Field Agent is the first company in Arkansas to be named an Endeavor Entrepreneur, a designation that gives it access to global mentorship, programming and investment.
Established in 2010, Field Agent is an on-demand platform based in Fayetteville that employs about 80 people. “Companies need some work done or need something completed today. Individuals would like to make a little bit of money, and we connect the two together,” said co-founder and CEO Rick West. “Now, we’re not a marketplace. So we’re not having people mow their grass or come and wash their windows. … These are consumers.”
Consumers earn $3-$5 per task to use the Field Agent mobile app, which has been downloaded 1.5 million times in the United States alone and is available in six countries.
The tasks include taking pictures inside stores or restaurants to confirm that they’re in compliance, providing insights tied to demographics and mystery shopping for suppliers and retailers. Field Agent also provides product-specific feedback. Its clients include Kraft, Procter & Gamble, Whole Foods, Walmart, Best Buy, Wendy’s and Little Caesars.
Field Agent makes money by keeping about half what a client pays for each task, West said.
The company uses mobile technology on the front end and artificial intelligence and machine learning on the back end to process massive amounts of data at scale, he said.
He said Field Agent was the first in this space. What sets the company apart from its competition, West said, are the scale at which it operates and the fact that it’s a one-stop shop.
In addition, the company is now getting help from Endeavor, a global nonprofit that is more than 20 years old and operates more than 30 locations worldwide. The Walton Family Foundation attracted Endeavor to the state by awarding a $2 million grant last year to open its Endeavor Northwest Arkansas office in Bentonville.
Canem Arkan, managing director of that office, said its mission is to help accelerate, scale and increase the number of entrepreneurs by giving them access to global resources not available locally, including a peer-to-peer network and programing.
“This is sort of like a consultant meets an accelerator,” she said. “So it’s ongoing. We want to be there for them when they have challenges. We want to be there for them when they’re facing opportunities and help them think about their options and their abilities and the ways in which they can scale to those things.”
Endeavor has partnerships with universities such as Harvard and Stanford, where it does week-long training programs for Endeavor entrepreneurs like Field Agent and others that send consultants into entrepreneur offices to do a mock audit or problem-solving.
“We think that there are really smart people everywhere, but they don’t all have access to the same things. So that includes capital; that includes that mentorship; that includes training and exposure to different voices and ideas,” Arkan said.
Field Agent became an Endeavor Entrepreneur in September after a two-stage selection process. The first stage was being approved by a local panel of regional business leaders. The second was being approved by an international panel. Four other companies in the state are going through this process now.
“We’re so excited to have them,” Arkan said. They’re doing some really incredible things. They do a ton of giveback to the local community. So we love that about them. That’s a big part of the Endeavor model. And, by giveback, I mean mentorship and training; they have hiring programs … they have a partnership with John Brown [University].” Employees and family members are eligible for scholarships to JBU; the company is involved in classes and offers internships.
Endeavor has set up calls between the Field Agent’s leadership and mentors worldwide who have experience with businesses that are similar to Field Agent. If the company has a question, it can request a phone call with an expert in Endeavor’s network, Arkan said.
Also, Marc Yount, Field Agent’s president and COO, has participated in a retail and consumer technology tour. Arkan described the tour as 10-15 entrepreneurs traveling to New York to hear leaders in retail and consumer technology speak to them in an intimate setting.
Endeavor also invests 10% and up to $2 million in any of its entrepreneurs raising a $5 million round and has an institutional investor leading that round. But Field Agent hasn’t taken advantage of that yet, Arkan said.
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