4 minutes with… Jason Force, CEO, Iron Goat

Tell us about your company and it’s role in the Advanced Bioeconomy.

Iron Goat is an agricultural robotics company with an innovative direct-to-pellet harvester technology. Our role in the advanced bioeconomy is to provide a method to lower the harvest process cost going from energy grasses to pellet feedstock. In most cases we can produce a pellet for less than half the cost of conventional methods.

Tell us about your role and what you are focused on in the next 12 months.

Our technology is new and many people seem surprised that what we are offering is even possible. Our near term goal is to continue spreading our market message and find a group of early adopter customers and strategic partners that can help us scale from our early pilot production.

What do you feel are the most important milestones the industry must achieve in the next 5 years?  

My view of the industry is somewhat limited, but technology milestones that I believe should receive more attention than they currently have:

1) Adoption of biomass-powered robotic harvester vehicles (of course!)

2) Open-source technology efforts for micro-scale and small-scale gasifiers that are tolerant of high-ash feedstocks

If you could snap your fingers and change one thing about the Advanced Bioeconomy, what would you change? 

After attending EUBCE 2015, I found a stark contrast in the transparency of funding plans between EU efforts and US efforts. It would be great if US funding agencies had better outreach and less of what appear to be insider deals.

Of all the reasons that influenced you to join the Advanced Bioeconomy industry, what single reason stands out for you as still being compelling and important to you?  

I was looking for a way to contribute to the greater good. I feel like my background in mobile robotics has a lot to offer in advancing the bioeconomy and reducing our overall carbon impact to the environment.

Where are you from? 

I am a Northern Virginia native, and have always been there.

What was your undergraduate major in college, and where did you attend? Why did you choose that school and that pathway?

I received an Electrical Engineering degree from George Mason University in Fairfax, VA. I have now returned to get my Masters, also in EE. I didn’t have many choice for my undergraduate pick, but I returned to GMU because of its renewed interest in innovation and entrepreneurship.

Who do you consider your mentors – could be personal, business, or just people you have read about and admire. What have you learned from them?

I have two people that have made large contributions to my life: my wife Trish, and the director of the GMU center for innovation and entrepreneurship David Miller.

My wife teaches me constantly that considering multiple points of view on a subject can sometimes take time, and some things that seem like details can be important.

David Miller introduced me the lean startup business process which in many ways has transformed my life. Coming from an engineering background I did not have extensive customer-facing duties. Being able to reduce ideas and understand people’s needs has made a big difference in business.

What’s the biggest lesson you ever learned during a period of adversity?  

Quitting is usually not the answer.

What hobbies do you pursue, away from your work in the industry?

The industry provides me plenty of hobbies. What’s more fun than tuning a gasifier?

What are 3 books you’d want to have with you, if you were stranded on a desert island

Survival methods handbook – desert island edition

Biomass Power for the World – Vienna edition

An invitation to 3D vision

What books or articles are on your reading list right now, or you just completed and really enjoyed?  

Biomass Power for the World – Vienna edition

What’s your favorite city or place to visit, for a holiday?

I’m a stay-cationer. Where’s my computer and VR goggle