Coworking with Andrew Carter

Coworking is a weekly segment where we spotlight Emerging Tech Brew readers who work with emerging technologies. Click here if you’d like a chance to be featured.

How would you describe your job to someone who doesn’t work in tech?

I run a company that leverages proprietary technology and a distributed supply chain to grow local, organic mushrooms for everybody. We’re growing locally wherever you buy our products, and we grow with zero pesticides on industrial byproducts, making us one of the most environmentally sustainable products you can find on the planet.

What’s your favorite emerging tech project you’ve worked on?

Smallhold! We have our own patented control system called FarmLinc, we’re capturing hundreds of thousands of data points per day, allowing us to imitate natural environments to grow beautiful, farmers’ market-quality mushrooms for the masses.

What emerging tech are you most optimistic about? Least? And why?

I’m excited about energy production innovation—we need to figure out how to scale newer, cleaner ways of producing energy, or figure out ways to educate [or] rebrand older, still efficient, environmentally friendly sources of energy as well.

I am least optimistic about the one-hour delivery space. I think consumer habits need to change if we’re going to continue to exist on this planet, [and] I think the current state of the industry is making a lot of sacrifices to get people small amounts of food in short periods of time.

One thing we can’t guess from your LinkedIn profile?

I’m a classically trained cellist. The first money into the company was from my playing at someone’s wedding; it allowed us to buy the shipping container that we started in.