The High-EQ Founder by Renita Kalhorn
The High-EQ Founder With Renita Kalhorn
Revolutionizing Farming for Millions of Smallholder Farmers, Why He Decided to Bootstrap Rather Than Take VC Funding and How A Generosity Mindset Led To Meeting Former President Obama
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Revolutionizing Farming for Millions of Smallholder Farmers, Why He Decided to Bootstrap Rather Than Take VC Funding and How A Generosity Mindset Led To Meeting Former President Obama

With Jehiel Oliver, founder and CEO of Hello Tractor

Jehiel Oliver is changing the lives of smallholder farmers in 18 countries.

It started 10 years ago in Sub-Saharan Africa, where 60% of crops are plowed by hand.

That means there’s a 90% gap between what Africa’s smallholder farmers could be producing and what they’re actually producing.

But what if, Jehiel thought, you could connect Africa’s small-scale farmers with tractor owners — in the same way rideshare apps connect riders with drivers?

He founded Hello Tractor to connect small-scale farmers with tractor owners to do just that.

In the latest episode of The High-EQ Founder, Jehiel shares:

  • Why he decided not to take VC funding (even though they were using credit cards to make payroll) and what he focused on instead

  • The hard decision he had to make when COVID wiped out their revenue streams and how they bounced back to have their most productive year ever

  • How being prepared for opportunity led to moderating a panel discussion with not one, but two sitting presidents, including President Obama which then led to a series of incredible strategic opportunities for Hello Tractor

Connect with Jehiel: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jehiel/

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The High-EQ Founder by Renita Kalhorn
The High-EQ Founder With Renita Kalhorn
This is the High-EQ Founder, a podcast about how emotional intelligence can help you evolve faster and level up as a leader. Through interviews with founders and solo shares, deep tech leadership coach Renita Kalhorn shares nuanced insights and practical strategies for making hard decisions, extracting more learning from your mistakes and maximizing your ”return on luck” — so you can evolve faster and lead better.