HowSilicon Valley Farming Startup Addresses Extreme Poverty, Global Food Shortage — John Denniston, Chairman of Shared X

Working Capital Conversations

The problem is challenging and enduring – and to listen to John Denniston, it also just may present the perfect opportunity to both do good and well.

It’s called the Yield Gap – the difference in agriculture yield from farms in developed countries – which are more efficient and deliver more food per acre – vs. emerging countries, which are, of course, the very places where food is most needed.

And that gap is part of the reason why Denniston, whose career has included investing in green tech and more as a partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, as well as heading Tech Investment Banking in the Western U.S. at SalomonSmithBarney, launched Shared X – which he describes as a for-profit agriculture impact company with two key goals: Generating financial returns and generating social returns.

But for this longtime investor, the a ha moment that led to Shared X came not through number crunching – though he does plenty of that – but rather on a trip with his kids. What did he realize on that family vacation that changed their outlook and their lives? That’s what we discussed…