Customers build
great products.
We started by listening. In the first year, we had ~200 listening conversations with cash market traders. We watched people work, asked about pain points, and explored ideas. In the end, we selected the country elevator system and fertilizer distribution as initial focus areas. We are in no danger of running out of interesting problems to help with in these areas and plan to park here for a while.
In the second year, we built the product in close collaboration with 4 partners. Software products should model the world. We recognize that despite working in agriculture for many years, we are still modeling a world we’re not from. It’s vital to build in close collaboration with people for whom the grain world (or fertilizer or feed or energy) is native. We are immensely grateful to the brilliant folks at these companies for their help.
Cash market commodity trading is a complex, relationship-driven business. We believe that the winning approach is to equip traders with technology that allows them to apply their expertise with higher leverage. We are in no way building a robo-trader or trying to produce “the right answer”. The "math answer" is just a piece of what goes into good trade decisions, and should be made available to great traders. This means full transparency on method. No magic black boxes. We state assumptions and let the expert move the dials. You’re Tony Stark. Our job is to build you a suit.
We aspire to be the easiest, safest ag technology company to work with. We license great software under straightforward pricing. We do not trade a position. We do not own your data (and do not train models on it to sell to your competitors). We are not building a marketplace, nor trying to dis-intermediate trading relationships. We are supporters and reformers; not “disruptors”. We want to make commodity cash markets efficient and help traders profit in the process.
How we Operate
Focus
The great philosopher Ron Swanson once said, “Don’t half-ass two things. Whole-ass one thing”.
At Contango, we’re quite purposeful about what we choose to do. And then we pour all of our energy into it. Building great products isn’t possible unless we focus. Therefore we work with our customers to maintain an explicit, stable roadmap. And we finish work before moving on.
Generosity
A wise farmer once said “Money is like manure. Pile it up and it starts to stink; spread it around and everything grows.”
We believe there are two ways to do business:
Find the best deal you can or find the fairest deal you can. We aspire to do the latter.
Agribusiness is about relationships. We want to be in productive relationships with our customers and teammates for a long time. And we believe that the foundation is to structure deals (with customers, teammates, investors, etc) in a way that is on the generous side of fair.
Talent Density
"Continuous effort — not strength or intelligence — is the key to unlocking our potential." ~ Winston Churchill
We work with a small team with the highest talent density possible. We mean talent in the general sense - skill, grit, humility, teamwork. We won’t brag on our website, but we think you’ll enjoy our work.
Realism
Warren Buffet famously said that "when the tide goes out you see who’s been swimming naked." At Contango, we wear shorts regardless of the tide.
An important part of being a good technology partner to agribusiness is to avoid introducing counter-party risk by over-capitalizing. We are conscientious about constraining the capital we take on to what we can metabolize. We have great ambitions for our customers, but connect these to short-term, achievable goals. And we hit them. We aspire to be the safest company in ag tech to do business with.
Forthrightness
“When in doubt, tell the truth.” ~ Mark Twain
“Friends stab you in the front.” ~ Oscar Wilde
We believe that trust in working relationships is built on telling the truth. To the best of our abilities, we don’t over-promise to investors, customers, employees, or partners. Everyone should get the same story. We also don’t pull punches. This is easy when the news is good, but we are committed to forthrightness even when it’s not. Sometimes the best way not to have problems is to have problems.
Talent Density
We work with a small team with the highest talent density possible. We won’t brag on our website, but please get to know us.
We think you’ll enjoy our work.
