From http://www.bizci.org/biz-resources/

1. Tom Buman
AGREN

2. 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

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

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

5. Desire
For
Change
 Wouldn’t
it
be
nice
to
be
diversified
where,
in
addition
to
consulting,
we
would
have
something
to
sell.

6. 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

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

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

9. Something
To
Sell
 Software
as
a
Service
(SaaS)
Model
 Where
to
begin
 Customers
 Knowledge
 Desire
 Competition

10. We
Got
Lucky
 Iowa
Department
of
Economic
Development
Call
Mike!

11. What
Mike
Taught
Us
Everything
Else!

12. 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?

13. Leverage
 Products
build
on
past
services
 Products
will
build
on
future
products
 Content
 Code
 Will
it
add
cash
flow
and
smooth
cash
flow

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

15. 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

16. Time
To
Market
 We
had
the
time
 No
competition
 Working
with
government
 We
knew
the
features
 Required
 Optional
 Nice
to
have

17. 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

18. 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

19. 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

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

21. MarkeGng
Plan
 We
have
a
clear
plan
 Need
perseverance
 Need
focus
 Staying
in
contact/Customer
Relationship
Management
 Tracking
sales
cycle
 Automated
sales
 Realistic
projections

22. 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

23. 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