MEET THE CO-FOUNDERS & EXECUTIVE TEAM
JASON TATGE
CO-FOUNDER
CEO
Jason Tatge serves as Farmobile’s CEO. A driving force in the Midwest’s entrepreneurial community, Jason has been leading internet and agtech companies for more than 15 years. His previous company, Farms Technology, created an electronic marketplace to automate grain transaction and risk management processes, offering automated hedging algorithms accessible via smartphones and tablets. Farms Technology was purchased by DuPont/Pioneer in December 2012.
Following the successful exit of Farms Technology, Jason became intensely focused on using IoT devices to passively collect data from farm equipment as farmers operate on their land. Half of U.S. farmers leave this valuable data locked in their machines. Farmobile was created to provide Farmers with real time access and ownership to their farming information.
Jason earned a degree in Financial Economics from Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter MN and an MBA from The Fogelmen School at The University of Memphis. Jason served as the Pipeline Member President, and is actively involved with the Entrepreneurial community. Jason and his wife live in Bucyrus, KS and have two children.
RANDY NUSS
CO-FOUNDER
DIRECTOR MACHINERY INTEGRATION
Randy Nuss, Farmobile’s director of engineering, grew up and attended school in the Cornhusker state. His engineering pursuits led him to positions in the PC, cellphone, automotive and healthcare industries. Randy has used his expertise in embedded systems and communication system design to develop products for HP, Intel, Stanley, Samsung and Motorola.
Working in the agricultural industry has allowed Randy to get his boots dirty, literally. Driving over 70,000 miles to farms and getting on hundreds of machines, Randy has learned a few things. His goal is to standardize data from disparate systems, so it can be collected and managed in a single place. The precision agriculture landscape can be confusing, but at Farmobile he is determined to bring clarity to ag data.
Randy knows there is always another machine or system out there to be learned, and he’ll be on the road to figure it out.
HEATH GERLOCK
CO-FOUNDER
Heath Gerlock grew up row-crop farming and raising a variety of livestock in Southwest Iowa. Grandparents, aunts, uncles, his brother, sister and their families continue to farm. The challenges of farming during the 80’s and 90’s cultivated creativity, resourcefulness, a strong work ethic, and a passion to solve agriculture challenges.
Heath pursued a career in technology in 2000. In the decade following he successfully deployed hardware, internet, and mobile technology solutions for healthcare, agriculture, weather, finance, and ministry non-profits. Heath has honed skills in a variety of design disciplines ranging from traditional print, interactive displays, and mobile and web user interfaces.
He is passionate about Agriculture, simplifying user experiences, and creating technology entirely in service of the customer.
JESSI KINGSBURY
CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER
Jessi Kingsbury serves as Farmobile’s chief operating officer. With an extensive background in finance and human resources, she is passionate about startup-to-success tech companies.
Prior to joining the #FarmerPower team at Farmobile, she was a founding employee and chief financial officer of BATS Global Markets, a Kansas City-based global stock exchange. She led many key projects and back office functions from BATS’ inception in 2005 and through its national and global high-growth stages. Previously she held the positions of controller and equity trader at Tradebot Systems, a proprietary trading firm.
Jessi graduated from the Bloch School of Business at the University of Missouri – Kansas City with degrees in Finance and Economics. Jessi and her fireman husband live in Kansas City, MO and are the proud parents of three incredible kids. Jessi is driven to empower personal and company growth as Farmobile puts the true value of real-time data in farmer’s hands!
CHRIS SCHIBI
CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER
As Farmobile’s chief technology officer, Chris Schibi leverages his 33+ years of technology experience. He has worked extensively across all of the major computing platforms ranging from mainframe to mobile technologies. Throughout his career, he has been an early-stage contributor specializing in startup ventures.
Prior to his most recent startup venture, Chris was the chief technology officer of a well-established technology consulting firm in Kansas City. While there, he helped local and regional clients achieve demonstrable returns on large-scale technology investments.
With a diverse background in executive leadership and as an entrepreneur, Chris understands the value of capital investment and how critical decision-making drives innovation while balancing the financial objectives of the business.
STEVE CUBBAGE
VP OF DATA SERVICES
Steve’s background in the precision agriculture arena has its roots back to 1999 when he created his own precision ag services firm Record Harvest. He is a fourth generation farmer and is a graduate of the University of Missouri-Columbia with B.S. degrees in agricultural economics and agricultural journalism.
The knowledge and the foundational business model for Record Harvest came from the precision activities implemented on his farm starting in 1995. It was then that he was able to convince his dad to put a yield monitor on their John Deere 9500 combine and start using GPS grid soil sample data.
Learning how to extract value from this information collected at the grower level for their benefit has been Steve’s motivation and direction since the beginning.
NATHAN OTTO
VP OF CUSTOMER OPERATIONS
Nathan Otto serves as Farmobile’s vice president of customer operations. Nathan was raised on his family’s crop and livestock farm in central Missouri.
While getting a bachelor’s degree in agriculture, Nathan discovered geographic information systems (GIS) leading him to shift focus from animal science to a career in technology. Nathan’s career began with implementing geospatial solutions across several industries including defense, railroads and rural water systems.
Joining Farmobile in 2017, he has combined his passion for agriculture and technology; first by serving on the product team and now, leading customer operations. Nathan is dedicated to delivering technology solutions that meet agriculture’s challenges and helping family farms to succeed and grow. He lives in Lee’s Summit, MO with his wife and two children.
KRIS ANTONETTI
VP OF ENGINEERING OPERATIONS
Kris Antonetti serves as Farmobile’s Vice President of Engineering Operations. Kris hails from southeast Kansas and was raised on his family’s farm where he acquired an appreciation for the agricultural process and the farmers who work within it.
While pursuing a career in aerospace engineering, Kris shifted his focus to software development and computer science. Kris’s career in software development began with the Kansas Legislature developing and managing legislative automation tools from bill drafting and legislative record keeping to vote reporting.
Since joining Farmobile in 2016, Kris has combined his passion for engineering process and technology; first by serving as a full stack developer, then as the API team lead, and now, leading engineering operations. Kris is dedicated to empowering the developers at Farmobile to bring all of their talents and expertise to their projects and work through the engineering process in a team-centered environment. Kris lives in Lawrence, Kansas with his wife Jennifer.
JOAN ARCHER, Ph.D., J.D.
GENERAL COUSEL
Prior to joining Farmobile, she was a partner in Husch Blackwell LLP’s Kansas City office. Well-known for her legal accomplishments in food and agribusiness, while in private practice, Joan counseled clients on intellectual property and licensing matters, food safety regulations, and data privacy. She also is a seasoned intellectual property and commercial trial attorney.
Joan has repeatedly been recognized by Super Lawyers in the area of intellectual property litigation and has been named one of the top 50 female attorneys in Kansas and Missouri and top 100 attorneys in the Kansas City metropolitan area. Joan is involved in a leadership role with the American Bar Association’s Section of Litigation.
A tireless advocate for farmers’ data rights, Joan is a frequent speaker at AgTech conferences.
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