
He expected computer engineering to carry him away from North Dakota. Instead, one digitized scale ticket gave Jake Joraanstad a reason to stay - and a blueprint for rebuilding agriculture's stubbornly analog middle.
KAT & Company found an overlooked place for public-health marketing: the minutes when people are already waiting, watching, and willing to listen. Its advantage is not simply making the message - it is owning the last mile.
The former bank president turned a Bismarck communications shop into a national network - pairing financial discipline with a stubborn belief that useful messages must first earn attention.
HexaHive discovered that the fastest route to a better marketing agency ran through a pumpkin patch: choose the right clients, cut the distractions, and make every dollar answer to a business goal.
It sells the same phones as everyone else. The bet BeMobile made was on the 20 minutes after you buy one.
The AI race is usually told in chips and models. Applied Digital is betting that the harder business is underneath them: securing power, pouring concrete and keeping densely packed machines cool for decades.
Kris Poulson is the CEO of FarmQA, a Fargo-based digital agronomy platform that helps growers and crop advisors manage scouting, soil sampling, and prescription writing. He co-founded Sentera (acquired by John Deere in 2025), where he helped drive 1800% revenue growth and an expansion into 50+ countries. He grew up on a family farm near Casselton, North Dakota, and chairs the NDSU Agricultural Economics Advisory Board.