The Nerdery promotes Kris Szafranski and Tom O’Neill
CEO Mike Derheim lauds them as “bad asses with big ideas”
The Nerdery has announced promotions of two of the web development company’s key leaders – Kris Szafranski and Tom O’Neill. Formerly director of software development, Szafranski takes on the VP of software development role being vacated by O’Neill, who moves into the newly created position of chief strategy officer.
“One of the most important things that we've done over the years is to find great people (bad asses) and put them in a place to succeed (with their big ideas) - something that I think our company has been particularly good at,” said CEO Mike Derheim in an email to Nerdery staff.
Derheim went on to call Szafranski a “rockstar” under whose leadership “our small group of programmers has expanded to almost six times its size and has become arguably the best interactive development team on Earth.”
In this move, Szafranski will take over the strategic reins from O’Neill as the primary leader of the development department, and also becomes a member of The Nerdery’s EC (executive committee) team. “We're really excited about bringing Kris's leadership, thoughts and ideas to the EC team and are looking forward to seeing what he can help us achieve,” said Derheim.
Szafranski started at The Nerdery in 2006 as a programmer and was promoted to software project manager before serving as director of software development. Last week, Biz Journal interviewed Szafranski when The Nerdery made the publication’s Fast 50 list for the fourth consecutive year.
In O’Neill’s new role as chief strategy officer, said Derheim, “Tom will work with each of our leaders to ensure that their goals and objectives are in line with those of the company, and will make sure all of the pieces are in place for those goals and objectives to come to fruition.”
O’Neill began his Nerdery career as a programmer in 2004, when he was among The Nerdery’s first employees. After spending the better part of the past year launching The Nerdery’s office in Chicago, O’Neill recently returned to the Twin Cities to take on his next challenge. “Tom's ability to push initiatives forward and lead people toward a goal is obvious if you've ever had the chance to work with him, and this move will give him the tools he needs to do that across department lines,” said Derheim. “
“If you see Kris, toss him a high five and a hells yeah – he deserves it,” said Derheim. “If you see Tom, no action necessary – he'll probably throw out the high five/hells yeah on his own.”
About The Nerdery
The Nerdery is a developer-driven interactive production shop that partners with creative minds and big thinkers to engineer and execute their interactive projects, including websites, social media and mobile apps. In 2010 and 2011, The Nerdery ranked #1 on the Best to Work list published by Mpls-St. Paul Business Journal. With offices in Chicago and Minneapolis, The Nerdery has a staff of 260+ and was founded in 2003 by three programming pioneers. The Nerdery was honored in 2010 with The Quality of Life Award and The Jefferson Award for its record of corporate philanthropy through The Nerdery Overnight Website Challenge, at which volunteers have donated nearly two million dollars worth of web development services to 66 nonprofit organizations. In addition to Biz Journal’s Fast 50 list, The Nerdery has made the Inc 5000 list of fast-growing privately owned companies for four consecutive years.
“One of the most important things that we've done over the years is to find great people (bad asses) and put them in a place to succeed (with their big ideas) - something that I think our company has been particularly good at,” said CEO Mike Derheim in an email to Nerdery staff.
Derheim went on to call Szafranski a “rockstar” under whose leadership “our small group of programmers has expanded to almost six times its size and has become arguably the best interactive development team on Earth.”
In this move, Szafranski will take over the strategic reins from O’Neill as the primary leader of the development department, and also becomes a member of The Nerdery’s EC (executive committee) team. “We're really excited about bringing Kris's leadership, thoughts and ideas to the EC team and are looking forward to seeing what he can help us achieve,” said Derheim.
Szafranski started at The Nerdery in 2006 as a programmer and was promoted to software project manager before serving as director of software development. Last week, Biz Journal interviewed Szafranski when The Nerdery made the publication’s Fast 50 list for the fourth consecutive year.
In O’Neill’s new role as chief strategy officer, said Derheim, “Tom will work with each of our leaders to ensure that their goals and objectives are in line with those of the company, and will make sure all of the pieces are in place for those goals and objectives to come to fruition.”
O’Neill began his Nerdery career as a programmer in 2004, when he was among The Nerdery’s first employees. After spending the better part of the past year launching The Nerdery’s office in Chicago, O’Neill recently returned to the Twin Cities to take on his next challenge. “Tom's ability to push initiatives forward and lead people toward a goal is obvious if you've ever had the chance to work with him, and this move will give him the tools he needs to do that across department lines,” said Derheim. “
“If you see Kris, toss him a high five and a hells yeah – he deserves it,” said Derheim. “If you see Tom, no action necessary – he'll probably throw out the high five/hells yeah on his own.”
About The Nerdery
The Nerdery is a developer-driven interactive production shop that partners with creative minds and big thinkers to engineer and execute their interactive projects, including websites, social media and mobile apps. In 2010 and 2011, The Nerdery ranked #1 on the Best to Work list published by Mpls-St. Paul Business Journal. With offices in Chicago and Minneapolis, The Nerdery has a staff of 260+ and was founded in 2003 by three programming pioneers. The Nerdery was honored in 2010 with The Quality of Life Award and The Jefferson Award for its record of corporate philanthropy through The Nerdery Overnight Website Challenge, at which volunteers have donated nearly two million dollars worth of web development services to 66 nonprofit organizations. In addition to Biz Journal’s Fast 50 list, The Nerdery has made the Inc 5000 list of fast-growing privately owned companies for four consecutive years.
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