10 Questions with Jack Brodshaug: Flatland Capital Group's Co-Founder & COO

Most of my career was inside big corporate ag companies, so there was a safety net. But I was always on the newer end of things, launching seed innovations, digital agronomy tools, and carbon programs, so I'm used to bringing something new to market. That part translates. What's different now is that the safety net is gone, and it's a small team, so everything lands on us. The core challenge is the same one I've always liked, though: taking something technical and making it simple enough that a retailer gets it and can use it to sell more. I just don't have the corporate shell around me anymore.

I know you have a couple of co-founders too, one in northeast Minnesota and another in the Los Angeles area. I met one of them with you at Grand Farm's Cultivate conference. What are the roles or specialties that each of you brings to the team?

We bring different things to the table, and that's on purpose. My background is in the ag retail and manufacturing side and my own farming experience, so I understand the customer and their problems. Greg brings go-to-market strategy and technology implementation, so he knows how to get these programs adopted in the field. Chris comes from capital markets and financial structuring, so he speaks the language of the lenders. There's very little overlap between us, which for a small team is exactly what you want.

Part of the value chain and financing process is with community banks, or at least I recall you are attempting to help drive more financing business to the community banks. Thinking of a prospective reader of this interview, if they are at a community bank, will you please explain that part of your business to better describe that area?

This is an important piece for us. We work with regional lending partners, and we've already run a successful pilot where one lender came in alongside five ag retailers, and it worked really well. We're looking to bring more lenders in. The natural competition here is the operating loan, which a lot of institutions already offer, and we're not trying to replace that. We can be a facilitator that helps a lender keep making those loans, but with manufacturer promotions and pricing built in, which tends to drive more activity back to the lender, not less.

As a new startup, you're learning new things from the perspective of a founder; you're making pitches not only for clients but also to raise startup funding; you're getting out & about into the startup scene. With approximately six months of that behind you, are there any particular learnings or any surprises, good or bad?

I came in with assumptions from my prior experience, and a lot of it turned out harder than I expected. But the best surprises came out of that. The biggest is Flatland Advisory, which we launched more recently. We realized that to serve manufacturers and retailers well, you have to go a step deeper and customize programs that actually sell more product, so we grew from a pure financing program into something with a marketing and advisory side too. The other big lesson is that as a financing startup, you have to be crystal clear on the one thing you do better than anyone else. And honestly, AI has made building a company easier than I expected. It lets a small team punch way above its weight.

You grew up in the FM area but moved away about 15 or so years ago. Then moved back about a year ago, if I recall correctly. How has the move back been as a returning resident and new startup entrepreneur?

It's been a lot of fun. Getting into the startup ecosystem here and seeing how much it's grown has been the best part. Growing up, I thought Fargo was boring, and I feel completely different now, with the supportive community and all the restaurants and breweries that have come in. It's funny too; our house is only about a mile from the farm I grew up on, so I've come full circle. The Grand Farm team has been great, and we've come on as a partner organization. And it's been good to be around other entrepreneurs, including a tech founders group. Those conversations have been really valuable.

Okay, let's just go in the time machine to visit a younger version of Jack. What hindsight advice would you give yourself?

Bet on yourself sooner. I stayed in the corporate world a long time, and it was good to me, but I probably should have taken a swing at something like this earlier. I spent a lot of years building value for other companies when I could have been building it for myself. So that's what I'd tell the younger me. Trust that you can do it and go a little sooner than you think you're ready.

What can we do as a community to help you and Flatland Capital succeed?

A few things. The biggest is connections. If you know ag retailers or manufacturers looking to move more product or free up cash flow, we'd love an introduction. And if you're at a financial institution with interest in participating as a lender in our programs, please reach out to me directly. Beyond that, just keep doing what this community does well, which is showing up for the people trying to build something here. That goes a long way.

Flatland Capital Group

• Website: flatland-capital.com
• LinkedIn: flatland-capital-group-nd

About John

John Machacek has been helping local startups with the Greater Fargo Moorhead Economic Development Corporation for over a decade. Before joining the GFMEDC team, John's career path has varied in areas such as banking, accounting, and management in the nonprofit, food & retail sectors.