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Jack McCarthy, co-founder & CEO of Goldleaf Farming, shares how he’s building one of the largest specialty-crop platforms in the U.S. We cover why almonds & pistachios, raising $250M+, buying 20+ farms, and scaling to ~12,000 acres.
Jack explains valuing farms by cash flow (not price per acre), managing water/climate risk, navigating commodity cycles, aligning with long-term LPs, and keeping leverage low.
Timestamps:
00:00:00 Intro
00:00:28 What Goldleaf is building
00:01:26 Jack’s background & meeting co-founder Brandon
00:04:06 Wednesdays at the almond mill; lean-startup exploration
00:05:01 Partnership: Scalepath
00:06:26 Pivot from agtech to owning farms; meeting Brandon; first investors
00:09:48 Buying the first farm (Fall 2017)
00:10:35 Lessons from the first acquisition
00:14:10 Why almonds & pistachios
00:15:51 How they value farms (cash-flow/DCF mindset)
00:17:13 Partnership: Spacebar Studios
00:18:10 Capital raising phases (friends & family → family offices)
00:19:15 Alignment with LPs; team equity & structure
00:23:09 Diversified LP base (sub-$1M checks)
00:25:47 Capital structure: lower debt, higher equity
00:28:01 Biggest risks: water & growing conditions
00:29:09 Selectivity: ~1,400 farms reviewed; 27 bought
00:30:12 Early mistakes; refocusing on water/quality
00:32:02 Jack’s advice: constant improvement; long slog; do it
00:34:12 Personal Q: family (4 kids)
00:34:35 Culture & benefits: family-first values
00:36:57 Best investment advice & favorite book (East of Eden)
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