Derek began his career as an entrepreneur before he even graduated college – during his senior year he was part of the leadership team behind ah-ha.com, eventually overseeing the company’s successful acquisition and subsequent public offering in 2004. Derek then went on to co-found Orangesoda.com, helping the company to achieve one of the highest growth rates in the state of Utah and overseeing another successful acquisition by the Deluxe Corporation, a Fortune 1000 company. Derek then moved to Contour, an action camera company, and helped lead them to a successful merger/acquisition in the summer of 2015.
Derek has been recognized by Utah Valley Business Magazine as a “Top 40 Under 40” executive, and has been named to the Signal Peak Capital Top 100 Venture Entrepreneurs four years in a row. He is a frequent community speaker, an active angel investor, and an enthusiastic business mentor. Derek serves on several company advisory boards including the UVU Gift Planning Advisory Board and the Associate Entrepreneur Founders Organization at Brigham Young University.
Derek received his bachelor’s degree from the School of Technology at BYU, with a focus on industrial design and product development.
Derek and I had lunch near the beginning of the semester, thanks to a warm introduction from a mutual friend, Jon Bradshaw. Derek and I instantly connected and it’s thanks to Derek that I was able to work at Tech Trep Academy with him and his brilliant co-founder, Matt Bowman.
Derek is positive, he’s focused, he works fantastically within and leading a team. Derek is the best manager I’ve ever had the opportunity to work with. The ability to inspire creativity and hard work are two of the main skills I’ve noticed in Derek and hope to emulate in my own life.
I have been able to observe, and did notice in our first lunch, Derek’s genuine nature and his innate hard work ethic. Simply put, he’s a born entrepreneur and his track record shows he has been able to utilize the skills he has to be marvelously successful.
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