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Rob is an established international venture capital investor. He is currently leveraging…
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Rob Trice shared thisWe are deeply grateful to Senator Josh Becker for honoring Rob’s life and legacy with this “Adjourn in Memory” on the California State Senate floor. This tribute reflects the lasting impact Rob had on his colleagues, community, and all who had the privilege of knowing and working with him. On behalf of Rob’s family and colleagues, we share this moment with appreciation and remembrance, and hope it serves as a meaningful reflection of the difference he made in so many lives. Michael Rose, Chris Taylor, Katie Grimble, Wendy Millet https://bit.ly/4wiEdqvMedia on Demand | California State SenateMedia on Demand | California State Senate
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Rob Trice shared thisA message from Rob’s colleagues… We are heartbroken to share the passing of our dear friend, partner, mentor — Rob Trice. Rob passed away on February 19, 2026 after a brief illness while traveling for work in Europe. He was the driving force behind Better Food Ventures, The Mixing Bowl, and COSSAF, where he worked tirelessly to strengthen our food and agriculture system. In 2013, Rob saw the opportunity to use digital technology to improve the agrifood value chain. He pursued that vision wearing many hats: venture investor, ecosystem builder, advisor, board member, thought leader, and partner in innovation. In those roles, his efforts spanned from idea hacks with small gatherings of farmers and ranchers, to investing in more than 25 founders with bold ideas, to speaking in front of large international audiences at World AgriTech in San Francisco or Fruit Logistica in Berlin. Rob believed that the world was a complex place. He had the ability to see both the high-level vision and the detailed steps required to enact change. But most importantly – he was pragmatic, often stating that to effect change we had to “crawl, walk, then run”, and that incremental change was better than taking no action at all. Rob was impatient; he did not want to change the world in 2050, he wanted to have impact now. One of his favorite quotes was from Teddy Roosevelt’s 1910 speech Citizenship in a Republic, “It is not the critic who counts…the credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again…who spends himself in a worthy cause…” Rob was always in the arena. To know Rob was to know there was not a microphone he didn’t love. He always had an insightful perspective to voice, and questions to ask that pushed others to think deeper. He had serious intentions, but didn’t take himself too seriously. He could be silly (and loved his own creative acronyms), always laughing with a mischievous smile! Rob was warm, compassionate, and gregarious — a person whose presence brought people together. Rob’s legacy will continue through all the start-ups he backed, the community networks he nurtured, and the ideas he fostered. But most importantly, it lives on in all of us who had the gift of knowing him for far too brief a time. We extend our deepest condolences to Rob’s wife, family, friends, and loved ones. We are grateful for his life, his leadership, and his friendship. The world is better because he was here. To honor Rob, we invite you to share remembrances for his wife and family. Please email RememberingRob@mixingbowlhub.com with memories and photos (feel free to share this with others). Plans for a celebration of Rob’s life will be announced by the family in due course. Rest in peace, Rob. You’ll forever be missed. Thank you for everything. Michael Rose, Chris Taylor, Katie Grimble, Wendy Millet
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Rob Trice shared thisGenerally, I am enjoying my time at Fruit Logistica in Berlin. It is giving us a great chance to talk to people about the incredible work we are doing on Supply Chain of The Future with lthe International Fresh Produce Association . However, I was attacked by a broccolini today. COSSAF The Mixing Bowl Drew Zabrocki Martha King Michael Rose Katie Grimble Steve Alaerts Wendy Millet
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Rob Trice shared thisThank you for the blog postJaclyn (Krymowski) De Candio . See you in Fort Worth!Rob Trice shared thisMy latest blog is proudly brought to you buy the Animal AgTech Innovation Summit in collaboration with Duane Cantrell, CEO & Managing Partner at Fulcrum Global Capital, and Rob Trice Partner at Better Food Ventures, in a discussion on the role of venture capital in livestock technology. The full piece is linked below -- and don't forget my discount for registration is still available to all my followers. Just use HERDBOOK10 at checkout!
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Rob Trice shared thisThis photo is of two women for whom I have incredible respect and admiration. They had an on-stage discussion at California Natural Resources Agency’s first-ever Nature-based Solutions Summit today. On the left is Karen Ross, Secretary of California Department of Food and Agriculture. On the right is Wendy Millet, Director of TomKat Ranch Educational Foundation and, more importantly, my wife.
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Rob Trice shared thisThe approach Walt Duflock and Ben Palone are taking at Western Growers wrt specialty crop harvest automation—embracing pre-competitive collective impact and open source technologies — aligns with what we at COSSAF (The Collaboratory for Open Software & Services in Ag and Food) believe we need to see more of and serves as a leading example of what associations representing food growers should step up to do to lead their sectors. Michael Rose Drew Zabrocki Martha King Katie GrimbleRob Trice shared thisAgTech Ecosystem - I am excited to share the new approach that Ben Palone and I and the Western Growers Innovation are taking for specialty crop harvest automation in 2026 (and why). I encourage everyone to read the entire article to get the details. Here is the short version: 1) Ag labor continues to be challenging (data and graphs in the article). VC has dropped 80%+ in 4 years. The progress we have is in non-harvest automation solutions like weeding, spraying, harvest assist, and thinning. This is 1/3 of the 850M hours that growers paid $16.3B for in 2024. We have a clear path to this going from $250M in 2025 to $1B in total revenue in 2030 and this segment should continue receiving VC funding. We forecast this segment as 16-20% automated by 2030. 2) Harvest automation is the remaining 2/3 of the hours and we are making very limited progress in automating it. We need non-VC sources of capital for harvest because there are few if any success stories and fewer exits. 3) As we looked for answers, the California Strawberry Commission (CSC) was front and center. They've done a great job of using industry funds to pay for professional engineers that lead student teams at Cal Poly that have gotten three automation solutions through the R&D process and all 3 are being offered by central coast OEMs that build, sell, and support them. 4) We like much of the CSC approach and we are embracing the grower collaborative capital, open source, and non-VC R&D model that they have embraced. We have deviated by choosing to work with individual growers or syndicates on our first project - iceberg lettuce harvest automation - instead of an Association or Commission. For the growers that put up risk capital, they get an exclusivity period and most-favored nation (MFN) pricing status in exchange for risk capital. 5) The really big change was the decision to go with a Product Requirements Document (PRD) and Request for Proposal (RFP) process that Western Growers is funding because we believe that the level of technical skills required for harvest automation requires more than student teams can provide at this time. So we will define the product to build and a process for OEM responses. We hope to have this done by mid-July with a sprint process with a few likely winners so we can pick a winner and a spend amount. There's a long way to go from here and we will do it collaboratively and in broad daylight. We look forward to the conversation! AgTech Alchemy Rhishi P. Sachi Desai Ben Palone Sean Sundberg Greg Christensen Danny Bernstein Rob Trice Louisa Burwood-Taylor Jennifer Marston Michael Hirtzer Sara Wyant Jerry Hagstrom Todd Fitchette Rob Dongoski Adam Bergman Audre Kapacinskas Sumeeta Salvador Mark S. Brooks Howard Chao N. Bruce Pickering Christine (Robbins) Birdsong Shane Thomas Damian Mason Todd Thurman Tim Nuss Tyler Nuss Sarah Nolet Tim Hammerich Tim Hearden Norm Groot Jynel Gularte Maialen CAZENAVE Gwendoline Legrand Gabriel YoutseySpecialty Crop Harvest Automation – Charting A New Path In 2026Specialty Crop Harvest Automation – Charting A New Path In 2026
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Rob Trice shared thisI am looking forward to being at FRUIT LOGISTICA in Berlin next week and showing the remarkable progress everyone involved in the Supply Chain of The Future has made in the last year and where sharing where we go next!Rob Trice shared this🇩🇪 We've spent the past year building tools the industry actually asked for: ✅ Shelf-life prediction that works at scale ✅ Dynamic pricing frameworks that protect margins ✅ Data sharing that stays industry-controlled ✈️ Next week we're bringing that progress to Berlin at Fruit Logistica 2026 (Feb. 4-6) 👉 Come find us📍 IFPA Stand – Hall 5.2, B-61. We'll be there all three days. 🥝 If you're working on the future of fresh produce logistics—let's connect. Come talk about what's working—and what's next. #FruitLogistica #SupplyChainFuture #FreshProduce #FL26 #CollaborativeInnovation Drew Zabrocki Martha King Rob Trice Steve Alaerts Michael Laws COSSAF TOTEM LTD FRUIT LOGISTICA International Fresh Produce Association
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Rob Trice shared thisI proudly represent COSSAF on the Supply Chain of The Future’s Executive Advisory Council and am looking forward to participating in Fruit Logistica in Berlin 2/4-6 with Drew Zabrocki and Martha King to further our efforts. LMK if you will be in Berlin as well then!Rob Trice shared this🥝 Fruit Logistica 2026—we're coming back to Berlin! 🇩🇪 Drew Zabrocki, Martha King, Rob Trice, Michael Laws, Steve Alaerts. Full schedules. Real conversations. We're meeting with: 👉 Retail partners validating shelf-life prediction pilots. 👉Carrier teams testing operational integration. 👉Innovation leaders building what the industry actually needs. 200+ organizations. Industry-owned. No vendor dependency. 📍 IFPA Stand – Hall 5.2, B-61 | Berlin, Feb 4-6 The real work happens face-to-face. Let's talk. #FruitLogistica2026 #SCOTF #SupplyChainInnovation #IndustryOwned
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Rob Trice shared thisYou may have IQ and EQ but do you have SI for AI? My friend Ted Ladd and his colleague Priyanka Shrivastava, PhD for Hult International Business School argue that in the era of AI we need “Skeptical Intelligence” as a fourth pillar. “Skeptical Intelligence (SI) is the capacity to interrogate claims with disciplined curiosity and intellectual humility. It is not reflexive contrarianism. It is not cynicism dressed up as rigor. It is a practical operating system for decision-makers who want the upside of AI without sleepwalking into the downside. SI operationalizes the often loosely applied concept of critical thinking into a measurable, teachable framework.” And “If IQ helps you solve the puzzle and EQ helps you read the room, Skeptical Intelligence helps you validate that you’re solving the right problem with the right solution based on the right data.” While I appreciate the incredible power of AI, SI gives a name to the growing sense of irritation I get while sorting through AI-generated blather or analysis that I feel is missing important context. Michael Rose Wendy Millet Katie Grimble Drew Zabrocki Martha King Jess Blackshaw Laura Ladd Kevin Deierling https://lnkd.in/gZYEXu5tSkeptical Intelligence: Disciplined Doubt for AI-Powered InnovationSkeptical Intelligence: Disciplined Doubt for AI-Powered Innovation
Rob Trice commented on a post
9mo
Looking forward to being there Martha King and Sara Wyant!
Experience & Education
Volunteer Experience
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Member, Honor the Harvest Advisory Board
US FARMERS & RANCHERS ALLIANCE
- 3 years 3 months
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Member, College of Food, Ag & Environmental Sciences Dean's Advisory Board
California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo
- Present 10 years 11 months
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Founding Advisor
University of California, Davis Innovation Institute for Food & Health
- Present 12 years 11 months
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Volunteer Cook, Monthly Pancake Breakfast
Pescadero Community Church
- 9 years 1 month
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Co-founder, Silicon Valley Professional Chapter
Net Impact
Net Impact inspires a new generation to use their careers to tackle the world's toughest social and environmental problems. We empower student and professional leaders to act locally
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Co-founding Member, Young Leaders United
United Way Silicon Valley
- 2 years
Launched as the Young Leaders Society, now the Young Leaders United (YLU) is comprised of emerging leaders under the age of 40 who actively engage in philanthropy, volunteerism and networking in Silicon Valley. YLU is designed to identify the next generation of community and business leaders, to introduce them to influential philanthropists and corporate executives and to prepare them for their role in serving our community.
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