4 ms·
Given the bizarre letter, the CEO must have known that many of his employees considered Monsanto the enemy. So it looks like the CEO was a sell-out and took th
by yapcguy 13y ago
Given the bizarre letter, the CEO must have known that many of his employees considered Monsanto the enemy. So it looks like the CEO was a sell-out and took the easy money.
Data scientists, programmers and agricultural experts were hired to help build systems and crunch numbers to help farmers make the best from their soil and weather.
By contrast, Monsanto sell magic seeds, resistant to everything, guaranteed to improve yield and profits for farmers... who needs weather analysis when you have Monsanto?
Does anybody know how the employees feel about it? Is the company struggling to retain employees? It seems they are aggressively hiring, but hard to know if this is actual expansion or replacement hires.
- cothomps 13y agoGood question - I was targeted by a CC recruiter and wondered the same thing.
- whbk 13y agoThe two I talked to were towing the company line, and said they still had the autonomy to work on everything they were before the merger, and just had more resources at their disposal to do so. The whole team was also flown by private jet to meet employees at a Monsanto facility shortly after the acquisition, so..yeah. Didn't get into comp, but I'm guessing we'll see how everyone really feels once they hit their (presumed) bonus date.
- estsauver 13y agoClimate Corp employee here, we flew on a charted airplane, not a private jet. You should be thinking "white label Delta economy" not "like a G6."
- cornellwright 13y ago"Magic seeds" only get you so far. Farming is a production optimization problem like anything else, it just takes place outside and is subject to many more variables than your garden variety manufacturing line. Currently the way farmers know what's happening in their fields is they send guys (called scouts) to go and check. This may seem like a good idea until you think about how long it would take to cover 1000 acres on a four wheeler (or even on foot). So yes, despite "magic seeds" farmers need more information to make better decisions. Evil or not, Monsanto's acquisition of Climate Corp absolutely makes business sense.
- cnorgate 13y agoI work with The Climate Corp as a product manager - there have been no problems retaining employees. In fact, from my point of view, morale is higher than before the acquisition. We are pretty passionate about our mission of helping farmers improve their yields. Our vision is to use data and analytics to help them do that in a more sustainable way. The acquisition has helped accelerate our vision by at least 3-5 years - which is why people are pretty excited... also why we are hiring aggressively. The Climate Corp is one of the best companies I've worked for - the combination of great (and smart) people, mission, vision and real world impact are hard come by. If you're interested in learning more, I'd be happy to chat anytime.
- fiatmoney 13y agoEven taking as a given that for any crop Monsanto has the best variety, you still have the issue of what exactly to plant, in what proportions, for your likely climate & soil conditions, equipment/water/fertilizer/labor & other input costs, and market prices. That analysis is exactly what Monsanto will provide you with now.
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]