to use when we as consultants help our clients navigate through a variety of solutions to their own challenges. The keen focus on the real problem to be solved, not trying to address too many issues at once and doing the hard work are great strategies when resolving any issue.
Link to Upstream Ag post: https://www.upstream.ag/p/four-business-building-takeaways
Link to Lumo One Smart Valve: https://lumo.ag/product/
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This article is the opinion and perspective of the author and the sources cited, and may or may not be consistent with those of other ASAC Members. Mention of specific products, opinions, strategies or companies in this article is in no way an endorsement of them by ASAC. ASAC as an organization does not advocate opinions or positions on issues.
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Don Tyler
ASAC Board Member
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