Episode 62

S5E62: Building A Future Together: From The Air Force to Pioneering Technology with Jamie Burrows

Episode Summary

Founder and CEO of Vertical Future, Jamie Burrows is a passionate leader with extensive knowledge of the indoor AgTech space. Vertical Future is the world’s leading vertical farming technology and research company, providing revolutionary products and services that enable people and nature to thrive. Today, Harry and Jamie talk about Jamie’s passion for health, life sciences, and addressing critical issues like climate change, food inequalities and population health. Jamie expounds on his leadership style, the focus and mission of Vertical Future, and key milestones he’s reached along the journey.

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Key Takeaways

07:14 – Harry welcomes Founder and CEO of Vertical Future, Jamie Burrows, to discuss culture shock, his eclectic background, and his experience serving in the Air Force

14:17 – Jamie’s passion for health and life sciences and how he got involved in vertical farming

16:57 – Leadership styles and building an effective team as a first time CEO

24:45 – Key milestones of Jamie’s vertical farming journey

30:57 – The importance of developing in-house tech stack

37:31 – Jamie’s specific focus on the UK

47:19 – A tough question Jamie has had to ask himself recently and

50:53 – What keeps Jamie motivated and excited about the future

53:31 – Harry thanks Jamie for joining the show and let’s listeners know where they can follow Jamie and Vertical Future

Tweetable Quotes

“Looking back seven to ten years, I’d had a tremendous amount of exposure to what a good leader is and what a bad leader is at the Air Force Academy. I saw many examples and was mentored personally by Colonels.” (17:31) (Jamie)

“The unit economics of vertical farming demand that it’s all about space and scale. And, if you want to compete then you need big farms and you need a lot of capital.” (20:37) (Jamie)

“I think that on our side of the equation, you’ve got the growers over here and the tech providers over here. You have a lot of companies that are building street components. So it might just be lights and great lighting companies. But then you’ve got what I would call systems integrators, where they’ll piecemeal tech from different people, position it as a system of their own, and sell it.” (31:12) (Jamie)

“I think people underappreciate that, even in the UK, we still need to spend a helluva lot of money on building out vertical farming.” (40:06) (Jamie)

“From a personal standpoint, I do really believe in the fact that what we are doing is addressing very important topics and will continue to.” (51:16) (Jamie)