Tag Archives: Minneapolis/St.Paul Business Journal

Friday Links: 16 GIFs of Chemical Reactions

• The short history of the animated GIF.
• Twin Cities Business reports on the two local companies who made Inc.’s Hire Power list and Minneapolis St. Paul Business Journal reports on one of Luke Bucklin’s last memos.
• Seven productivity myths debunked by science & common sense.
• Six ill-advised marking campaigns that backfired.
• Five tips for forging a lasting creative partnership.
• LEGO digs up discontinued set so boy who saved for two year is not disappointed, because you needed another reason to love LEGO.
• Ashton Kutcher as Steve Jobs and other screen nerds.
• The inside story of Pong and the video game industry’s Big Bang.
• Oddly mesmerizing: 16 GIFs of chemical reactions.
• Jeff Bezos’ two pizza rule to avoid groupthink.
• Design Sponge’s tech gadgets & accessories gift guide is filled with lovely, nerdy stuff.
• A suburban Super Mario stop-motion adventure made with beads.

The Nerdery ranks #9 on Business Journal’s Fast 50 List

For the fifth year in a row we’ve made The Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal’s Fast 50 list, this year coming in at number nine. You can read all about the numbers, and how we’ve ranked for the past five years in the News Section. In the meantime I will leave you with this great quote from the Q&A with CEO Mike Derheim (which you can also read in the News Section).

Biz Journal: Compare your company to a superhero.
Mike Derheim: Our company is built around a collective of smart people and as such we’re less akin to a single superhero than we are to a group like The Avengers or The X-Men. Our real strength comes from the interplay and cooperation between the individual powers of the amazing team of Nerds that have assembled in an unassuming, mild-mannered office building in Bloomington, MN. Our mission is to actively seek out extraordinary people and empower as Nerds.

Banks building mobile platforms

The Minneapolis St. Paul Business Journal wrote about Minnesota banks building mobile platforms, and included a few choice quotes from a few of our nerds, including this from user experience developer Jake Ward:

“Our mobile devices are becoming our wallets. The banks are doing everything they can do right now with the limitations of the hardware, the ecosystem and the stakeholders,” he said.

If you’re a subscriber you can read the whole article at The Minneapolis St. Paul Business Journal. Not a subscriber? Head over to our News section.

Friday Links: Nerdery ranked #11 on Biz Journal’s Fast 50 list

The Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal announced its annual rankings of fastest growing private companies in the Twin Cities and we’re super pumped to say we’ve made it for the fourth consecutive year! With 2010 revenue of $14.2 million and a two-year growth rate of 119% we came in at #11 on the 2011 Fast 50 List.

Sweet!

Kris Szafranski, The Nerdery’s director of software development, spilled the following beans regarding the company’s success to Biz Journal assistant managing editor Kim Johnson. Subscribers, take a look at what Kris had to say. Non-subscribers? You can head over to the News section for the full scoop.

Now, on with the links.

• Jason Kottke picks his favorite tributes to Steve Jobs.
• This is a good one too. Brian Kam formerly of Gizmodo, Steve Jobs was always kind to me or regrets of an asshole.
• This UX/UI t-shirt is totally badass.
• Unicorns and Wheels: Apples two types of products.
• Brands customers are most loyal to.
• The Cult of LEGO, a coffee table book for LEGO fans.
• In case you missed this earlier in the week, a father captures his son’s reaction to the big reveal in “Empire Strikes Back.”
• Cheese or Font, much more difficult than you’d expect.

Life in the fast lane

Today the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal decided to check in with some of the companies they named to their Fast 50 list. If you don’t remember we were ranked #14. During the check up they asked seven companies three questions: What has been something great that has happened at your company in 2011? What has been the biggest challenge so far this year? Is there something new you tried that has allowed you to continue to thrive in this difficult economy?

If you’re a subscriber you can head right on over to the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal to take a look at how the seven companies are doing.

How are we doing? Fabulous, I’m glad you asked. You can read all about it over in the News section.

And to whet your appetite, here’s one of the great things thing CEO Mike Derheim said happened 2011: The expansion of The Nerdery’s office, specifically the Luke J. Bucklin Nerditorium Hall.

“We also use the Nerditorium to hold our traditional Friday afternoon ‘Bottle Cap Talk,’ at which we celebrate weekly good deeds through staff shout-outs and see the debut of a recently-launched web project,” said Nerdery CEO Mike Derheim. “It’s like show-and-tell for nerds with a happy hour feel to kick-off the weekend.”

Nerdery #14 on 2010 Biz Journal Fast 50 list & other Friday links

• We’re happy to say we’ve moved up two notches on the Mpls-St. Paul’s Business Journal’s list of the 50 fastest growing, privately held companies in Minnesota. Check out the News section for other newsworthy facts about the award as well as a Q&A with Nerdery president, Luke Bucklin.
• FYI: The Candy Hierarchy .
• Gangsta Lorem Ipsum generator: ipsizzle sheezy sit break it down, consectetuer adipiscing elit.
• Letters of Note: has a great letter, complete with drawings, on the birth of Wonder Woman
• If all movies had smart phones.
• Apple no longer bundling Flash with Mac OS X.
• Infographic of the Week: evolution of the geek.
• Angry Birds plush toys, a great gift for the gamer in your life.

Sweet Sixteen

Yeah, we’re pretty pumped at being named #16 on the Business Journals’ Fast 50. Part of the honor will include being included in the Fast 50 Diary, where they take five businesses from the list of the 50 fastest-growing private companies in the area, and follow them monthly for a year (you can see our profile here).

We’re so pumped, in fact, a few of the Nerds went out celebrating and sang a little bit of Journey.

Don’t Stop Believing from DC_VIRUS on Vimeo.

One more thing to crow about, Luke Bucklin named to Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal’s 40 under 40

What a week! First Skimmer, then iMapWeather, and now this! Our president, Luke Bucklin has been named to Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal’s 40 under 40. This list spotlights some of the region’s most talented and successful young leaders, and we couldn’t be prouder of Luke for making the list.