From the time Todd Gagne moved to Rapid City for school at South Dakota Mines to the day he graduated, he had already founded three software companies. While he saw many wins throughout the years, being an entrepreneur also yielded its hand of failures. One of the companies Gagne owned and operated went under even after attempts to financially secure its future. However, Gagne can look back and see the silver lining of the experience.
“The product was great, but the sales just didn’t come in,” said Todd. “I didn’t understand how consumer sales worked and that was an eye-opener. I had to sell my car and was able to get out of my apartment lease to make payroll; it was a wake-up call for me.”
Once Todd finished the last startup he sold, he followed his wife Holly to Seattle. Holly is also an SD Mines alum who holds both an undergraduate and master’s in Computer Science. When she was offered a position at Microsoft, the couple packed their bags and headed to the Pacific Northwest tech hub. Todd also took an opportunity to work at Microsoft. However, the former CEO of successful startups learned that he missed what smaller organizations have to offer.
“There were over 23,000 people in the company at the time, and although I enjoyed the computer science side of things, I wanted more opportunity and scope to my role,” explained Todd.
Taking the Leap
This led the technology-minded professional to look for a new line of work. This is when he found a position open at Concur – a SaaS (Software as a Service) company that provides travel and expense management services to businesses around the world.
“I was offered a position that would localize a product launch (bringing the software into other countries). I wasn’t qualified for the role, and struggled to figure it out,” said Todd.
His first project went six months beyond the deadline and spent nearly double the allocated budget. However, he took the steep learning curve as a challenge, and Concur kept Todd on. During his tenure, the company saw growth from $7M in revenue to $1.5B in revenue in Todd’s last year.
“When you take a leap into something new, it can go one of two directions,” said Todd. “But you have to take the leap, even if you’re scared, to get anywhere.”
A Return to Rapid City
In 2003, the Gagnes welcomed their first child into the world and left Seattle to come back to Rapid City – working remotely for over a decade. From South Dakota, he was managing U.S.-based teams The last two years of his time at Concur, Todd earned the head position of senior vice president of Expense, Invoice and Data Services and held numerous international responsibilities.
While traveling had its perks, Todd longed for something just as fulfilling on a professional level while also being able to spend time with his growing family in a community they adore.
“When I see a problem, I want to learn more and find the solution,” said Todd. “There were no high-tech jobs in Rapid City, and I wanted to see that change.”
Todd sought out tech startups grossing over $100K in annual income to start asking questions. He wanted to explore the opportunity to leverage his own experience in helping them scale to greater success. One of the success stories of these conversations was Property Meld – a growing SaaS company specializing in property management.
“[My wife and I] came back to Rapid City for the quality of life that is here. My kids are growing up here, and I want to make sure I leave it a better place with more diverse career opportunities than ever before.”
Starting a Wildfire
In addition to management consulting, angel investing, and being a serial entrepreneur, Todd is also giving other up-and-coming software startups an edge by sharing the lessons he’s learned over the years from failures and successes through a new endeavor: Wildfire Labs.
Partnering with Mike Vetter, a computer science entrepreneur who has spent his entire career founding, growing, and selling SaaS companies, Wildfire Labs is a six-month self-paced crash course on everything software entrepreneurs need to know about creating a viable product, proving its feasibility, and launching it into success.
“I got to know Todd during one of my earlier startups,” said Mike. “He was a great sounding board on how to grow a SaaS company, and we shared values on culture and building scale. While we didn’t know it at the time, we were testing the concepts and methodology behind Wildfire Labs in my startup and other startups we were involved with. What we were doing was essentially a real-world test case for the Wildfire Labs process.”
Wildfire Labs’ first year saw over 100 applicants from all over the U.S.; 11 teams were accepted and were able to either commit to moving to Rapid City to experience the Labs in person or opt to participate virtually. In 2024, the applicant pool grew to 240 applications and 23 teams were accepted.
While teams are completing the 11 modules laying out a roadmap to gaining market share and capital, they also get to hear from established entrepreneurs.
“There is a gap between the program and CEO skills needed to successfully run business in today’s landscape,” explained Todd. “So we started Wildfire University – a presentation to entrepreneurs to help them learn more about the legalities, marketing, employee stock programs, etc. from industry experts. We’re trying to mitigate mistakes.”
Upon completion of the program, “graduates” have the opportunity to join mastermind mentorship groups. But there is a catch; the company has to have a founder working in person out of Rapid City.
“We created these masterminds to be in-person only to foster the business community and connections locally. This is a space for entrepreneurs to find accountability, mentors, and problem solve with other industry professionals facing the same situations,” explained Todd.
The next chapter for Todd is still unfolding as Wildfire Labs evolves and mastermind, mentorship, and networking grows in the Rapid City business community. The process has taken time and discipline–yet the fulfillment found in helping others grows fuels Todd to keep developing innovative and valuable ventures.
“Todd is the only person I’d do something like this with. He’s someone who’s not all talk—he executes solidly every day. It’s a privilege to build Wildfire Labs with him,” said Mike.
This story was originally published in the October 2024 issue of Elevate Magazine.
