David Stone | Forager
What Is Forager?
Forager is a mission based, local food procurement platform that digitizes the entire sourcing process for grocers, restaurants and institutions. Forager introduces and connects wholesale and retail buyers with local independent farmers, fishers, and grocers to manage discovery, procurement and payment processing. The online and mobile platform saves time and costs for grocers, co-ops, farmers, producers, and other buyers and sellers of local food. Think of it as a digital matchmaker for finding and vetting new suppliers!
What Is Your Background? How Did You End Up In This Space.
I am a serial tech entrepreneur who has founded, co-founded, CEO’d, and worked for 11 different start-ups ranging from search, to digital health, product development optimization, e-commerce, and retail and payments. I am also a father of 5 and live in Maine.
I launched Forager in 2015 out of a desire to improve my family's nutrition and health, which led me on a three month exploration of food systems around the world. Seeing the negative impacts of industrial food production and the complexity of sourcing local food provided a clear focus for Forager -- to leverage digital technology to simplify local food procurement and expand access to local food. My passion is to make locally sourced food more widely available to all, by removing the considerable cost and complexity in the local food supply chain and digitally connecting grocers with new local suppliers.
What Was The Inspiration Behind The Company Name?
Forager is just what it sounds. It’s about foraging for the best local products one can find. In the old days, this is how we found our food, so I like to say Forager brings us back to nature and simpler times.
What Have Been Both Your Favorite And Least-liked Parts Of Your Entrepreneurial Journey? What Have Been Your Most Challenging And Most Exciting Moments For You And The Company?
Some of my favorite things about my journey have been finding great, passionate and caring people to help me realize my vision across the whole innovation lifecycle, from conception to creation. And then watching how your vision effects behavior changes in millions of people is truly gratifying!
But it hasn't all been easy. Raising capital and having to kiss thousands of frogs to find a princess is a long and arduous process. I have spoken with more than a thousand VCs and investors before I found the ones whose values were aligned and could partner with me on my vision. Along the journey we’ve experienced ups and downs, and at certain times less than optimal financial performance. But a true partner rides the waves with you through to the end.
One of the most exciting parts of the journey is in signing my first major customers. I’ve also loved speaking at conferences (pre-pandemic!) and engaging and exciting the audience so much that there is a line of people wanting to speak with me.
What Was The Fundraising Process Like For You? Tell Us About Your Investors And What You Use The Money You’ve Raised For.
Investors see Forager as the right solution with a huge market opportunity, as local food offers one of the few, truly viable opportunities for grocers to rebuild foot traffic in their stores, while securing the loyalty of consumers. We recently announced that we’ve raised $4M in funding. The funding was led by a number of private investors including Duncan Saville of ICM Limited, an international fund manager and corporate finance adviser, CEI, a mission-based lender focused on environmentally sustainable enterprises, among others. It will be used to further develop sales channels, build out key product features and upgrades that address both the grocer and farmer needs. Forager’s growth and new investment reflect the crucial role that local has in maintaining the quality and quantity of products offered by grocers and independent retailers.
Can You Tell Us About Some Of Your Numbers? How Has Growth Been Over The Past Couple Of Years? How Is Growth Looking Over The Next Three Years?
In the past six months, Forager has partnered with influential grocers like Massachusetts based Roche Bros. Supermarkets and the Bashas’ Family of Stores across Arizona. The company now operates in over 12 states with more than 40 grocers and institutions, and 500 local suppliers. Further, Forager has seen four fold growth since 2018, with nearly 200,000 local products sourced through its platform to date.
How Has COVID-19 Impacted Your Growth and Operation Over The Last Year?
COVID-19 has forced consumers to look more critically at what they eat and where that food comes from. With major disruptions to the supply chain in recent months, the local food economy is more important than ever, which gives Forager the opportunity to thrive in a post-pandemic world. With more grocers prioritizing their digital investments coupled with consumers demanding high-quality, nutritious food, Forager has seen exponential growth over the past year.
How Do You Think Your Industry (Or The World In General) Will Change Post-COVID?
In a post-COVID world, I envision a future where we have a much more vibrant and reliable local food system and economy, where consumers can have affordable and easy access year-round to healthy, locally grown and produced food. And where we invest in farms that use regenerative practices to rebuild our soils and reduce our carbon impact and create a much healthier community and planet.
What Does Your Typical Day Look Like?
There aren’t ‘typical work days’ as a founder and chairman, especially in these times in the middle of a pandemic. I jump into the fray when needed or when we aren’t making enough progress. I also spend a lot of my time thinking long term, and creating strategic business development and raising capital. Since Forager also has CEO, I pursue neglected aspiration goals (e.g piano, volunteering, mentoring, and more).
So a typical work day looks something like this:
8:30 AM - Read the daily news (NYT, WSJ, blogs, podcasts, etc.)
9:00 AM - 1:00 PM - Various meetings, emails, phone calls. Each morning is different.
1:00 PM - Take a lunch break
1:30 PM - Practice piano
2:00 PM - Meetings (PR firm, product team, research)
3:00 PM - Break for fresh air, take a walk
4:30 PM - Exercise
5:30 - 6:15 PM - Meditate
6:45 PM - Help with dinner
What Are The Top Three Qualities or Skills You Believe Entrepreneurs Need In Order To Be Successful? Also, What Advice Do You Have For Entrepreneurs Who Are Just Starting Out?
1. Relentless persistence
2. Creativity and enormous flexibility. Challenges and change are constant in the early days!
3. Faith, hope, optimism, and vision. You can’t lead a start-up without these qualities – your team won’t follow your lead, or will get despondent / give up when there are dark days.
My advice:
Always focus on creating value, not on how you can get the biggest exit or return. Too many early-stage, first time entrepreneurs focus first on how to make the most money, rather than on what will create the most value.
Be sure you are up for this as it will consume your life. There are no days, nights, or weekends off. Don’t get caught up in the romance and status of being a CEO or founder.
Hire people who compliment you and have different experiences and skill sets, not people who are just like you.
Be relentless about your product. User experience is everything. Incorporate the voice of your customer into product design and improvements. You may think you are smarter than your customers, but smarts alone won’t get you there – listening is really critical.
Build a mentor and advisor network. CEO / founder roles are lonely and can be isolating.
Tell Us A Story Of Something That Happened To You, Something You Heard, Or Something You Saw, That Either Made You Laugh Or Taught You An Important Lesson.
Early on after we launched, I had planned a business trip with my sales director pretty far north just as a big storm was approaching. Our desire to close a deal with potential sales prospects kept us moving forward but with towns losing power and downed trees we quickly realized this was an exercise in futility. None of the retailers we planned to meet with had power and often had to turn around as roads closed around us. After a few days dodging downed trees, driving 500 miles and no sleep we came back dejected and exhausted.
Lesson learned — no matter how much you want to go the extra mile for your venture, sometimes it’s wiser to postpone and take a step back when the elements are working against you, and fight another day.
If You Can Have A One-Hour Meeting With Someone Famous Who Is Alive, Who Would It Be?
So many choices – either Stacey Abrahams, Alice Waters, or Daniel Barber, just to name a few.
Who Is Your Role Model?
Professor Sol Gittleman. He set me on a path to learn German and spend two years studying and working in Germany. I worked on the assembly line at Mercedes Benz and in the U.S. State Department, and then went onto graduate school for international relations. He was inspirational!
Another person I really admire for their courage is Alexei Navalny, an opposition leader, lawyer, and anti-corruption activist.
What Do You Do In Your Free Time?
Pre-pandemic, I loved to travel, go to farmer’s markets, and spend time with family. I play the piano, do a lot of scratch cooking and watch documentaries and especially programs on science and the animal world (most of which have greater levels of intelligence in ways we humans don’t)
What Is Your Favorite Quote?
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” - Mark Twain
Any Other Thoughts You Want To Share Relating To Current Events, The Economy, Political Climate, Or Any Other Topic?
Young people are rising up - to climate change, to food supply, to political activism and so much more. As it relates to Forager, we get applications for 100’s of interns even as a small venture. I have never seen so much passion around a market in my entire life. It’s so gratifying and means we are really onto something. Gen Zers care so much about our planet and sustainability, it lights me up.
Another question I ponder is if our American Experiment will really succeed, after 200+ years? We have descended into tribalism and division and this if it continues will be our ruin. Three years before Trump was elected I read Storm Before the Storm - for 400 years Rome was a very successful Republic and then descended into factionalism, tribalism and patronage of tribal leaders. Eventually, this led Rome to become a dictatorship, and the rest is history.
What Does Success Mean To You?
I have learned over the years from founding/co-founding and/or leading a venture (5x) that what fulfills you the most is success. If you don’t have a purpose, mission, and goals, success is abstract and ephemeral.
For me, it’s seeing my vision become a reality and changing the lives of others. From evolving the $100BN plastic gift card industry to digital currency (one of the very first to do so in my past venture), to reducing our dependence on the industrial food complex to heal our planet and feed people healthier, more sustainable food through Forager, I feel that I have achieved great success through my business ventures.
David Stone’s Favorites Stack:
Books:
1. What I Saw at the Revolution: A Political Life in the Reagan Era, by Peggy Noon
2. A year of Wonder, by Geraldine Brooks
3. Crossing the Chasm, by Geoffrey Moore
Health & Fitness:
I suffer from chronic pain from playing sports and constantly pushing myself to excel, so sadly fitness is more challenging now. Currently, I work with a specialized trainer (a former Olympic biker) and use supplements to reduce inflammation and improve circulation. I also eat as much local food as possible, especially leafy greens. Local is more nutritious and has virtually no use of pesticides.
Brands:
1. Icebreaker (sustainable, merino wool clothing)
2. Proper Cloth (custom made clothing)
Consumer Products:
1. All kinds of tech (iPads, tiles, Lutron lighting systems, Sonos, Polar)
2. Natural, chemical free products like shampoo and moisturizer (free and clear)
Newsletters & Podcasts:
1. New York Times
2. The New Yorker
3. Waking Up meditation podcasts
Upcoming Vacation Spots:
1. Alsace
2. Bavaria (northern - best beer in the world and amazing less known wines)
3. Antarctica