The Aurelia journey began in May, sparked by a chance conversation about climate change and its impact on Italian viticulture. The seed of an idea began to germinate, alongside a desire to take my life in a new direction.
A ridiculous decision given succour by a bottle of Brunello was made. I’m going to start an AgTech company specialising in Viticulture, I told myself, and yep, with zero knowledge of either. There’s no ‘genius’ like a drunk genius.
My inner critic soon sobered up; the bastard woke me at 3am every night for the next month. “Don’t be an idiot. That’s ridiculous! What do you know about AgTech, or viticulture for that matter? Stick to what you know!”
But what if I don’t want to? What if ‘doing what I know’ is more of what led me to where I am now? What if my soul is screaming at me for change? What if ‘more of what I know’ sounds boring as f**k?
Shit, I thought, there it is again. No, not the F-bomb; my impulsive, optimistic inner voice telling me to ignore my rational brain and just go for it. Not for the first time recently, I wondered if I was making a huge mistake. “Everything will be ok”, he whispered to me; you’ve got this. It didn’t help that some brilliant people appeared to agree with the impulsive nutter.
So, I went for it.
I started an AgTech company.
And then I shat my pants because I didn’t know anything about AgTech or viticulture - or at least I didn’t then. I’d started a company in a field (forgive the pun) using tech I knew nowt about in a country I hadn’t been to for thirty years. Of course, I needed an underwear change. Who wouldn’t?
I mean, what could go wrong?
A lot.
Fortunately, it hasn’t.
My inner critic is about as well-informed as a turkey on the 24th of December. I was right to go for it. There was nothing to lose. It’s now apparent I had everything to gain, absolutely everything.
We haven’t made a penny yet, but that’s ok. It’s not about the money right now; people love what we’re doing, so that will come later, no doubt. I’m making new friends and connections and learning new stuff every day. Blockchain, LoRa, IoT, digital twins, GIS, mapping, climate modelling, spectral imaging, and machine learning, not to mention the science and process of growing grapes and making wine. I’ve met brilliant people at the cutting edge of their fields and learned more in the last six months than in the previous five years, including about myself.
I’m building something special and It’s invigorating.
We’re still working on the details, but in the spring of next year, Aurelia will deploy a prototype distributed network of IoT sensors across a dozen vineyards in Tuscany. The data collected will feed into a sophisticated mapping solution, combined with climate modelling and digital twin technology, to create the first truly connected vineyard intelligence platform. By leveraging predictive intelligence, this platform will empower farmers to proactively mitigate the impacts of climate change.
2023 nearly broke me, but it didn’t. I have a new team around me, and we’re moving fast and purposefully. I feel my future calling.
Lessons learned:
Ignore your inner critic (they’re probably a twat anyway).
If you feel like you need a change, you probably do, so make it.
I fucking dare you.
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