What farmers teach us about resilient growth
Founder Diaries
Most companies grow like monocrops.
One product.
One strategy.
One growth engine.
Clean. Efficient. Easy to track.
Also… fragile.
On one of our organic farmers land, they grow watermelon, sweet corn and even marigold - together.
At first glance, it looks messy.
But it’s actually a very intentional system.
If watermelon prices fall,
corn supports income.
If pests attack,
marigold helps protect the crop.
Nothing is isolated.
Everything plays a role.
That’s when it hit me.
This is not just sustainable way of farming.
This is risk management done right.
In business, we try to control risk externally.
In nature, risk is designed out of the system itself.
We build teams in silos.
Nature builds systems that support each other.
We optimize for efficiency.
Nature optimizes for survival.
Few years ago, when we started working with farmers at Earthy Tales,
we thought we were helping them transition to chemical-free, natural farming.
But we were also learning something deeper.
Resilient systems are not built on uniformity.
They are built on interdependence.
Maybe the goal is not to build the most efficient system.
Maybe the goal is to build the system that doesn’t break easily.
If your entire business depended on one variable…
How would you redesign it?
Warm regards,
Deepak Sabharwal
An Organic Farmer, A Father
Co-founder & CEO