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Cybernated Farm Systems (CFS)

We stay in the United States for our Getting Started Interview Series to talk with Douglas Mallette, the Founder of Cybernated Farm Systems (CFS). The mission at CFS is to eliminate the gap between global production and distribution of clean, healthy foods to the people of the world. Using a responsible mix of science, engineering, technology and nature, CFS has designed a Smart Aquaponic Greenhouse system, delivering produce and fish, that is environmentally conscious and robust in performance and sustainability.

CFS Prime Logo (no CFS reflection)

i-genius: Why did you start CFS?
Douglas Mallette: The Haitian earthquake of 2010 started it all.  I had a thought, instead of just drop shipping food for a one time fix, can we drop ship grid-independent food factories that can do the job even if the area is damaged? A Smart Greenhouse that runs itself, so that the focus can still be recovering the region. Well, the answer is yes, and thus CFS was born.

i-genius: In what way is CFS a social enterprise?
Douglas: This is kind of a two part question.  I guess foremost, designing Smart Aquaponic Greenhouses that feed people and more.  We’re also not a publicly traded company and don’t ever plan to be, no matter how big we get.  Planet, People, Profit… in that order as far as I’m concerned.  Helping people doesn’t matter much if the planet is screwed.

i-genius: You’ve mentioned Smart Greenhouse. What does that mean?
Douglas: In the case of CFS, Smart Aquaponic Greenhouses kind of thinks on its own and can make self correcting adjustments to make sure it’s always working properly to provide produce, fish (being aquaponic of course), surplus clean energy (solar, wind, etc), compost, clean polluted water bodies, and if configured for this, manage the chicken coop attachment on the side to work with the vermiculture operation. One building can do a lot, and that’s pretty Smart.

i-genius: What difficulties did you experience setting up CFS?

Douglas: Setting CFS up was a breeze.  The difficult part is where we are now, trying to move from paper to prototype. Getting funding is a pain in the…well…you know.  What’s sad is when I see a crowdfunding campaign for potato salad get over $50k in support, and our current $2,500 campaign to fund a trip to Italy to present at a Food Studies conference is struggling to succeed.  That’s difficult to comprehend.

i-genius: What are the most crucial things you have done to grow CFS?
Douglas: Networking. What’s the saying… it’s not what you know, but who you know? A person could have the most revolutionary idea for all of mankind, but if they live on a deserted island it’s worthless.  Being able to connect with people, build relationships, travel to conferences and utilize social media properly is invaluable at this stage of CFS.

i-genius: What makes a good candidate for a Founder of a company?
Douglas: You really have to be humble enough to know when you don’t know something and a good team builder to help cover those knowledge gaps. Also, be able to ENJOY what you’re doing, even if the topic is serious. I mean really, I’m working on global hunger, trying to save people from dying, which can be a major emotional downer if you let the gravity of the work get to you. But when that starts to creep up I visualize what CFS will be 5 years after Prototyping, seeing buildings in villages feeding people who were once starving to death, and I smile.  So I guess I should add visualization as a good skill for a Founder to have.

i-genius: Who’s or what’s been your continued source of inspiration?
Douglas: I like Richard Branson, Elon Musk, visionaries who seem to have a knack for doing the right thing in a right mindset, but when it comes to continued inspiration, that’s easy… my family.  Every now and then my youngest daughter (almost 11) will come up to me and ask what’s up, specifically about CFS.  I explain things, she smiles, and occasionally drops a word of encouragement. My wife and eldest daughter will do the same from time to time. They have no idea how well that fuels me.

i-genius: Word has it that you like to Cosplay?
Douglas: Lol. Who told you?  😉  Yes, my whole family does it, but only for Star Wars. I hope you don’t mind, but I have an awesome story to tell regarding Cosplay that will make this answer a bit longer than normal. This past summer we attended Star Wars Weekends at Disney World, as we do every year, and this time me and my “brother” had the best costumes we’ve ever worn. We were constantly getting stopped by people (young and old) to get pictures with us.  And then this happened… a parent came up and asked if we could do a picture with his son.  Of course we said yes, and the boy was smiling from ear to ear, ecstatically posing with us.  At the time I didn’t know this, but my wife later said that that boy was from Give Kids the World, a group that gives fantasy family vacations to kids with terminal illnesses.  Yes, I said terminal illnesses.  My friend and I, dressed up like Sith Lords running around Disney, made a boy who is going to die have an amazing smile from ear to ear with an abundance of joy in his heart.  Cosplay, if done right, can be about a lot more than just “dressing up.”

i-genius: You accept donations in Bitcoin. What is that?
Douglas: I’m still trying to get a grasp of what BitCoin is myself. Lol. What I do know is that it’s digital currency that can be traded in for regular currency, which we can use to help us for travel.

i-genius: Can one of your systems really be put anywhere?
Douglas: That’s the plan. It’s really all about energy. Greenhouses can be put anywhere to grow food, but powering them to climate control them or operate the Smart aspects we’re including is the fun part. Each location will be analyzed to use the best clean energy options available, therefore every CFS design is custom to a certain extent, making the best use of the natural area the building will be placed.

i-genius: What is your favourite motto in life?
Douglas: Shit or get off the pot.  Lol.  Not very poetic, but it’s something my dad always said and it’s very true.  At some point if we want to make the world a better place, we need to stop hoping others will do it for us, and instead get up and go do something to affect change in the world.

i-genius: What’s the worst business advice you’ve ever received?
Douglas: I can’t say that I have gotten bad advice yet, but then again we’ve not really moved into formal business operations either, so maybe that day will come. I hope not. I hope I’ve surrounded myself with the kind of people that will enable us to mitigate that as a group. CFS won’t be a dictatorship, and a core philosophy of this company will always be, “If you think you have a better way to do something, or have concerns with info/research to back it up, don’t you dare hold it back.”

i-genius: What advice would you give to those starting up a social business or project?
Douglas Mallette: Be patient and resourceful. Use social media for something beyond cat videos. Try to balance being taken seriously without being too damn serious. And lastly… surround yourself with good people. You don’t know everything. Say that to yourself often. Identify the subjects that most pertain to your project/business and find experts in those subjects to help you. Team is ALWAYS greater than I.

 

This interview was conducted as part of the i-genius Getting Started interview series. If you would like to learn how to get started in your social business, then why not take our ‘Getting Started – Social Business Start Up’ online course with i-genius Academy. To find out more, click here!


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