Tom Buman AGREN

Agren’s  Leadership  Background    Farm  Backgrounds   USDA  Natural  Resources  Conservation  Service    

  Combined  24  years    Six  different  field  offices    Lots  of  contacts  

 Degrees  in  Agronomy  &  Animal  Science  

Agren’s  Background    July  1,  1996   Agren  started  as  a  consulting  firm   Work  fell  out  of  the  sky   Added  staff  

  Family  business  

During  Last  15  Years   Expanded  list  of  clients   Diversified  consulting  work   But  still…endless  pursuit  of  work  

Desire  For  Change  

 Wouldn’t  it  be  nice  to  be  diversified  where,  in  addition  to  consulting,  we  would  have  something  to  sell.      

Stars  Line  Up   The  idea  

  If  we  just  had  high  quality  topographic  data…   The  opportunity  

  Iowa  DNR  purchased  LiDAR   The  funding  

 NRCS  Issues  Conservation  Innovation  Grant  RFP   The  knowledge  

  Past  experience  

The  Product   Great  reviews    Increased  efficiency   Used  new  technology   No  one  else  doing  it   A  vision  for  the  future  

Changing  The  Business  Model   Agren  =  Consulting   Work  done  with  public  funds   NRCS  needed  this  technology   But  NRCS  was  not  interested  

Something  To  Sell    Software  as  a  Service  (SaaS)  Model   Where  to  begin  

  Customers    Knowledge   Desire    Competition  

We  Got  Lucky    Iowa  Department  of  Economic  Development  

 Call  Mike!  

What  Mike  Taught  Us  

Everything  Else!  

Intellectual  Property   Ownership  of  IP—Contact  an  attorney   Do  contracts  to  retain  IP  ownership   Patents,  Trademarks,  Copyrights   What  will  past  customers  you  developed  the  IP  in  the  past  care?    Did  you  ask?  

Leverage  

 Products  build  on  past  services   Products  will  build  on  future  products  

  Content    Code    

 Will  it  add  cash  flow  and  smooth  cash  flow  

Scale   Growth  within  original  market   Additional  markets   Can  Agren  support  the  growth  

IdenGfiable  Market   We  could  identify  our  market   We  know  our  customers   We  can  directly  contact  our  customers   We  knew  how  to  talk  to  our  customers  

Time  To  Market   We  had  the  time  

 No  competition   Working  with  government  

 We  knew  the  features    Required   Optional   Nice  to  have  

Pricing  The  Product   Where  to  start   Could  we  be  competitive  

 What  evidence  did  we  have   Testing  the  price  point  

  Benchmarks   Cash-­‐forward  business  model   Auto-­‐renewals  

Time  To  Cash  Flow   How  much  cash  did  we  need  

 Where  to  get  the  cash   How  quickly  can  we  cash  flow   Do  we  develop  more  tools   Can  the  “Service  Sector”  provide  the  float  

RelaGonship  In  The  Market   Brand  recognition  

 Would  we  be  recognized   Current  customers  

 Would  customers  (NRCS)  accept  the  product   Current  competition    

 Other  vendors   Collaborators  

  Support  in  the  market  

Selling  Model   Our  selling  model    Sales  training/experience    Leverage  with  partnerships  

MarkeGng  Plan   We  have  a  clear  plan  

 Need  perseverance   Need  focus  

  Staying  in  contact/Customer  Relationship  Management    Tracking  sales  cycle    Automated  sales  

 Realistic  projections  

Time  &  Money  (Do  you  know)   Development  costs    Legal  costs  for  IP  on  contracts   Marketing  costs   Hosting  or  other  support  costs    Support   Marketing    Services   Administration  &  Billing   Updates  to  stay  competitive  

Long-­‐term  Decisions   Do  we  keep  the  service  sector  

 How  long   Do  we  keep  the  product  sector  

  Bring  programming  in  house    Adequate  resources  

 Do  we  keep  both    Can  you  do  everything