How field insights can shape product-market fit
In this inaugural Climate Founder Series, Cynthia Wu, Co-Founder and CEO of Taro AI, shares the journey of her company, which is transforming how cities and arborists manage urban trees through AI and computer vision.
Taro AI is tackling the often-overlooked challenge of tree management, making it easier, faster, and more accurate by pre-mapping sites, helping with on-site assessments, and automating reports. As Cynthia explains, “We’re helping arborists save days of work, allowing them to focus on more critical tasks while reducing the need for tedious manual tracking.”
Cynthia, a former Googler, brings a deep background in technology and product management from her time at Google X, where she worked on energy grid projects and remote sensing tools. This experience has been foundational in shaping Taro AI’s mission to modernize infrastructure monitoring, starting with trees and eventually expanding to other aspects of urban infrastructure.
The founder’s journey
Cynthia transitioned from nearly a decade at Google to the startup world with a strong mission: to revolutionize urban tree management.
Having worked on energy grid projects and remote sensing tools at Google X, she was inspired by the potential to use AI and computer vision for sustainable solutions.
Her personal sustainability journey began after watching a video about the Pacific garbage patch, which led her to pursue a zero-waste lifestyle and eventually to launch Taro AI. As Cynthia explains, "I couldn’t unsee the wasteful ways we live, and it pushed me to create a solution for climate impact."
Her transition from a large tech company to entrepreneurship came with both challenges (like figuring out the financing aspect) and opportunities. One key factor in making the leap was shared values with her co-founder, Nate.
“The most important thing [for finding a co-founder] is shared values. It’s kind of like a relationship. You need shared values because you know that you will go through pivots, and what you work on now might just be something different in two years.”
Building the company
Taro AI was founded to solve a clear pain point: helping arborists and cities manage and monitor trees more efficiently. Cynthia and her team use AI and computer vision to pre-map sites, reducing the time arborists spend manually assessing trees. By automating key parts of the process—such as site mapping and tree health tracking—Taro AI is helping arborists save significant time on-site, with one partner reporting that they completed their work in 10 days instead of 16 thanks to the platform.
Credit: San Francisco Examiner/Cynthia Wu
“You shouldn’t overthink, you should just try. Build up your domain expertise, build up your skillset, and however you can do that, just reach out to people, ask, even if it means working for free. Just start.”
One of the challenges Taro AI initially faced was determining the right customer base. The company started by targeting cities, but Cynthia quickly realized that cities have slow decision-making processes, often requiring extensive RFPs and long approval cycles. This led Taro AI to pivot toward private tree care companies, a more agile market that allowed for faster feedback and partnership-building. "We needed beachhead customers who could act quickly, and tree care companies were the right fit for that,” Cynthia explains.
Building a brand and increasing visibility
Cynthia’s approach to marketing has evolved as her company has grown. Early on, visibility through accelerators and competitions like YES SF and Smart Futures Lab provided crucial credibility. However, she emphasizes the need to balance visibility with product development. “At the end of the day, you need to be building your product and getting customers, not just chasing awards,” she says.
Taro Al was highlighted as a #TopInnovator by the World Economic Forum.
Personal branding has also played a key role in her marketing strategy. Cynthia initially hesitated to build a public profile, but after taking a Maven course, she committed to posting regularly on LinkedIn. “You just have to get over the cringe and start sharing updates,” she advises. By doing so, she’s kept potential customers and partners engaged, creating what she describes as “a running ad for yourself without spending any money.”
“When I was first starting out, I barely posted on LinkedIn, I barely posted on social media (I started off my career in legal, actually). but that is really important when you’re trying to build a company and build a brand.”
Learning from your customers
A core pillar of Taro AI’s success has been its customer-first approach. Cynthia spent significant time in the field, walking alongside arborists, learning their pain points, and observing their workflows. This hands-on research was critical for understanding the low-tech processes many arborists still rely on, such as using pen and paper to track trees. These insights helped shape Taro AI’s product, focusing on automating the tasks that arborists found most cumbersome.
“When I first started, I would cold reach out to people. Introduce myself, don’t be scared, and just see if you can meet with them. And I went on a lot of tree walks and watched how they would assess a tree. And I learned a lot from that.”
Cynthia also stresses the importance of validating both the problem and the solution. It’s not enough to identify a pain point; you must also ensure customers are willing to pay for the solution. "Not every problem is worth solving if no one is willing to pay for it,” she cautions.
In conclusion, Cynthia Wu’s journey with Taro AI highlights the critical stages of building a climate tech company—from transitioning out of a large organization to learning from customers and finding product-market fit. By focusing on solving real-world problems and staying flexible in her approach, Cynthia has positioned Taro AI to make a significant impact in the field of urban sustainability.
Key takeaways
Shared Values are crucial when evalutating a co-founder
Start with agile, fast-responding customers
Balance brand and awareness with product development
Validate both the problem and the willingness to pay
Engage with customers directly to learn their pain points