Podcasts · This Week in Startups

Danny Bernstein left Big Tech to fund farm-bots | E2310

· 1 h 01 min · Episode 2310

Episode Danny Bernstein left Big Tech to fund farm-bots | E2310

0:00 1:00:53

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Today's show:

*America posted 400,000 farm jobs last year, and fewer than 1% got a single domestic applicant. Danny Bernstein of Reservoir believes it's time to start automating this backbreaking labor, like picking stone fruit in 110°F temperatures. So he built the world's first on-farm robotics incubator on 40 acres of California farmland. Here's why he argues that automating farms isn't just a new opportunity, it's a national security issue.

PLUS Jason responded to Gal Shir's viral "AI beat me at design" tweet, got into a kerfuffle with Figma CEO Dylan Field, and wound up making a brand new J-Trade. AND we're talking about the Dept. of Education's new "do no harm" policy, the Brown University AI cheating chart that's blowing up social media, and Lon has fresh streaming recommendations in an all-new Off Duty.

Guest:

Danny Bernstein on X: https://x.com/bernsteind

Reservoir Farms: https://reservoir.co/

Reservoir VC: https://reservoir.vc/

Relevant Links:

Bonsai Robotics: https://bonsairobotics.ai/

Root AI acquired by AppHarvest: https://www.therobotreport.com/root-ai-acquired-by-appharvest-for-60m/

John Deere: https://www.deere.com/en-us/

Western Growers Association: https://www.wga.com/

Tanimura & Antle: https://www.taproduce.com/

Naturipe Berry Growers: https://www.naturipefarms.com/

Driscoll's: https://www.driscolls.com/

Taylor Farms: https://www.taylorfarms.com/

The Wonderful Company: https://www.wonderful.com/

Capital Factory: https://www.capitalfactory.com/

Gal Shir "quitting design" post: https://x.com/galshirart/status/2074854464729629060

Dylan Field response to Gal Shir: https://x.com/zoink/status/2075290218660298807

JCal response to Field and "J-Trade": https://x.com/Jason/status/2075481565115654305

Figma: https://www.figma.com/

Dept. of Education: "Do No Harm" policy announcement: https://www.ed.gov/about/news/press-release/us-department-of-education-issues-final-rule-hold-all-colleges-and-universities-accountable-low-earning-programs

NPR coverage on Dept. of Education earnings test: https://www.npr.org/2026/06/30/nx-s1-5835631/turner-camhi-do-no-harm-college-loans

Paul Graham "cheating chart" post: https://x.com/paulg/status/2075031014628311236

Off Duty Recommendations:

"Lioness" on Paramount+: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNRQ0PR4a8U

"Mayor of Kingstown" on Paramount+: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkQzvwxOp0s

"Human Vapor" on Netflix: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xe6dRKVAb8

"Sugar" on Apple TV+: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twvPGxuEOEA

"Wind River" (now on Netflix): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZgN0dpFoaE

"Not Fade Away" by Peter Barton & Laurence Shames: https://www.amazon.com/Not-Fade-Away-Short-Lived/dp/1579546889

Timestamps:

0:00 Jason's ongoing World Tour

1:43 Danny Bernstein joins live from Reservoir Farms

3:38 What is "specialty crop agriculture"

5:15 Why strawberries are the "white whale" of AgTech

6:55 The labor crisis in farming

9:20 Why AgTech never scaled

9:51 NetSuite - For the first time, you can try NetSuite Next for free. If your revenues are at least in the seven figures, go to https://NetSuite.ai/TWIST

10:51 Inside Reservoir's business model

17:44 Agriculture as national security

20:09 Squarespace - Turn your idea into a beautiful website! Go to https://www.squarespace.com/twist for a free trial. When you're ready to launch, use offer code TWIST to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain.

22:15 Did AI beat a designer at design?

30:56 YSecurity - The on-demand security team for startups. Need enterprise-grade security without hiring a $400k CISO? YSecurity gives you 40+ expert engineers, matched to exactly what you need, by the hour, with your first six hours completely free. Go to https://YSecurity.io/TWIST

37:23 The "do no harm" college earnings test

43:27…

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