An Audience of One.

One of the most common questions I receive is, “how do you determine what to write about?”

The answer, generally speaking, is very simple: I write for Doug—the ambitious agribusiness professional.

Doug’s more than just a hypothetical reader; he’s the filter through which every piece of information is sifted through and thought about.

With every article, I ask myself: Would Doug care about this company, this innovation, this market shift? How could Doug leverage this knowledge to stay ahead, improve his role, or enhance his strategy? And perhaps most importantly, what obstacles might Doug be facing that he hasn’t yet found solutions for?

This concept of building a business or product with a target persona in mind isn’t new, but I think it’s under utilized. The first time I encountered the power of such specificity was in Chip Wilson’s book Little Black Stretchy Pants. Wilson, the founder of lululemon, built the entire brand around a persona named “Ocean.”

Ocean is a young, ambitious woman in her mid-20s to early 30s, educated, professionally established, willing to spend on high quality, but stylish and functional active wear and deeply invested in health and wellness.

Ocean isn’t just a set of demographics; she represents values, aspirations, and an ideal lifestyle that lululemon’s products aim to complement. By designing with Ocean in mind, lululemon didn’t just capture market share; it defined a lifestyle, creating a customer base so loyal they became part of the brand's community.

This approach was key for lululemon to differentiate itself from other athletic brands and become the $37 Billion behemoth that created an entire category of clothing (yoga and athleisure wear) that took on industry stalwarts like Nike:

That example inspired me to do something similar for Upstream Ag Insights.

When I began Upstream Ag Insights in 2020, I knew I didn’t want to write about the status quo, or summarize basic views.

I wanted to breakdown news, technology, business and strategy in a way that felt as if the publication was designed specifically for someone’s current questions, future career aspirations, and evolving challenges. This is where Doug, my audience of one, came in.

Doug is more than just a description. He’s a living profile of ambition in agribusiness, constantly seeking ways to be more innovative, more informed, and more influential. He’s the kind of professional who thrives on new perspectives and strategic insights and wants to shape the future of agriculture.

If Doug’s drive, his challenges, and his curiosity below resonate with you—or if you’re someone who interacts with professionals like Doug—Upstream Ag Insights might be the publication you are looking for.

Below is the exact persona I typed up in 2020 (with subtle tweaks since).

Persona: Doug - The Ambitious Agribusiness Professional

Name: Doug Harrison

Age: 33 (Born on March 18, 1991)

Occupation: VP of Marketing and Sales at a large agriculture cooperative based in Iowa

Education: Purdue University, BSc. Ag Economics

Salary: $170,000/year + bonus

Location: Des Moines, Iowa

Family: Married, no children

Personality: Inquisitive, open-minded, strategic

Professional Aspiration: C-Suite level executive at an ag retail

Personal Interests: Reading (diverse topics), professional networking, ag industry innovation, leadership development, sports, including football and golf, general exercise, and is a wine connoisseur.

Professional Role: Senior Management, manages a marketing and sales team, involved in strategic decision-making for a large ag cooperative, interacts with suppliers/farmers frequently

Defining Trait: "Intrapreneur" - Drives innovation within his current company and has a progressive mindset

Doug’s Professional Life

Doug is the newly appointed VP of Marketing and Sales for a large agricultural cooperative in Iowa that sells crop inputs (fertilizer, seed, crop protection), and purchases grain. In this role, he oversees a team of marketing and sales agronomists/professionals and is responsible for developing revenue growth strategies. He is deeply involved in the cooperative’s transition towards embracing technology, understanding how software solutions and crop input innovations can provide value to farmers and increase the cooperative's market share, while also enhancing his teams efficiency.

He’s not just focused on marketing and sales, though. Doug also dives deeply into the business models of competitors and other industries, always looking for ways to improve his company’s positioning.

His job requires him to have a broad understanding of ag technology, crop protection products, and the agricultural value chain, and he enjoys diving into the technical aspects to understand how things work, from precision ag technologies to the latest biostimulants or biological crop inputs.

Doug's team admires his open-mindedness and collaborative approach. While he leads with a strong vision, he encourages input and feedback, fostering a culture of continuous learning. Doug thrives on making his company more innovative. He has initiated projects that integrate digital tools and ag software platforms into marketing campaigns and service offerings, emphasizing data-driven decision-making and the importance of precision agriculture.

Doug’s background is diverse, having spent time as a summer intern working at ag retailers, becoming an agronomist and then sales person in ag retail, along with becoming a Senior Sales Representative for BASF before becoming a Director of Innovation at the same co-operative he now works. His professional goal is to eventually reach the C-Suite. He sees his current role as a stepping stone to broader executive leadership positions like Chief Operating Officer (COO) or even Chief Executive Officer (CEO). To prepare, he’s focused on building a holistic understanding of the business, with a particular emphasis on finance, technology, and unique partnerships. He’s also working on expanding his leadership abilities through professional development courses and networking with top industry executives.

Despite his ambition, Doug isn’t someone who needs to always be right—he values understanding and loves engaging in thoughtful discussions, especially if they challenge his assumptions.

He regularly attends industry conferences and trade shows, both for professional development and to maintain these connections. He tries to participate in outside industry conferences, too.

Doug’s Personal Life

Doug is married to his college sweetheart, Amanda, who works as a veterinarian specializing in livestock. They live in a suburban neighborhood near Des Moines, Iowa, in a bungalow with an expansive backyard for their rescue dog, Harper, to play. They don’t have children yet, they are considering starting a family in the next few years.

Doug volunteers at the local animal shelter.

In his free time, Doug is a voracious reader, not only in agriculture but also in subjects like economics, technology, and even history and literature. He reads everything from industry reports and business books to the latest trends in software and startups. Doug loves to take these diverse insights and apply them to his work in agriculture, attempting to find connections between seemingly unrelated industries that can be applicable to him, his team and the entire organization.

Doug has a wide circle of friends and professional contacts, many of whom work in various sectors of agribusiness and have been in his life since his days at university.

Doug loves the science behind wine making and wine tasting, having an extensive wine collection of more than 75 bottles at home from various regions of the world. Him and Amanda go to local wine tastings often on weekends.

To scratch his entrepreneurial itch, Doug and Amanda started a wine accessory business— selling various wine holders, glasses, aerators, etc online and at local farmers markets. The business does more than $30,000 in revenue per year.

Doug loves to stay active, him and Amanda go to the gym together 3-4 days a week to do circuit weight training.

Sunday’s are his day for relaxation, specifically the mornings, catching up on what he missed from the week, while preparing for the coming week.

Doug’s Future

In the next 5-10 years, Doug envisions himself climbing the corporate ladder, working towards a position that gives him a bigger platform to influence the direction of the ag industry and the success of farmers.

He plans to build on his intrapreneurial skills by pushing his cooperative toward new business models that integrate technology, sustainability, and digital marketing innovations. Doug also wants to be a leader in making the agriculture sector more adaptable to consumer demands for transparency and sustainability.

He’s also considering pursuing an MBA or executive leadership program to sharpen his business acumen, particularly in areas outside of marketing, such as operations and finance. He views education as a key stepping stone to achieving his C-Suite ambitions.

Doug is increasingly focused on farmer profitability and sustainability and believes that future growth in agriculture will come from technologies that reduce inputs like water and chemicals while maximizing yield. He wants his company to be at the forefront of this movement, helping farmers meet these challenges through innovative solutions.

Doug fears being left behind. He fears that him and his company will become irrelevant if they do not stay up on what is happening and seek to evolve what they are doing to support their customer base along with how they interact with suppliers and partners.

Doug’s Needs from Upstream Ag Insights

As an ambitious professional with a thirst for knowledge, Doug looks to Upstream Ag Insights to:

• In-depth Analysis: Doug craves detailed, technical insights into ag technologies, business models, and industry trends. He appreciates well-researched articles that go beyond surface-level reporting. Being in retail he needs to stay up on a broad swath of areas, including technology, crop protection, seed, fertilizer and more, which means he needs access to information that goes beyond just one area or the other.

• Innovation Focus: Articles on emerging technologies in agriculture, especially those related to software, data analytics, and precision farming, will grab his attention.

• Leadership and Business Strategy: Content that helps Doug understand the macro trends shaping the ag industry and how companies can adapt will be valuable. He’s especially interested in topics like corporate innovation, disruptive business models, and agtech startups.

• Case Studies and Real-World Examples: Doug enjoys learning from successful implementations in other companies. Case studies of agtech startups, hearing from start-up CEOs, successful product launches, or business transformations will resonate with him.

• Networking and Career Growth: Articles that provide tips on building a personal brand, expanding professional networks, and navigating corporate growth will be highly useful, as Doug is focused on growing his career.

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