{"href":"http://player.captivate.fm/services/oembed?url=http%3A%2F%2Fplayer.captivate.fm%2Fepisode%2F26f62ec8-32a5-4d81-baec-496719080f20","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Captivate.FM","provider_url":"https://www.captivate.fm","width":600,"height":200,"type":"rich","html":"","title":"S3E39: Austin Webb - Transforming Modern Agriculture","description":"Episode Summary\r\n\r\nJoin Harry Duran, host of Vertical Farming Podcast, as he welcomes to the show, CEO and co-founder of Fifth Season, Austin Webb. Fifth Season is a consumer tech company and indoor farming pioneer with Carnegie Mellon University roots that is creating a new era of fresh foods. Its commercial-scale indoor vertical farms use proprietary robotics, AI, and smart operations technology to grow leafy greens and herbs at affordable prices year-round. Today, Harry and Austin talk about the origin story of Fifth Season, the relationship he has with the city of Braddock and how Austin initially got involved in vertical farming. Austin expounds on the concepts of smart manufacturing and pest pressure and speaks to the learning curve he\u2019s experienced as a first-time CEO. Finally, Austin speaks to the mission of Fifth Season and what excites him most about his future endeavors.\r\n\r\nEpisode Sponsor\r\n\r\nCULTIVATD\r\n\r\nKey Takeaways\r\n03:14 \u2013 Harry welcomes to the show Austin Webb, who trends he\u2019s noticed post-pandemic, his relationship with Carnegie Mellon University and the origin story of Fifth Season\r\n08:53 \u2013 Austin speaks to when he first got involved in vertical farming\r\n11:50 \u2013 How Fifth Season is applying robotics to the vertical farming industry\r\n16:27 \u2013 Austin reflects on some of the memorable challenges and obstacles Fifth Season overcame throughout its journey\r\n20:18 \u2013 Austin talks about Fifth Season\u2019s accomplishment of achieving a 100% Food Safety Audit ranking\r\n25:32 \u2013 Austin explains what \u2018pest pressure\u2019 means\r\n28:21 \u2013 Austin talks about the relationship Fifth Season has with the city of Braddock and the impact they have had on the community\r\n34:44 \u2013 Austin speaks to the learning curve he\u2019s experienced as a first-time CEO\r\n37:41 \u2013 A tough question Austin has had to ask himself recently\r\n38:07 \u2013 Harry thanks Austin for joining the show and let\u2019s listeners know where they can learn more about Fifth Season and connect with Austin\r\n\r\nTweetable Quotes\r\n\r\n\u201cWe wanted to create this whole new platform to really change the way we think about vertical farming, to therefore make it an economic reality today instead of just a pipe dream for the future.\u201d(08:43) (Austin)\r\n\r\n\u201cWe don\u2019t really consider ourselves a vertical farming company. We\u2019re a new food system pioneer that\u2019s creating a whole new era of fresh foods and we started that journey with vertical farming.\u201d(19:18) (Austin)\r\n\r\n\u201cThe first Carnegie Library was in Braddock. So when you think of how we\u2019re changing the way that we think about growing food and then creating this whole new consumer experience around changing the definition of what fresh food should taste like and making it fun again. And then creating this joy and delight around eating healthy because again you\u2019re just creating this whole new category of fresh food and making it more ubiquitous and making it easier to eat healthier.\u201d(29:37) (Austin)\r\n\r\n\u201cIt [the CEO role] is just a very hard job. And, you just think about your team, your key responsibilities that are both internal and external, and you just have to learn to manage the time. And decision making has to be at the forefront because you don\u2019t help your team if you\u2019ve gotten yourself into a position of decision fatigue.\u201d(35:51) (Austin)\r\n\r\nLinks Mentioned\r\n\r\nAustin\u2019s LinkedIn\r\n\r\nFifth Season Fresh Website\r\n\r\nFifth Season LinkedIn\r\n\r\nFifth Season Twitter\r\n\r\nFifth Season Instagram\r\n\r\nFifth Season Facebook\r\n\r\nSponsor Info:\r\n\r\nCultivatd Website\r\n\r\nCultivatd Instagram\r\n\r\nCultivatd\u2019s Twitter\r\n\r\nCultivatd\u2019s Facebook\r\n\r\n\ud83c\udf99\ufe0f\ud83c\udf99\ufe0f\ud83c\udf99\ufe0f\r\n\r\nPodcast Production and Marketing by FullCast: https://bit.ly/3sxZ34y\r\n\r\nSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300,"thumbnail_url":"https://artwork.captivate.fm/d0282923-6f01-4f00-8560-5b11976b7b68/image.jpg"}