Doug was raised in a tiny town in North Dakota, where he learned the importance of grit and determination from his parents at a young age. He still cherishes the small-town values that shaped his childhood.​

Doug “bet the farm” to help grow a small start-up business in North Dakota into a worldwide, billion-dollar company. He ignored the naysayers who said you couldn’t build a tech company in North Dakota and created over 2,000 high-paying jobs with employees from over 220 towns in North Dakota.

Under Doug’s leadership, North Dakota is a leader in innovation, creating a boom across the energy, agriculture, and technology sectors. In Burgum’s first year as governor, he inherited a $1.7 billion budget shortfall. Doug balanced the budget by cutting spending. He helped pass term limits and enacted the largest tax cut in North Dakota history, which led Forbes to name Doug the country’s “Best Entrepreneurial Governor.”