Tech Ranch Austin was chosen to host the exchange project because of the previous work of Matthew Wegener, president and CEO of Lincoln, Neb., based software company ISoft Data Systems and Kevin Hagemoser, the founder of the L5 group, an education and networking group for entrepreneurs.  Wegener and Hagemoser wanted to find an organization similar to the Turbine Flats Project, a Lincoln-based entrepreneurial community founded by Wegener.  Both Turbine Flats and Tech Ranch Austin are designed to have a combination business and community space where ideas and talents can co-exist for the betterment of businesses in these buildings and in the greater entrepreneurial ecosystem.

The Nebraska side of the event was facilitated by Hagemoser in concert with the L5 Group members who joined in (Wegener, Matthew Sherman and Calvin Pappas) and L5 Group member and sponsor Collingsworth and his Cessna CJ3 Citation.

“I’m very supportive of entrepreneurship and especially entrepreneurship in Nebraska,” Collingsworth said.

Support from the Texas side came from Austin Gunter, a brand ambassador for Austin-based Word Press hosting company WP Engine. According to Hagemoser, the event was a success and Gunter was a big part of it.

“Austin Gunter and the Tech Ranch community provided a terrific first experience that will likely make the Entrepreneurial Exchange Studies Project a recurring event once more successful entrepreneurs see the benefits of connecting with other regions for the acceleration of business ideas in Nebraska like Breck Collingsworth did,” Hagemoser said.

The one-day event was designed to facilitate the sharing of best practices between Texas and Nebraska entrepreneurs as well as to start a dialogue between the entrepreneurs of the two states and promote business interactions. According to Pappas, of Selectout.org, the event was successful from an educational standpoint.

“I definitely learned quite a few things, especially about first customers and how you want to make sure that they are treated extremely well and that you create something they want and use,” Pappas said.

When the Nebraskans arrived at the roundtable they were introduced to eight growing firms inside Tech Ranch as well as a few entrepreneurs who had since graduated from the Austin-based facility. In addition to getting an introduction to Austin entrepreneurship the L5 members also got an opportunity to describe and demonstrate some of what they do back in Nebraska.

“They would turn the tables on us,” Pappas said. “They’d say, ‘Hey! Why don’t you pitch to us real quick?’”

The give-and-take was a success for both the Nebraska and Texas entrepreneurs but also for a few angels. The Nebraska Angels, who did not have a representative present, garnered a potential investment opportunity out of the event in the form of an Austin-based startup geared toward organizing volunteer networks. The Nebraska Angels declined to reveal the name of the business but acknowledged several members are interested and that the company will likely receive Nebraska Angel investment by the end of the month.

“Because we knew the L5 Group we got into a great deal, and we’re going to invest in it,” Nebraska Angels President Bart Dillashaw said. “I feel lucky to get access to this company.”

The next L5 Group Entrepreneurial Exchange Project is tentatively planned for May of this year and the location has not been finalized. At least one entrepreneur who was on the L5 Group Entrepreneurial Exchange Project has expressed interest in going on another one.

“Austin was great. I learned quite a bit down there,” Pappas said. “It was definitely a great opportunity and an opportunity like this in Austin or any other city is something I would definitely consider.”

If you are interested in being included in the next L5 Group Entrepreneurial Exchange Project please contact Hagemoser at L5Group@yahoo.com for consideration.

In today’s world, social media can shrink the distance between two people down to the space between one’s fingertips and a keyboard. Frank Klesitz of Vyral Marketing in Omaha has taken the capabilities of social media and put them to work for business owners who are looking to keep in touch with their customers and increase referrals.

A business owner who uses Vyral Marketing will film short educational videos of himself or herself giving tips or information that would be relevant to their clientele. Klesitz and his team at Vyral then take that video, edit it and create a blog in which to post the video. Vyral also does the work of writing blog entries, updating social media accounts and sending the videos out to business contacts.

Klesitz explained that his team is able to track who watches the videos and then use that information to provide feedback to the business owner. Vyral also sends “targeted media” and other information to the top video users and the business owner’s other contacts.

To any business owner, Klesitz says there are three main ways to expand and grow a business: acquire new customers, increase transactions or get a customer to buy more frequently. Vyral’s focus is to “market inwardly,” using current customers as a resource for referrals and continuing business.

After a personal fitness company failed in 2008, Klesitz turned to the real estate business for a fresh start. He was considering a career as a real estate agent. As he met prospective homebuyers, he realized he “needed a way to keep in touch with everyone.” He focused on developing a list of contacts, and then doing his best to maintain communication with his network.

By attending various fundraising, networking and charity events, Klesitz built a list of potential clients. He asked each person if he could send him or her updates regarding the housing market throughout the year. Twice a month, he filmed a video of himself with two to three minutes’ worth of educational tips or updates, which he would then post to his blog and send to each person on his growing contact list. Klesitz also posted the videos on various social networking websites that his contacts used on a regular basis. Eventually, he saw his method as a way to help other businesses grow.

“I realized I could package what I was doing,” Klesitz said.

Klesitz attended seminars and classes and read multiple books on how to build the system needed to get his idea off the ground. He was “very fortunate” in that he encountered no major speed bumps along way. In June 2009, Vyral Marketing opened for business in Omaha.

One major component of Vyral Marketing is the “ACE system,” a technique that the company follows with each client. Business owners should “add, create and encourage,” Klesitz said. By adding new contacts every day, creating educational content that customers will want and need and encouraging referrals and repeat sales with existing customers, business owners can expand their business using Vyral Marketing.

As an entrepreneur, nearly every minute of each day for Klesitz has been spent seeking ways to find new customers. He has long asked the question, “How could I possibly convince people to give me money?” His answer: survey customers to find their frustrations, and then find ways to solve them.

“When it comes to entrepreneurship, so many people try and come up with a cool thing, and then try and make it into a business,” Klesitz said.

By identifying customers’ frustrations and creating ways to solve them, he explained that business owners could meet an existing need and further their company.

Klesitz has also seen many business owners working in the front lines of their companies. To Klesitz, as a business owner one should not be “doing what you’re selling.”

“That’s what you have staff for,” Klesitz said.

A business owner’s focus should be on going out and getting new customers, as that is where the money comes from to push each company forward, he said. It’s in the area of finding new customers that Vyral can step in and coach a business owner.

Small business owners who are able to “educate with expertise” are a good fit for Vyral, Klesitz said. Professionals who can create educational content that is useful and desired by their customers can produce quality video content with Vyral.

With regards to the demographics of Vyral Marketing users, Klesitz said the age range of clients is “across the board.” Younger entrepreneurs may recognize the importance of using social media to reach customers, but they don’t often have the time to do it. Vyral becomes a “staff hire,” Klesitz said. Older business owners usually need coaching and someone to provide direction in how to work with the various social media outlets.

Klesitz is not discouraged by the constant growth and change in the world of social media. To him, it is only a “delivery mechanism” or even a “carrier pigeon” for communicating with customers.

“Everyone worries about what they say on social media,” Klesitz said. In his opinion, business owners should be worrying about where their customers are.

To do this, he suggests that companies take their top 100 customers, find what social media they are using, and focus their efforts there. Klesitz sees email and Facebook as two “heavy hitters.”

“If your customers are there, you need to be there,” Klesitz said.

The original idea for the company began when owners Jen Carlson and Josh Shear, owners of Straw, Sticks and Bricks, a green materials supply company, saw an opportunity to provide a high-quality, locally sourced product to their customers and a scalable business.

“What we saw was a lack of availability of green materials in our community,” Carlson said. This was accompanied by customers who wanted custom countertops, an order that could be fulfilled by Straw, Sticks and Bricks.

The process begins with the collected aggregate. Milestone source their aggregate from a 60-mile radius, from places such as Goodwill, Midlands Recycling and from individuals as well. The aggregate gets crushed and sized into the appropriate size. Different types and colors of glass get crushed differently, allowing for greater control during the manufacturing process. Once crushed, it is sorted and kept in storage for future projects. Customers can also supply their own aggregate.

As each order comes in, the aggregate is weighed and mixed with a resin base. This combination gets poured into a form and vibrated to release any air bubbles. Once the slab cures, it is checked for proper thickness, polished and is ready for fabrication and installation.

Installation in the Bob Devaney Sports Center

As time went by, Milestone became more and more of a priority for Carlson and Shear. In January of 2010, Straw, Sticks and Bricks took as little as 5 percent of their operating time. Now, Milestone demands all their time. The goal for Carlson and Shear is to offer their composite surfaces in a 500-mile radius market. If proper market conditions exist after that point, they may consider franchising the business. The current market breakdown is as much commercial as it is residential right now.

As with any venture, there have been challenges. Because of the cost of the large equipment needed to make the composite surfaces, initial funding was an issue.

“Some of our newer equipment came from a company in Texas that was too heavy on research and development,” Carlson said. This balance between R&D and production has also been a distinct challenge for Milestone. The desire to improve while trying to keep putting a product out has involved a lot of trial and error.

Growth as a business has also been a challenge. Being a small company, Carlson said, Milestone is trying to convince architects that they can handle large projects. This increased commercial workload would be combined with the residential customer base that Milestone serves. Carlson noted that the residential customers love the small business nature, locally sourced components and the green intent of Milestone Inspired Composites.

One thing that has greatly helped Milestone grow was the Angel Investment Tax Credit recently enacted by the State of Nebraska. This tax credit allowed them to attract outside investment – an investment, Carlson noted, that wouldn’t have happened without the tax credit.

These tax credits, along with a plan for locally sourced materials, a market niche realized within their then-current company, Straw, Sticks and Bricks and a balance between perfecting and marketing their product have all helped Milestone Inspired Composites become an innovative and successful Nebraska company.

“BBDC has identified an ongoing, three-pronged approach to economic development, which includes recruitment of new businesses and industry, retention and expansion of existing business and assistance of start-up businesses,” said Chelsie Herian, executive director of the BBDC.

The corporation maintains a list of available properties for owners looking to open or relocate their business to the area. It also focuses on funding resources available to businesses. The corporation’s website is a good resource for financial incentives tied to the potential for job creation. BBDC has worked successfully with other county agencies to secure Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds from the Nebraska Department of Economic Development for Vitalix Inc., a livestock supplement manufacturer.

“The county has maintained a very healthy business climate through the recent economic recession. Because of the foundation of agricultural businesses in the area, all types of companies have remained resilient through the downturn,” Herian said.

For example, from its history as the “cattle capital” of Nebraska to its current title of “railroad boomtown,” the city of Alliance offers a diversity of industry that keeps the business community robust — and growing.

Chelsie Herian, Executive Director

Well-established companies like Burlington Northern Sante Fe railroad (BNSF) and Parker Hannifin manufacturing have been creating an economic boom in the area by placing large operations in Alliance. As a result, a number of challenges and opportunities arise.

For instance, BNSF’s expansion has created an immediate need for more transitional housing. This is further accentuated by the fact that retiring people are choosing to stay in the area and young professionals are returning to their hometowns to raise their families. “These factors increase the opportunity for a diversity of businesses to be successful in the business environment,” Herian said.

Assistance to start-up businesses is provided with a packet that includes a business plan template, business plan hints and financing options. BBDC provides brochures from the Small Business Association (SBA), Panhandle Area Development District (PADD), Rural Enterprise Assistance Program (REAP), and a quarterly business magazine published by Western Nebraska Community College (WNCC). As a follow-up to this introductory packet, the corporation provides consultation and mentoring from partners of these listed entities as well as local retired business owners. This provides practical knowledge so entrepreneurs are prepared for a range of challenges.

Parker Hannifin facilities in Alliance

The strongest component of the BBDC’s program may be the Business Retention and Expansion visits, or BRE. BBDC makes on-site visits to companies and prospective owners to give them the opportunity to share their successes and challenges. For example, the business may share a need for a skilled workforce or report that sales revenue has been down. That’s when BBDC goes to work utilizing its strong county partners to solve the issues. “We build partnerships in our community between businesses and county support agencies, like the Historic Main Street Alliance. Then we work hard to keep them,” Herian said.

Other similar development corporations in Western Nebraska are the Twin Cities Development Association and the Nebraska Northwest Development Corporation. Box Butte Development Corporation can be reached at www.boxbuttedevelopment.com.

Growing up in Lincoln, Yoder developed an outgoing personality early on, and his parents tried to direct his energy toward fruitful ventures. You might say Yoder’s business skills began at a sidewalk lemonade stand. He then graduated to shoveling snow, mowing lawns and working a paper route.

Kristan Yoder, Founder Quick Connect

“When I worked the paper route, the Journal Star made the paper boys collect the money for each of the papers after paying the paper the cost of the papers. If I didn’t get payment, it would come from the profits directly, which were already slim. That being said, I learned at an early age cost of goods sold in relation to net profit,” Yoder said.

Yoder quickly learned some strategies for increasing the profit potential by attempting to collect on delinquent accounts. “I noticed, for example, that a certain couple was never home at 2 p.m., so I would go back at 6 p.m. and attempt to collect the money,” he said.

And Yoder’s parents taught him some valuable lessons about what it takes to make money. “It’s about the money you have left at the end of the day, after you pay the bills, bottom line.”

From these experiences, plus a drive to venture out on his own, Yoder has made his computer company, Quick Connect Computer Services, one of the most recognized in town. Quick Connect was also a Better Business Bureau Integrity Award Winner of 2011.

The journey of his business development may serve as comparable bookmarks for the growth of other companies. Of course, each company’s growth chart is unique. Sometimes peer input can be helpful.

Yoder started Quick Connect in 1996 when he took the big step of focusing his full-time efforts on what had originally been a part-time venture. He’s found initial success for his company in shared office situations, where different companies share the same building and a front receptionist. Prior to this move, when he simultaneously added some part-time employees, he had been the sole employee for the first few years of the company. In 2001, Yoder expanded to a larger office space and began adding full-time staff members. From there, the business was able to grow more quickly because there was more manpower to do the work.

“It is a huge step – to take that first leap to leave your salaried position and go out on your own in business. What people may not realize is that is only the first step! The steps keep getting bigger as the company grows” – a lesson Yoder learned when he further expanded in 2005 with a full-sized store near 48^th and O streets. In 2008, Yoder opened his second full-sized store in Omaha. In 2010, another expansion took place at the Lincoln location. In recognition of his success as a UNL alum, Yoder will be honored this coming Thursday by the Nebraska Alumni Association.

The key to starting your own business, according to Yoder, “is to seize your right window of opportunity. Realizing the alignment of three critical success factors is the foundation to your future success. When the aspects of dedicated time, pooling of resources and a need for your product or service converge, the window of opportunity has opened and it is time to act.”

“I had just graduated from UNL when I started the company, so it was reassuring to know I could always live in my parents’ basement, worst-case scenario, if the business didn’t work,” Yoder said Yoder. But the lessons he learned as a young man helped him to see the potential in his endurance and luckily he never had to go to “Plan B.”

On the first full day at his new business, he was understandably nervous. But Yoder knew that confidence in his ability was just as important as convincing others to trust in his products and services, so he put on a tie and approached the challenge head-on.

“I wore a tie every day for the first several years as a symbol I had prepared and was ready to serve the client,” he said.

Whether you have an idea to sell newspapers or repair computers, Yoder’s advice is to constantly build and refine your ideas.

“If you’re like me, you have so many ideas…write them down or they could be forgotten,” he said. ”Then step away for a bit, come back and sharpen those ideas.”

In short, building your own business takes the endurance and tenacity of a paper boy: It’s a lot of hard work.

The founder and president of one of Omaha’s latest tech startups, SharePlow, Osborne has worked with a variety of startups since his first job as a stockbroker and general securities principal at rjt.com, an online stock brokerage.

“I really loved it,” Osborne said. “It was amazing to be part of.”

After rjt.com was sold in 2003, he remained involved in a network of investors and entrepreneurs that moved on to launch more companies. In 2006, he became director of channel partnerships for RemitPro, a startup focused on creating software products for the financial services industry. And in 2008, he co-founded Financial Transmission Network, Inc. (FTNI), a company dedicated to designing products to improve the efficiency and security of online transactions.

Hoping to capitalize on even more B2B opportunities, Osborne left FTNI to begin working on SharePlow in September 2009. He spent the next two years developing the product, which is poised to generate about $1 million in revenue this year.

SharePlow enables customers to build custom web applications using a slick interface that does not require them to understand coding. The web applications can be used to manage a variety of business activities, including consumer databases, payment transactions, social media marketing campaigns and reporting.

“SharePlow empowers entrepreneurs and consumers to create web applications and tools they need to create business,” Osborne said. “In effect, we are becoming an incubator for entrepreneurs. They have their own IT at their fingertips.”

Historically, business leaders have turned to software engineers to develop management programs. These engineers, however, often charge thousands of dollars in monthly user fees. With SharePlow, a software engineer is no longer required. Instead, the user pays a small licensing fee to download the SharePlow platform onto his or her server. The platform makes it easy for anyone to build applications, but web designers and developers may find it especially helpful in streamlining front-end customization with CSS and JavaScript.

While Osborne and a team of five full-time employees initially targeted startups, the group has turned much of its focus to a tight-lipped joint venture with shareholders who operate within the department of defense. They plan to create a more “militarized” product that can quickly adjust to the user’s needs to systematically obtain and analyze data during on-the-fly situations.

“We are very excited to be in the position we’re in,” he said.

Osborne admits that starting a business takes many sleepless nights, but the experience can be rewarding and educational, even if that $1 million mark is never realized.

“Even if your entrepreneurial efforts don’t turn into a lot of money, you are a far more effective business person wherever you go,” he said.

The key to achieving success as an entrepreneur is solving a problem for people that makes money and demonstrates that opportunity to potential investors. People often overlook business problems, but Osborne said a “mountain” of profit exists when products are developed to provide more value to businesses.

“My advice is to do something bigger than what you are comfortable with,” he said. “Truly take your knowledge, skills and hard-working attitude, and push yourself further than you thought.”

This talk was given by Mark at the recent Infotec conference put on the AIM Institute.

• Achieve more with less money/resources/time
• Build instead of buy when it makes sense. (Ex: Point-of-Sale and warehouse management systems)
• Bootstrapping is not about doing it yourself because it’s cheaper, but about doing it better
• Capital is an all-in risk for speed and not longevity
• Take the marathon approach and build your business with 7-10 years in mind. This allows you to forget about competing with those that only have 3-5 years of existence.
• “Move quickly when you can, but don’t sacrifice the things that matter”
• “The real value is not in the marathon itself, but what you get out of the training”
• “Talent is valuable, but not as much as perseverance”

But he met a roadblock with the “citizen-source” approach. Public community planning meetings were poorly attended and inefficient, often costing several thousand dollars in taxpayer money.

Then came the idea for MindMixer. Bowden thought if community planning discussions took place online, they would engage more people. No need to physically attend a meeting in between dropping children off at soccer practice, cooking dinner or running errands. People could log in to their community’s MindMixer site and voice their opinions on their own time.

In July 2010, Bowden, now CEO, and co-founders Mark Hasebroock and Nathan Preheim built a prototype for MindMixer.com and piloted the service in three cities.

Met with initial success, the trio fine-tuned the product and launched the current business model in March 2011. Since then, they have produced more than 150 custom sites for local governments, school districts and other organizations.

Each organization’s website acts as a virtual town hall where citizens can discuss topics, submit ideas and vote on initiatives. Anyone is encouraged to join and participate, and the more active a member is on the site, the more points he or she will receive for community-specific rewards. City parks, transportation concerns and budget issues are often the most popular conversation topics.

In some cases, MindMixer has allowed organizations to reduce the number of costly face-to-face meetings in favor of the online forum.

Co-Founder Nick Bowden

“Their (community leaders’) response has been fantastic,” Bowden said. “We get hundreds of thousands of people on their site, and that goes a long way. It’s been an adjustment for them to have so many people involved.”

Moving forward, the MindMixer founders plan to contract more with school districts, university systems and other community organizations nationwide while enabling a one-stop site for local conversations to take place.

“From a high-level standpoint, our goal as a company is to push forward the ability for people to engage in companies and provide clients with technology that allows them to do that more efficiently and effectively,” Bowden said. “That is why we do what we do.”

Speaking during a panel session at the 2012 Nebraska Summit on Entrepreneurship, Bowden said it was important to him and the other founders that they prove a solid business model before attracting investors and quitting their day jobs.

The group began generating revenue using their prototype, and only began to seek investors when they were ready to grow the company quickly, not build it. They also worked nights and weekends before moving into full-time roles with the company in March 2011.

“Revenue solves all problems,” Bowden said. “I don’t know if it’s a Midwestern mentality, but we felt like we wanted to have a viable business model even if it was just a sample size.”

Bowden also spoke of the importance of building and maintaining personal relationships with clients.

“People still do business with people,” he said. “We make sure we are letting our clients know how valuable their business is to us.”

Above all, starting a business takes a strong work ethic and perseverance. It is as much of a mental challenge as a business challenge.

“From an entrepreneurship standpoint, the work is unparalleled,” Bowden said. “If you want to be in this realm, be ready to really work. Be ready to worry about it all time. I don’t think people realize the intensity it takes to be successful.”

Second in a three part series on the MarketPlace Conference. Watch for the last one coming soon.

The MarketPlace Conference, assembled by the Center for Rural Affairs, is a daylong event targeting rural and small business owners and entrepreneurs. Previously, the event included a youth track geared toward middle school and high school-aged business-minded young men and women. When the event grant did not cover youth-based activities this year, Shawnna Silvius of the Center for Rural Affairs assembled a team to create an all-day youth event that stood on its own, apart from the conference.

Silvius said the group’s goal was to create a day focused on ‘IDEAs’ (Innovation, Dialogue, Entrepreneurship & Action) intended for high school-aged youth to stimulate innovation and business idea development; to engage in dialogue; to raise entrepreneurial action; and to recognize distinctive visions, efforts, accomplishments and impacts of youth-led businesses in celebration of Entrepreneurship Week.

On the day of the BIZ IDEA Summit, students started out with a welcome and overview of their day from Zach Schultze, a junior in the University of Nebraska at Kearney’s Business Administration College. Schultze is president of UNK’s Students in Free Enterprise chapter. He was followed by Nancy Eberle of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She is UNL’s EntrepreneurShip Investigation (ESI) curriculum coordinator, worked with Nebraska Athletic Director Tom Osborne and his EDGE program for young entrepreneurs and is an entrepreneur in her own farm work with NE Woody Floral Cooperative.

Team at work - Photo Courtesy Joanne Steele ruraltourismmarketing.com

After the welcome and introduction, students broke into groups for interactive team activities. These activities involved how students could take a “what-cha-ma-call-it” and create a business from the concept, understand customers and identify and reach the customer with marketing. The teams were also asked to develop a jingle and/or a PowerPoint presentation.

The young business men and women attended a “working lunch” during which the teams were asked to take the stage and showcase their ideas to the other attendees. They also learned about potential types of businesses that other youth have started.

Janita Pavelka, an entrepreneurship educator from Holdrege, took the stage next to speak on youth business IDEAs. No stranger to young entrepreneurs, Pavelka’s encouragement and enthusiasm has resulted in her four children owning more than 30 businesses between them since the age of 6. She believes in a tri-fold work ethic in which students balance their time between entrepreneurial work, academic studies and community service.

After Pavelka’s words, the moment many of the youths had been looking forward to most arrived: the announcement of the video contest finalists and the showcasing of their videos. The BIZ IDEA Summit asked young entrepreneurs to submit three-minute videos that creatively displayed their business ideas and plans for marketing, profit and growth. The afternoon of the summit showcased the four finalists’ videos and gave audience members (along with adult judges prior to the competition) to vote on the winners in two categories: School Business and Individual Business.

Dillion Olson of Arnold Public Schools won first place for his school’s business, School House Graphic Products. Dillion said the summit was very enjoyable. He was glad the event pushed him to not only think of a new creative product, but also how to market that product. His advice to young entrepreneurs: “If you are going to form your own business or join one that has been around for a while, do what you like. Do something that you know if you start you will continue with it.”

After the contest winners were announced, Tanner O’Dell took the stage. Tanner is a 17-year-old entrepreneur and food enthusiast from Lincoln, and his talk, #FitinStandout, was the keynote of the day. Tanner speaks regularly to audiences on a variety of topics including food, entrepreneurship, being an ambitious kid and – most importantly – being yourself. He hosts two radio shows, hopes to become an author and says his No. 1 goal is to “help others be the best they can be…and help them eat good food of course.”

Doug Burgum

Philanthropist Doug Burgum discussed the pursuit of successful entrepreneurship and innovation in this April 20 session organized by the Jeffrey S. Raikes School of Computer Science and Management.

Burgum’s presentation is titled, “Courageous Curiosity: Transcending Conventional Wisdom.”

Burgum, entrepreneur and philanthropist, has served as an investor and board member of SuccessFactors, a cloud-based leader in business execution software, since October 2007 and as board chair since June 2010. SAP acquired SuccessFactors in February 2012 for $3.4 billion. Since January 2011, Burgum has served as interim CEO of Intelligent InSites, a leading provider of enterprise real-time location systems software.

He is a graduate of North Dakota State University and Stanford University Graduate School of Business.

Burgum’s philanthropic efforts focus on youth, education, the arts, and healthcare.