Marcus is a deep systems thinker with a strong entrepreneurial drive, on a mission to disrupt the status quo.
He studied philosophy, religious studies and business, and is a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. These might not seem like obvious credentials for your regular food and farming business start-up… but then that’s not what this is.
New Foundation Farms is about a fundamental change of food and farming as we know it – change needs disruption, disruption needs new thinking. Enter systems thinkers with an entrepreneurial track record and start-up experience.
Marcus co-founded the vertical online marketplace windpoweronline.com when he was still at university. This led him into the worlds of venture capital and biotechnology. After moving from Germany to England, he established and scaled direct to customer sales of organic meat boxes for the UK’s leading organic vegetable box brand Riverford, helping it grow into the huge brand it is today.
He also co-founded Vu Online Ltd which is an award-winning ecommerce site development business. Marcus held the position of Chairman of the Board and Chair of the Executive Leadership team at an independent co-ed Steiner school, leading the school from the brink of bankruptcy to strong financial health with a broader educational offer.
He was part of the team that established a Masters programme researching Agroecology at Crossfields Institute, and he also led the planning and bid phase of a biodynamic community supported agriculture scheme (CSA) on the Dartington Hall Estate in Devon.
In establishing New Foundation Farms, Marcus has more recently co-authored a substantial research piece on the economic dimensions and potential of agroecological approaches for the Food, Farming & Countryside Commission. The analysis was all done with a view to the creation of an Agroecology Development Bank in the UK.
He is co-founder of the Holos Earth Project, a gathering space for leading edge holistic thinkers and practitioners building an international network, capable of and committed to, changing the discourse and practice of leadership and governance in the face of the metacrisis of global challenges humanity faces today.
Marcus brings a unique combination of high-level academia and a proven track record of applied action to New Foundation Farms.
Introduction film
PODCAST EPISODE #7
Glen Burrows talks to Marcus Link, co-founder and collaborative CEO, about the origins of New Foundation Farms. In a wide ranging conversation, they talk about the possibility of human beings as a beneficial keystone species and what it has to do with New Foundation Farms. The discuss software models that optimise for the symbiosis between economy and ecology, the operations of purpose-built meat processing facilities, holism and reductionism, and how philosophy without action is meaningless and action without purpose can be deadly.
They also discuss the mindset needed to create a truly regenerative food system and predictions for the future growth of this type of nature based farming as New Foundation Farms sets out to offer a new foundation for society based in a regenerative approach to food and farming, at scale.