# Mike Derheim

> Mike Derheim is an entrepreneur who co-founded Nerdery in 2003 and served as its CEO before the 2016 handover to Tom O’Neill. He helped advance its co-president model of employee responsibility, co-founded Prime Digital Academy in 2014, became Grand Farm’s founding board chair in 2020, and later co-founded Bunnycup Winery in Wisconsin.

- **Role:** Co-founder at Bunnycup Winery
- **Organizations:** Nerdery, Prime Digital Academy (closed), Bunnycup Winery, Emerging Prairie, Grand Farm Research and Education Initiative
- **Education:** No degree; left college in 1998, North Dakota State College of Science
- **Known for:** Co-founded Nerdery, which appeared on the Inc. 5000 in its first nine eligible years., Named to Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 list in 2012., Recognised as a Minnesotan on the Move in 2012 and in Minnesota Business’s (Real) Power 50 in 2013.

## Career timeline

- **1998** — Left college and began working in tech support at Minnesota Internet.
- **2003** — Co-founded Sierra Bravo, later known as Nerdery, with Mike Schmidt and Luke Bucklin.
- **2010** — Became Nerdery CEO following Bucklin’s death.
- **2013** — Presented his co-president leadership argument at TEDxMinot.
- **2014** — Co-founded Prime Digital Academy.
- **2016** — Succeeded as Nerdery CEO by Tom O’Neill; retained his board-chair role.
- **2020** — Named chair of Grand Farm’s newly created board.
- **2025** — Emerging Prairie annual report lists him as secretary, a Bunnycup Winery co-founder, and based in Edina.

## Achievements

- Co-founded Nerdery, which appeared on the Inc. 5000 in its first nine eligible years.
- Named to Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 list in 2012.
- Recognised as a Minnesotan on the Move in 2012 and in Minnesota Business’s (Real) Power 50 in 2013.
- Co-founded Prime Digital Academy, which joined the White House TechHire initiative.
- Selected as founding board chair of Grand Farm in 2020.

## Latest updates

- **2025-01** — Prime Digital Academy CEO Mark Hurlburt publicly described its campus closure and final cohorts completing their studies.
- **2026-10** — Research check: Emerging Prairie’s current board page identifies Derheim as co-founder of Bunnycup Winery and Prime Digital Academy. Its 2025 annual report lists him as secretary; the current page includes conflicting secretary labels, so the precise current officer title is not asserted.

## Links

- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/sbmiked

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/mike-derheim
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-25