Business & Brews with CBN and Special Guest Chris Baggott

Business & Brews with CBN and Special Guest Chris Baggott

Join us for the next Columbian Business & Brews, where serial entrepreneur and innovator Chris Baggott will share insights from his remarkable career building companies that redefined entire industries.

Chris has never been content with incremental improvements—his ventures are built on disrupting broken systems and creating something better:

• ExactTarget – Revolutionized digital marketing, acquired by Salesforce.
  
• Compendium Software – One of the first platforms to systematize content marketing, acquired by Oracle.
  
• ClusterTruck & Empower Delivery – Software-driven, vertically integrated food delivery that inspired a new model—software now licensed by Starbucks.
  
• 120Water – Modernized water safety compliance for municipalities, acquired by Edison.
  
• Tyner Pond Farm – Pioneering regenerative agriculture and direct-to-consumer food distribution.

Today, Chris continues to apply disruptive thinking to food systems, agriculture, and beyond—using AI, technology, and innovation not as novelties, but as tools to serve people and democratize access to better choices.

Don’t miss this fireside chat where Chris shares what it means to “think like a disruptive entrepreneur” and why the future belongs to those willing to challenge the status quo.

Why Attend?

• Practical insights from a serial entrepreneur who has founded and exited several Indiana-based startups
• Lively conversation and Q&A
• Great drinks and great company

Who Should Attend:

• Business owners and entrepreneurs looking to start or expand their ventures​
• Indy-area professionals who want to expand their network

--

Speaker Bio:

Chris Baggott – Entrepreneur in Disruptive Innovation

Chris Baggott has spent his career building companies that don’t settle for incremental improvement. His focus has always been on disrupting broken systems and replacing them with something better—more efficient, more local, and more aligned with real human needs.

He co-founded ExactTarget, which helped businesses move away from generic broadcast marketing and toward personalized digital communication. After ExactTarget’s IPO and acquisition by Salesforce, Chris launched Compendium Software, one of the first platforms to systematize content marketing—acquired by Oracle.

That same principle of full-stack disruption led him to co-found ClusterTruck, the first software-driven, vertically integrated delivery kitchen. ClusterTruck proved that prepared food could be made fresh and delivered hot, without relying on third-party apps or charging restaurants fees.

At 120Water, Chris helped modernize how municipalities manage water safety and compliance, replacing fragmented manual processes with a centralized platform—now part of Edison. And with Empower Delivery, the proprietary technology behind ClusterTruck, Chris enabled a new generation of restaurants to own their customer relationships and logistics—culminating in a licensing deal with Starbucks.

Today, Chris is working to disrupt the entire food system—from how it’s grown to how it reaches the customer. At Tyner Pond Farm, he’s taking on conventional agriculture and the dysfunctional consolidation of the grocery industry. By applying regenerative farming, direct-to-consumer logistics, and customer education, Tyner Pond is creating a decentralized, resilient alternative to the industrial food chain—one rooted in soil health, animal welfare, and real nutrition.

Chris believes that technology should serve people, not extract from them. He now uses AI daily—not as a novelty, but as a force multiplier for deep thinking, writing, planning, and farm management. In an age of centralization and consolidation, his work is about democratizing access to good food, clean water, and better choices.

Across every venture, the pattern is the same: don’t optimize the old—build the new.

--

Club members, please RSVP via the Club calendar.

--

The fireside chat is presented by Columbia Club Member and CBN Committee Member, Jon Canter.

The Columbian Business Network capitalizes on the Columbia Club's diverse member community to create powerful networking, referral, and education opportunities. We engage our community with private and public events, speaker series, and other opportunities to connect with Indianapolis area professionals.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Columbia Club, 121 Monument Circle, Indianapolis, United States