Todd Gagne - Hi my name is Todd gagne, and this is wildfire tales. I'm excited today to have Jared. Jared and I have known each other for, I don't know, two, three years now in a bunch of different entrepreneurial kind of context and got to know him and his family. So I'm super appreciative of him taking the time to spend a little bit of time on this podcast has kind of talk a little bit about his background and how he got to here. So a Jared, welcome. Thank you. Thank you for having me. Yeah. So why don't you talk a little bit about just kind of your background, you know, going from like college and you're a college athlete, so that's kind of interesting. You got a got a family wife and kid you live up in Spearfish, South Dakota. So why don't you start there and give us a little context?

Jared Tiefenthaler - Yeah, so I grew up in Arizona, played junior college football down there and did two years down at Glendale Community College and then was blessed enough to get an offer from Black Hills state in 2016. And had just gotten married to my beautiful wife, Stephanie and we had our daughter Bella. She was a month old, we moved across the country from Arizona to Spearfish, South Dakota, and yeah, I was a student athlete there play football. Finished up my, my last two years studied entrepreneurship and business school there. And, yeah, we were absolutely blessed to come to Spearfish. I mean, for our situation, being young and married with a little one. And you know, I was a full time student athlete, but couldn't have asked for a better community to be a part of, you know, here in Spearfish, and, yeah, I got to finish my degree, and it's kind of propelled me to where I'm at now.

Todd Gagne - So talk to me a little bit about being a student athlete, I think there are some really kind of cool parallels between being a student athlete and entrepreneurship. I think, you know, there's hard work, there's discipline, there's time management, there's all sorts of trade offs. And, you know, and I think most student athletes are pretty driven. And so maybe talk a little bit about your kind of college experiences, and do you feel like it helps you transition to the entrepreneurship that you've done?

Jared Tiefenthaler - Yeah, so you know, played sports my whole life. And it, you know, I was always on the leadership side that they came real naturally to me. And so, I know, they'll play in sports, really harness that, that leadership qualities that I had, and, and, you know, it was, it was awesome, always working as a unit towards a goal. You know, in football, there's a lot of individual stuff that goes on, but if you don't do your one elevens job, and of all 11 players, if you don't do your one job, you know, you can hurt the whole team. And so that was a real good lesson to learn. And, you know, like I said, the leadership stuff is it was huge in, in what I do today, you know, with leading the team and whatnot, and just building those bonds and learning, you know, all different walks of people. You know, I was in Glendale, Arizona playing football, Glendale, Arizona is a lot different than Spearfish, South Dakota, and you kind of got to, you know, you get a different sense of life. And, or at least I did, you know, in my, my journey playing football and so, that was a unique perspective. And then, you know, obviously, being a young father, my college life was a lot different than most college students, you know, I, and I thank God for that. Because I, I wouldn't have taken it as seriously. You know, I knew as soon as football was done, and all that I had to make money right away is how I thought because, you know, I had a daughter and, and a wife to take care of. And so yeah, I was a little different, but I know, football was the the core that got me to college, pretty much I probably wouldn't even went to college if it wasn't to play football, and I wouldn't have learned some of these awesome skills I have, you know, just working hard towards a goal. I I attribute that to playing football. I mean, that was every summer that was every spring even before the season we were preparing, you know, for football and and the leadership stuff too is invaluable.

Todd Gagne - You know, one of the things you haven't said and all that was you have a competitive drive right I mean, I think like it I do think like that is translated over right I mean, I think you creates you know, a singular focus. You want to win and whether that's on the field or whether that's in business, I think you carry that over so that's good. Thanks for sharing that.

Jared Tiefenthaler - No, I there's a quote I'm sorry to cut you off. But most sports are finite games business is an infinite game. It never ends. So that's something I totally Yeah, you're right. And the competitiveness niche is so natural. It's like I don't know when I learned that but I've had that

Todd Gagne - So maybe talk about your first kind of company it was called seem reader and it's still ongoing. I think the story of its genesis is kind of interesting. I mean, I think your dad and your relationship with your dad I think I was struck when I first met you and and that and so eventually to start talking about the problem statement and kind of where your dad was coming from and how you ended up building a company around seam reading.

Jared Tiefenthaler - Yeah, yeah, so a little backstory. My father Dennis teeth and taller is from armour, South Dakota, and he ended up playing professional baseball. He played for the Orioles in the angels. And in his upbringing at some point, he learned this very valuable skill in the game of baseball and softball. And that skill is to identify pitches based on how they look as a hitter. So when you're hitting and someone's throwing you a curveball slider, whatever it is, that pitch has a certain look on it based on how it rotates. And that that look gives away what pitch it is. And that's important as a hitter, because a curveball might look like it's going to hit you in the head. But it ends as a striker, you know, certain pitches do different things. That's why you got to know what they are. So my dad was playing professional baseball at this point. And every night he was in his room with a mirror on the wall, and he was cutting out paper baseballs and putting them on the mirror just to get repetitions, you know, visual reps, repetitions of a ball sitting there, you know, they didn't have much technology back in 1980. And so that's what he was doing. And he then got validation that this skill was really important from probably a future Hall of Fame coach Joe Maddon basically told him, Hey, Dennis, you need to keep seeing reading, it's, it's the proper way, you know, to hit And so fast forward that was in 1980 82, something like that. Fast forward to 2002. He coached my older sister to a national championship in softball, by teaching them not to swing at Rice balls and not to swing at drop balls, because they're always a ball and they have very signature looks to him a rice ball looks really dramatic compared to a bunch of other pitches. So you know, when teaching 12 year olds don't swing at this pitch, and don't swing at that pitch. It's very beneficial if they can actually learn it, and they ended up winning a national championship. So my dad, yeah, my dad in 2002 thought, you know, I got to teach this to the world and tried to do some stuff back then technology was not there. It's cool. He still has all the old documentation. And like photos, and my brother had drawn of like ideas from, you know, from back then. And so fast forward to 2018. I'm in my final year of entrepreneurship school at Black Hills state. And basically, we had to start a business. And so, you know, we talked to my dad, what, you know, what should I do? He said, You know, let's try to seem reader idea. And so we ended up you know, starting this, this little project in school, that's how I met some people at the Black Hills angels Fund, which, you know, led me to meet Todd and yeah, so started that in college, and we raised some, you know, family money, basically to get a prototype done and took that to the Black Hills angels fund and raised some money from that. But yeah, it was it was it was an awesome way to start, you know, it got me going right away after college, it put the ball in my court in every way, shape, or form. And yeah, that's so that's what C meter is. It's a mobile app that we have on the app store now and it trains hitters. How to Read pitches, basically, on your phone.

Todd Gagne - Okay, well, that's cool. I think the story with your dad is a cool one. I mean, I think you both presented at the Black Hills Angel. And it was pretty clear about just the relationship you two had that was pretty special, and his passion for what you were doing too, which is kind of neat. Kind of moving towards that, like, you know, you got this angel capital, I think we gave it to you at some tranches. And you know, I remember talking to you and just being impressed, you were like, I'm not going to use this for my family and my mortgage and my bills and stuff. I really want to put this all into development, because I feel like if the majority of the of the money goes into development, the product will be the best it possibly can. Which you know, I think is admirable. And I think a lot of entrepreneurs face this, but then you're like, okay, but I got a mortgage, I got kids, I got like, I got you got to I got to put money, I got put food on the table. So how what did you do to kind of you've got this business, it's kind of chugging along, you're doing development on it, you got developers on it, you're pumping this cash into it, how do you find something else that can pay the bills?

Jared Tiefenthaler - Yeah, so you know, part of that that deal was that, you know, we had to move back to the Black Hills of South Dakota. So when we took the money, we were in Arizona still, but you know, had to move here and we were itching to get back just because we love Spearfish, so much. And, yeah, I didn't want to put any of the money, you know, I didn't want to take any of it, you know, the amount of money we got was fantastic. But in my brain, it's like, you know, let's invest it all because, one, it's not going to be life changing money. If I took it all personally, you know, that's only gonna last so long. But if we invest it, you know, it could go places. And so that was my my thought process, then. But, you know, I knew I had to make some money because, you know, moving across the country and want to want to help my family out obviously, every way I can. And so, we had, we had built up a social media presence with same readers. You know, we we now currently have, like over 200,000 followers across all platforms for same readers. It was a little less a couple years ago, but we had that social media experience. And so when we moved back to Spearfish, after trying to do some odd jobs, like power washing and some other landscape and some other stuff that was not in my wheelhouse. I was speaking to my dad and he was like, Man, you need to figure out something with social media like, you know, you're probably have one of the biggest presences here in Spearfish, you know, not everybody knows how to do that. And so I listened to my dad and my wife and had some business cards made up that said, Black Hills, social media management on them, and from some previous Aflac relationships that I had built up in college with some business owners, I basically went around and asked as business owners if they needed help with social media, and, you know, that turned into now a a full time business for me and some close buddies of mine that sustain our life and, you know, pay the bills, and has been a true blessing to what we do. And, yeah, it's pretty simple stuff. We just help people fully manage their social media, we, we go, and we have photographers, videographers, a graphic designer, whatever the business, you know, needs in whatever industry, whether it's photos, videos, or graphics, we make that for them, we make all the content for them. And then we manage it, we post it, we help their page grow. And it's kind of a unique business to the area. And we're one of the first to be doing it this way. And yeah, it's been a true blessing. And it totally started with me making up content for my seem readers business, you know, even before we had a prop, a product on the market, I was trying to build a following because I knew it could be an engine one day to market our SEO readers. But yeah, that that gave us the knowledge and the know how to do it. And you know, why couldn't we do it for other businesses? If we did it for ourselves?

Todd Gagne - Yeah, there's a couple things in there that I think are interesting. I think one of them is you continue to find a problem. You You saw a pattern and what you've done with seam readers, and then you were saying, Does that pattern apply to other folks? I think also, you know, you're pretty gifted at just connecting with people. And so I think starting with some of your athletic, you know, folks and contacts, and then reaching out to local businessmen, and basically trying different messaging to figure out like, do you have this problem in spades? And then I've got some validity to go do it. And it's, you know, I mean, it's grown to something that does more than sustained your family's lifestyle. And so, you know, that's pretty cool. And that's happened in what, like, a couple year type of period.

Jared Tiefenthaler - Yeah, so we started, I say, May 17, which was my dad's birthday is basically when we really started and that was of 2021. So yeah, we've been we, you know, we started then, and it was just us with iPhones, me and my wife with our iPhones doing it. And now, you know, we have drones and cameras and full time people that that are helping us and making it happen. And yet it started with a problem. You know, I there's multiple problems I see, you know, in regards to social media, with business owners all the time, the number one problem is, you know, they don't want to do it themselves, and they don't want to hire someone full time to do it. And then that goes into even if they do hire someone full time to do it, they're not going to be able to, you know, be an expert in all the areas that we have now segmented, a graphic designer photographer. So you basically get like, a full time professional to your disposal, you know, for your small business. And yeah, it's just all about solving those problems, I think which, you know, might carry into this next startup that we've started, which is called signed up sports. I don't know if you want to cue me up for that one or not. But yeah,

Todd Gagne - You're definitely you're definitely going through the script here. Yeah. So the next one. So you basically parlayed this into a business that was sustainable with good growth. And now, basically, you've got some reader running, you've got some kind of stuff going on the social media. And then you know, I think because of your student athlete relationships, he basically found a different problem, right? You were talking to coaches at Black Hill State, and they were complaining about to some of the software that's involved and doing college camps. And I remember some early conversations between you and I saying, you know, I think I found something and it's like, you know, again, it started with a need, it started with a pain point, it started with feedback from an end user, and basically saying, this is not working the way I wanted. And so maybe that's the tee up to talk about, like, who did you talk to? How do they articulate the challenge? Did they understand it was limitations to the software? How did you start putting the pieces together going, I can do this better.

Jared Tiefenthaler  - Right. Yeah. So basically, I was speaking with some coaches at my alma mater, Black Hills state and found out that and not even trying to find out, you know, if they, if they were looking for something else, they were literally just complaining about the software that they use that helps sign up campers for their summer camps, you know, big football camps, they put on basketball camps, they all use the same software and they were just complaining about it not for any reason other than, you know, that it wasn't working for them. And so after, you know, hearing that my ears perked up, you know, software problem. And so looking into it, it my novice brain was like, oh, man, we could do this easy all we're doing is collecting data kind of thing and so that's what first sparked the idea was one this product. They weren't happy with it and you could see it and see why they weren't happy with it. I'm thinking right away. You know, being social media marketing, like oh, man, all we got to do is slap some better graphics on on this thing or whatever, you know, and we can make it better. And so, yeah, took that idea to you Todd and was, you know, just wondering what it might take and whatnot, and it started to become a real a real option after, you know, talking to my father in law who wanted to invest in something and figuring out that man, maybe we really could do this better, you know, like, they're not doing anything super challenging. And the caveat was that they are a free product. And man, we just got to be able to match what they do do it a little bit better. And I think we could could have something and blackhill state, you know, being a customer wanted something right away. And they're basically telling me that, and I obviously have, you know, a really good relationship with the people over there. And so, yeah, that kind of led us to now we're developing this product with some students at school mind for the senior device development project that they do over there and have been learning a lot in that process. And, yeah, it's coming along.

Todd Gagne - So maybe, maybe talk a little bit about going from kind of this problem to, you know, I can see the solution and what we need to make it better. But like, we were talking about this before, like, there's a bunch of product work that actually has to happen, you know, software methodology. And so, you know, before you sit down and say, here's a developer that's actually going to go work on this, and you like, you heard from the client that says, there's a problem? What's that work, like, look like in between? And like, what have you learned through like, the wildfire process, and like working with like, and some of those students?

Jared Tiefenthaler - Yeah, so previously, my, in, in writing out software, or what needs to go into the software, rather, from the non developer business perspective, with screen readers, all I did was write down everything I knew on Google and write down everything I wanted in it, you know, I really didn't have a methodology or a process and in working with Wildfire, and really Mike and specific, and I tell Mike this all the time that it's just been awesome. And I'm nerded out on, on the process before development, you know, it's, it's really taught me to how we organize things, you know, different personas, who's going to be using the product, never even once thought about that. But we've literally mapped out, you know, every person that's going to touch the app, they have like their own bio and description. And from that, you know, we done use cases, what every little function of the app is gonna be. And that has a bunch of details. But basically, you know, it's just the organization methodology, pre development that has been, you know, life changing, or eye opening to me, I've always wondered, when doing seamreaders, you know, what does Microsoft do? What does an app company do when they have an idea? And how do they translate that idea to the developers? Because I know it's most of the time that people with the idea that developers to different brains totally, and so how do you connect the dots and, you know, I was just doing it previously with Google and, and then and then now, in our current stage of where we're at with sign up sports, we're testing the app, and testing the app is its own thorough, you know, organization of how we do things, and it's just some stuff, I never knew that I don't even know where you would learn it unless you went and did it, you know, or, or worked for Microsoft, or work for some company that could teach you but Wildfire Labs has taught me this invaluable skill out, call it now that, you know, I feel like I could use going forward, if I ever want to develop more software, I know how to get it out of my brain and organize it so that developers can take it and develop it. And that's been invaluable, you know, in this whole process.

Todd Gagne - So I'm not trying to bring up like bad, my thoughts about this. But like, think about like, how the back and forth between you and your developers for seamreader versus what you're doing with school? Right? A lot of this is just trying to get it down on paper so that there's less questions and less rework. And so do you feel like it's a lot of work to get it done. But I think once you give it to the developers, it's actually something that's actionable for them, and they have a lot less questions for you to do. And it's like, it's not like they go off on one idea, they do it, and then they come back and be like, Oh, that's not gonna work, and I gotta rework it. And so do you, would you agree that like, the value of doing the front loading is actually high, because developers are expensive, and their time is precious? And then you really want to make sure that they're actually getting the stuff that they need, so that they actually can execute and deliver on that?

Jared Tiefenthaler - Yeah, I think I think you nailed that. It's doing the work up front, for sure has been hugely valuable. You know, like, in doing seamreaders the first time we literally swapped so much stuff all the time that, you know, obviously cost us more money and more time. And so, this, it started slow, you know, we signed up sports, because we had to get all that work upfront done. And it's been awesome, though, because the developers now they have something to refer back to, you know, they have these tools basically, that they can use, but I think the biggest thing seriously with me, it's like, how do I get what's in my brain out? And how do I get all of it all the ideas I could possibly have? You know, and this even goes into like what's going into the MVP vs. what's going to be, you know, launch second, third, fourth, like, it just gave a structure for all my ideas really, where to put everything, where to put everything. And I think that's huge, because I do believe in this world that, you know, entrepreneurs or whatever my type of brain, I don't know what it is, is not the same as these people. And I, you know, it's the good middle ground to relay that because otherwise, I'm like, Okay, do this, this and this, and I missed a hundreds of details that, you know, involve doing this, this and this. And so that it's, it's made me way more structured and detailed to even to think differently. Now, I'm thinking from their perspective, and you know, what screens, they're going to need just to accomplish this task and what buttons are needed and whatnot. So yeah, it's been, it's been awesome being able to learn that and do that.

Todd Gagne - So let's kind of transition, you know, now you've got them like working on the development stuff. I think there's a couple of cool things. I mean, I think the model is kind of interesting, right? Where you got college students that are doing their senior design. So you got a team of a couple of people, you're meeting with them weekly, you're building rapport with them, you're starting to understand how they're taking your data and actually operationalizing it into code, right? They're making decisions on what type of architecture. And so I think there's a couple of things that are interesting. One of them is there's no black box, right? It's like you had to do all this prep work. But now you have to participate in their process. You don't have to know all the details, but you're listening to the trade offs they're making. They're asking you questions about your scope and the stuff that you're doing. And then you're spending time with them. And I think one of the things that's kind of cool in yours in particular, is, you are building relationships that are going to probably go past just the traditional, I got a grade and this and I'm moving on. So maybe talk a little bit about your relationship with Brian and kind of where that's going. One of the developers?

Jared Tiefenthaler - Yeah, well, yeah, first, you know, working with the School of Mines has been in this in this program has been awesome. I mean, we get these, these kids are so freaking smart, and, and even professional and great at what they're doing. And so I feel like we're getting a, we're gonna get a really, really solid product out of this, you know, not just cheap, but really well done. And so that's been awesome. And yeah, it's, it's been cool to dive into their world. And Todd and Mike have been on me about learning the lingo a little bit more. And, you know, and it's been great, because I've had to learn the way they think a little bit at least to be able to, you know, understand their problem. And you know, you can't, if you don't know what you don't know, you're not going to be of any help. And so I've totally had to learn their side of things. And yeah, I've gotten gotten to know them a little bit. And, you know, we're getting a unique opportunity to transition Brian, one of the one of the developers there to an internship this summer. And, yeah, I've gotten to know him on a personal level, we're the same age, which is really cool. And we have a daughter that is the exact same age, so I can really relate to him on, you know, what he went through as a 19 year old, you know, just like me having a daughter. And so yeah, it's been awesome. And I mean, that's, that's God's timing for you, if you will, is how I look at it. Because I, as soon as someone tells me, they had a kid at a young age, you know, and they're my age, like, I instantly, Heartstrings are pooled. Yeah. So yeah, it's been, it's been really cool to get to work with him. And I'm super excited for this summer. And, you know, hopefully, if this thing takes off, then he can roll over from internship into, you know, a CTO type, I don't even know all the terminology, but something more than an internship and can help, you know, take this thing to the next level and be a part of this. In more ways in one. Yeah.

Todd Gagne - Yeah. That's pretty cool. That's exciting. So let's talk a little bit like pivot to the go to market stuff, right. So we've talked a lot about like, getting your ideas, understanding your customer, getting your ideas out, and then setting up your development team to actually do it. You know, you've been working with your partner, Jason, we've been starting to kind of build out some of the sales methodology, we're talking about things like pain trees, we're trying to understand, like, you know, your customer, this is a replacement service, right? So they've already got something and now they're pretty unhappy, you're trying to figure out what their pain is, so that you can basically repeat what they're doing, talking about custom demos, that sort of stuff. So maybe talk about the other side of this because like product is a huge part of this. But if you don't have the go to market stuff figured out. Like you know, it's just a product.

Jared Tiefenthaler - Yeah, so you know, for Jason Jason is a Stud Stud sales man and just businessmen in general, but, you know, it's interesting just going back to me being a sales type and Jason obviously, being a sales type, we're very, very different. And I am more you know, free flowing. I'll call it relational even though Jason is really good at relations too. But you know, I you know, it's all about that to me relationships and just making them laugh and smile and being friendly and who I am where Jason is a lot more data driven and analytical and he can obviously be the relational type but it's really cool to see because you guys you know, the sales structure that you have is you know, some more work that we got to do and be able to like systemize this, which to Jason is like, easy money, you know, supernatural to him, but for me, it's once again, it's helped me organize the skill I have, and and refine it a little bit more and you know, work the sales side. And that kind of goes into writing out a pain tree. You know, I've never even I know my first social media, I know my clients pain points, but I've never wrote them down and you know, thought about Systemising and stuff. And so just focusing on those little things. Like for instance, I wrote the origin story for signed up sports today, you know, and Jason is working on writing different parts of the sales funnel and getting those documented and whatnot. And so it's making us be way more organized, even in something that I'm like, why do I need this, you know, what I mean? This is what I'm good at kind of thing. But then I'm realizing man, even though I'm good at this, Jason has helped open my eyes, man, there's this whole other side to sales with that's, you know, can be analytical and data driven, like Jason is, and I need that, because even though I'm good at sales, I still there's a whole piece of it that, you know, I lack on and so that's helped him, you know, I think what the pain point thing, you know, a lot of these pain points from Black Hill State are carrying over to other schools is kind of what we're thinking, and hopefully, you're gonna see, and because it's all the same product that they're using, and whatnot. And so it's gonna be cool to see the discovery questions and stuff that we're right now, and just implementing the process of the Wildfire Lab sales process, implementing that it's gonna be really cool. And organized compared to how I've always done it. So it'll be good.

Todd Gagne - You know, it's funny, like, kind of closing out some of the stuff onWildfire. I mean, I think, to me, there's kind of three elements that I think if you have and you're getting better at, I think if you can get to the point where you're outcome based in your executing, right, like you think about all the different aspects of it, there's lots of people, there's lots of moving parts, but you got to execute, you're learning, you're constantly in a learning mode, where it's like saying, in this last little clip, you just said, you know, I've got some innate skills to do around sales. But I think if you take that, and you take that relationship skill, and you put it with some structure, I'm probably going to be better off at that. And so I think you kind of all the way along the way. And then the last piece of it is its people, right? You talk about whether it's, you know, clients that you talked with, or you found another problem, or it's the students at the School of Mines, or it's your partner, Jason, I think this whole thing just boils down to people, right, like, how you relate to them. And so I'm kind of curious, from your perspective, do you feel like you've gotten better in all those categories? Do you feel like some of those are more important than others? Just give me your feedback on some of that.

Jared Tiefenthaler - Yeah, I feel like I was blessed with the ability to talk to people, I can always remember and I do my kids now, but my dad made me shake everybody's hand that he knew, at a young age and made me you know, interact with people, even though I was shy and whatnot. And I think that's totally paid off, and, you know, helped develop some stuff in me that, you know, I use today in every way, shape, and form and don't even realize it, you know, I make my kids do it, too. Now, so, but no, I think I think that I was blessed with the ability to connect with people, and it's genuine, when it comes from me, I really am just interested in anything and everything that most people have to say, and, you know, so that's been something that I've, you know, learned to benefit from, and still could refine, though, when it comes to the sales process. But the, the genuine relationships is where any of my sales skills, you know, comes from, and, you know, when it comes to some stuff, I've learned that I need to be looking into what I'm not good at. And I think I learned that kind of in college. And it, it started with value. You know, we talked a lot about value and entrepreneurship. And at first it was, you know, what is your value? And that, to me, value has always been, what are you good at, and what are you interested in, and it's kind of a, you know, a cross, and if you can find that, then you can also find what you're not good at what you're not interested in. And that's probably where you need to try to find people that can help you in that regard. And so, you know, in connecting with people, especially, you know, in the business world, and who I aligned myself with, I'm always looking, you know, for people that want I have a genuine relationship with but to, you know, can add some value and things I lack with or, you know, even sales like Jason is just we're, we do the same thing, but you know, totally two different brains doing that. So, yeah, I mean, there's always more to learn too. And I've always kept an open mind and, and in that regard, and man being coachable, I think is the biggest thing, you're ignorant if you're not willing to be coached, honestly, and being able to admit that, you know, you're wrong, or you don't know. And that's something too that I had to learn early on. And how about being a dad at 19 taught me that one and a husband.

Todd Gagne - It was tough, but it's good. Well, maybe kind of pivoting a little bit about when people think about entrepreneurship, they don't always think about western South Dakota, it's just not the two things that come together. And so and you have basically spent some time from school and then you've gone to Arizona, you grew up in Arizona, you came back here, you came back here for quality of life. You know, some stuff with your wife and then obviously the Black Hills Angel investment I'm kind of curious about what you found, uh, beyond that, right that you've been here a couple of years. And so think about, you know, whether it's networking, whether it's mentorships, whether it's the entrepreneurial community, whether it's Elevate, whether it's quality of life Angel fund, like, I'm just curious on, like, how is that kind of amplified your expectations when you came back?

Jared Tiefenthaler - Yeah, you know, something I've learned about this area, compared to Arizona, and I wonder if it's a Midwest, kindness kind of thing, but, you know, resources and help are never far away, it seems like here, you know, I feel like I can buy have a question or problem, anything, or just want to talk business, anything. And in regards to entrepreneurship and stuff, this community is there, you know, there, the community is there for you. And, obviously, you know, in way more ways than just business, you know, but I've found that in the business world that everybody, you know, seems to be hungry and wanting to learn more, and, you know, especially these business owners that I deal with every day there, you know, with the social media stuff, I that's so personal, I think social media is like, is the identity of a business in today's world, and you know, that they're, they're trusting once you can prove, you know, prove that you care and build a genuine relationship. But, you know, just the network of people up here has been phenomenal. You know, I didn't feel that when I lived in Arizona, it was more hustle and bustle, let's, you know, what can you do for me kind of thing. You know, we're here, it's genuine relationships, and people actually caring about people. Even in the business world, I still see that, you know, with most people, and that's, that's really cool. And I think something that's, you know, probably just unique to South Dakota with, you know, everybody wanting to help each other kind of thing.

Todd Gagne - Yeah, well, it's good. It's, it's been a cool spot. And I think we're early enough in some of this, where there is just a massive network of just wanting to succeed, right? I mean, I think everybody's just trying to help each other out. So and I think we're not very far away from anybody, right, you find somebody on LinkedIn, or somebody's got to somebody knows somebody in their network that can help. You know, that's, Todd, I think, too, like, we want to help and see the community grow to maybe we don't want it to grow too much. We don't want too many people to move here. But we want we want the Black Hills to succeed, and we want to see it thrive. And and I think that's pretty dang common between the influencers in this community, you know, the business owners, and obviously with like, elevate, and, and the Black Hills angels fund, that is like a big goal. But you even see that trickle down to the to the smaller business owners and the smaller communities in the hills, we all want to see the Black Hills thrive, you know, and, and be better than East River kind of stuff.

Todd Gagne - Hey, go get a barb in there. You know, I think one of the first times I met you, and I've given you this couple of met before, I just think you were an entrepreneur that we wanted our ecosystem. And so I think when I met you, you were a guy that was willing to kind of charge through walls, I think you reminded me a little bit of myself younger, where it's like, maybe I didn't have all the skills, but I was like, willing to learn, I was willing to connect with people, and I was willing to work hard. And you know, here you are, like, you know, let's say it's three years later, it's like you're a serial entrepreneur. And I don't think that I don't think that's changing, right? It's like, you know, I think you're going to continue, I don't think these two or three things that you've done, are the end for where you're at. And so as you think about the skills that you've acquired over the last couple of years, and you look out over the next five to seven, like how do you think that looks like I mean, do you do you think about that, do you think about like just I got execution to go do now. But I do think you have some core, interesting skill sets to do. Making a living probably isn't going to be your problem, right? You're going to find ways to like, you know, meet your mortgage, and all that sort of stuff. And I don't think money is the ultimate goal for you. You like building stuff. And so it's an itch. And I think for some of these entrepreneurs, like it just never goes away, right? I mean, I'm basically doing wildfire, and it's an entrance, building something. But I think for you, when you think about five to seven years down the road, and you think about all the changes you've gone through, where do you think that goes? And what do you end up doing? Do you have to take on bigger opportunities? Do you want to grow some of these bigger companies? Like how do you think about that?

Jared Tiefenthaler - Well, first, thank you for the compliment, and, you know, all glory to God and in in everything that, you know, I'm doing. But yeah, I think, for me in the next five or seven years, I just want to be able to give back more that's like a been something, you know, that I've really want to do and been weighing on my heart lately. And you know, I've been doing in small ways, but man, I'd love to be able to give back more and more. And obviously, you know, the more I can do, the more I can do that. You know, and I think we've talked that, you know, God wants money to be a tool for us. And so that's really my goal is to, you know, be able to use it as a tool. And, you know, the more tools I have, the more I can use them, if you will. And so, yeah, I think, you know, to your point on building, I've really learned that that's what I'm passionate about is and you know, managing it and running it is obviously something you have to do but I'd love to be able to, you know to build and move on and it would be cool to like going back to the competitive sport thing. This is a, you know, an infinite game that we're playing. And I want to keep moving up ranks, you know, in this in this game and so yeah, that's that's kind of my goal would be to, you know, I don't want to say build it up and sell it, build it up and sell it but that the building part is totally what I'm passionate about. And so yeah, I've really enjoyed building seamreaders building blackhills social media now building sign up sports and yeah, it's been a lot of fun to do that. And I've, you know, like I said, I've learned that's what I'm passionate about. I think that's what I'm probably best at, you know, is is figuring out how to get it done. And yeah, I'd love to be able to just keep giving back to this community, to my church, to the people I love. And yeah, doing that. I think, you know, doing what I'm doing is the way I get to do that. So it's been, it's been a blessing. Yeah.

Todd Gagne - I think it's good to answer. I think there's probably some parallels between the two of us, right, I like to build, but I think I'm maybe a little bit further down the path of like, I need to find complementary people to me, right? I mean, even look at like, you know, wildfire, I think Mike is, like, likes to do a lot of the do stuff where it's like, I like to get the framework figured out. And then he comes in and certainly helps me. You know, I had 20 years of concur. There are a couple of people, Trevor Davenport that I went to college with me to start up with, he was kind of my help me execute on a lot of it, and then in and so I think one of the things that you'll find over time is you just got to find good talent to be complementary to say, there are people that that want to do that feed off your energy and love being part of that growth. But they fix they fix the other part of you that you don't like to do. And I think you need to become a magnet for those types of people for your kind of progression to continue. Because if you're just the idea guy, and like there's nothing around you, like you'll have a house full of cards. And I've learned that the hard way. And so I think it's embracing who you are, and then finding complementary people around you to really basically help build the vision that you want.

Jared Tiefenthaler - Yeah, well, if I could, man, if I could touch on that and just give a little shout out to some people I do think that are are very complimentary. To me, that helped me with social media. My guy Josh, is a brother to me. Now. I love him. And he's helped me in so many ways, more than just business spiritually. I mean, but yeah, he is he's very complimentary to me, way more organized to me, way different of a thinker than I am, he will ground me back to Earth every once in a while and, and then Jason, who I've talked about, you know, same thing. Love that dude. And it's gonna be awesome to build some stuff with him. And me and my wife talk about that all the time. Like, you need I need these people, because they are, you know, the other pieces that are missing. And, you know, another person I shouldn't leave out as Mike, my guy, Johnny, we're all jays, Jason, Josh, and Jared. But John is our website guy, same thing. I mean, one, he has skills that none of us have, but you know, his personality fits in really well. And, yeah, it's I know, it's going to take a team effort to get there, you know, and I just got to do my part in that team and help lead if I, if that's my role, and just do whatever I can to help us all get there. It's kind of the way I look at it. So thank you to all those guys.

Todd Gagne - That's cool, good shout out. Last thing I want to say is just kind of wrapping this up, is I was asking a question at the end here. And it's what's the kindest thing anybody's ever done for you? I think that, you know, we don't get to the places where are in our life without kindness and empathy and people investing in us. And so, I know you had a, you had something that you thought was a good story, and so I'd love to hear it.

Jared Tiefenthaler - Yeah, you know, this was the first thing that really did come to mind. I mean, I mean, my raising me, it was probably the kindest thing anybody could do for me, coming from my mother and father and stuff, dad and stepmom. So, there you go. But no, the story that I was thinking of was when we were in college, you know, we, once again young family, you know, in college, my, my wife was pregnant with our second child. This was my last semester of school, and I had a really important Aflac meeting, you know, client that I was actually going to miss a doctor's meeting, my wife just had to go in for a checkup with now our son Bennett, she was pregnant with him. And we were talking about this and I'm like, how are you going to get there? You know, like, you literally have one car, how are you going to get to the meeting and we were sitting at the, the city brew in Spearfish, the city we brew que doba and the owners name I believe, was Joe and I had since sold it and his wife, I think her name was, Pauline are Paulette, I can't or forgive me for forgetting her name. But they overheard us talking about this and we didn't know them at all. And they offered to give Stephanie a ride as long as a ride to her doctor's appointment as long as I could get her there before my meeting because a meeting you know, Stephanie's like, you better go to that meeting like we need on you're walking by and I'm like, Reagan seven months pregnant. And they heard this and you know, they didn't know us at all, and they offered to give her a ride to the you know, to the doctor's office and they waited there for her to be done. And then they, and then they drove her home. Yeah. And it was awesome. Yeah. And, you know, we saw them were in the parade as the soccer team for the city of Spearfish, this last year. And I saw them and recognize them, and went up to them and told them the story and my son now who is for, you know, it was in Mama's belly at the time. And I'm like, I don't know if you'd remember this, but I'm sure do and they did. And yeah, brought it up to them. But man, that if that doesn't speak to the people and business owners in this town, Yeah, cuz they just heard us over talking about this problem we were going to have and the opportunity that might be missed if I didn't, you know, if I couldn't go to that meeting and whatnot. And, yeah, so that's first story that came to mind.

Todd Gagne - Well, that's great. That's a great one. I think it is a good South Dakota story. And, you know, I think people just want to help you and keep moving on your way. I appreciate it. I think your story is compelling. I think, you know, the serial entrepreneur nature of it. You know, having a family is not always easy. I know, we're wired, maybe a little bit different than some folks. And so I think it's, it's can be tough on our spouses, the lifestyle that we decided we're gonna go do. But I appreciate you sharing the story. And I feel like you're still in early innings. I mean, you've got you've come a long way in a very short period of time. And I'm just excited to see kind of the impact you can have on the community, as well as like, professionally. I mean, I think it'll be a lot of fun to watch. So I appreciate you taking the time and sharing some of your thoughts and experiences. Sure. Well, thank you. Thank you so much for having me. I'm a true believer in in what you're doing, Todd and I always got to say thank you for everything that you've helped me with and done for me and yeah, I'm pumped to see where we can go from here. Okay, well, sounds good. Thanks again.