Lane Arthur

@NickHorob It’s been a true win-win relationship.

Here’s a story I haven’t shared with too many people about Harvest Profit’s acquisition by John Deere. In early 2020, I was having serious conversations with another AgTech company about merging. I thought our products and customer bases were complementary, and together we could create something where one plus one equals three. For both our businesses and our customers. I viewed us as equals, so my proposal was simple: merge the companies and split the equity 50/50 among our shareholders. That felt logical to me. They considered it and came back with a counterproposal. They said, “Nick, we know this might not work for you, but we have two founders, and you have one. We’re not comfortable having three cofounders where one has an outsized stake. We’d like you to split the founder equity evenly: 1/3, 1/3, 1/3.” I didn’t like that. It didn’t make much sense to me. I’d be taking a significant haircut. Still, I spent several sleepless nights thinking it through. At the end of the day, I truly believed in the one-plus-one-equals-three potential and we really need to grow the team to deliver on our potential. At the same time, I didn’t want raise any venture-capital because I didn’t feel like the demands of that capital would be good for our customers or our employees. So I made the tough call and agreed. I told them, “I’m in. Let’s do it.” Well, they had a unique ownership structure, and the details got complicated. Long story short, the process stalled out a bit. Around that same time, I had another call. This one with John Deere. A couple of years earlier, Deere had reached out about piloting a program at their dealerships where they’d offer a tool like Harvest Profit for customers. During those talks, one of their people asked if I’d be open to a more formal relationship if the pilot went well. I said yes, but that contact later moved on to another role, and the program fizzled. Fast forward to 2020. Jaryd and I had that call with a new-to-us team from John Deere. By then, I’d had a lot of partnership calls with other companies, and I wasn’t excited for another one. They all felt the same: “What do you do? Let’s find a way to partner. Let’s do an API integration.” Then nothing ever happened. Most of those calls were just box-checking exercises. But this Deere call felt different. For one, I’d been hearing more and more positive feedback from farmers about the trajectory of Operations Center and Deere’s overall tech stack. If you know farmers, you know they’re a tough crowd to impress. So that feedback stood out. And then there was the person leading the call. He was senior, but instead of asking high-level questions, he dove deep into the weeds. He was asking specific technical questions about how our integration worked, down to the code level. That caught my attention. It made me realize why their software was improving: their senior people were actually in the details, figuring out how integrations could save farmers real time and not just serve as press release material. When I hung up, I was blown away by the quality of that conversation. It made me think. Our team at Harvest Profit was going to have to grow to deliver on our roadmap. We were also facing competitors that had raised venture capital and were going to need to “do something”. I spent the next few days soul-searching. To execute on our vision, we needed more resources. Especially to bring in more machine data to streamline data entry. The team at Deere had impressed me deeply. So I emailed my contact there and said, “There’s a relatively high likelihood that by the end of 2020, Harvest Profit won’t be an independent company. I really respect the momentum and the team working on Operations Center. If John Deere has an interest in partnering with Harvest Profit, let’s talk.” That email kicked off a months-long process that ultimately led to Harvest Profit joining John Deere.

@NickHorob My condolences, Nick. Sorry to hear this. Take care

My dad is going to be buried near our family farm in NW ND this weekend. His cousin is handling a lot of the logistics. I asked him if I should get the local funeral home involved and he replied, "No, Horob's bury their own." (feasible due to cremation) He was a kind and gentle man whose best years were shortened due to a traumatic brain injury. But he instilled in me a passion for working, learning, and having fun that I will carry to my grave. Here's his obituary. legacy.com/us/obituaries/…

@thanhartsock @DaleJr Glad I’m not the only person who has heard that

Ordering a New Year’s Eve steak at the restaurant with my wife. Couldn’t resist bringing up @DaleJr’s medium plus argument. She hadn’t heard of it either, @DaleJr. youtu.be/KOWkQetVJvs?si…

@kyleplattner Merry Christmas, Kyle

If you are an iOS developer and want to work with a strong product team building a great mobile app for farmers, consider applying and come join the @JohnDeere Operations Center Mobile team! johndeere.eightfold.ai/careers/job?do…

The latest release of @JohnDeere Operations Center Mobile improves the Home tab by focusing on currently Active Fields. See the progress, estimated time remaining, and equipment involved in the work. Tap View All Work to browse previously completed work.

The latest release of @JohnDeere Operations Center Mobile makes it easy to see how long equipment has been idling. Know instantly whether a combine has been sitting for 3 minutes or 30 minutes.

The latest release of @JohnDeere Operations Center Mobile adds a simple Hours of Operation chart so you can see when any piece of equipment was operating—just tap on it and select the Today tab.

Space is part of all our daily lives and farming is a perfect example—satellites have guided modern agriculture technology for nearly two decades. I appreciate the team at John Deere for hosting me and sharing how space is part of their innovative approach to farming #SemperSupra

@kyleplattner Congratulations

Leif Edward Plattner. 14 days overdue. 9 lbs 6 oz. Welcome to our tribe, Leif. You’ve made me the glad father of a son. We are so grateful and blessed by your arrival.

@aaronsenneff Congratulations

Yesterday Melissa and I became first time grandparents. James Anders weighed in at a whopping 9 lbs 13 ounces. We’re so thankful to be back in Iowa to experience this phase of life!

Camp highlights from Iowa⚫️🟡! @Abdul_Hodge @Coach_Niemann @TylerBarnesIOWA @CoachTWils @InnovativeAthl @SBock247 ⬇️

@SBock247 @247Sports @WillLeifker @InnovativeAthl @dchsfootball Great to see this profile. You captured the tangibles but the intangibles include focus, discipline & competitiveness

Made a @247Sports profile for Dowling Catholic 2024 Will Leifker (@WillLeifker). Long frame at 6-foot-3, 210-pounds with great ball skills, and catches nearly every pass thrown his way, even a few one-handers with ease. Name to know. Profile: 247sports.com/Player/Will-Le…

It was a great evening; glad to a part of what’s happening in #DSMUSA

If you are a mobile software developer (especially Android) and want to work on a strong team focused on building powerful but simple tools for farmers please send me a DM. Deere is an incredible company to work for and we've got big plans for the future!

The latest release of @JohnDeere Operations Center Mobile makes it easy to move back and forth between all the details related to a field being harvested and the details of one specific combine harvesting that field.

Congratulations to cotton producer Bart Davis and Davis Family Farms on being honored with the Quail Forever Precision Farmer of the Year award! ow.ly/Ul0d50FZylg

Looking good in the first game of the season!!

We had a great day with a great family; thanks @DavisFamilyFar2 & @lassetertractor