Hi, I’m Derek.
I’m a recovering entrepreneur.
In 2007, I started Tatango from my college dorm room. By the time I stepped down as CEO in 2022, we had generated more than $100 million in revenue and helped nonprofits raise over $1 billion through SMS fundraising. In late 2025, we sold the company.
After stepping down, life changed quite a bit. I got sober. Lost 30 pounds. Traveled to 60+ countries across all seven continents with my wife, Jessica. I also wrote The Disruption Formula, a book about the frameworks and ideas that helped us grow Tatango 10x.
These days, I’m based in Denver, advising businesses, studying and investing in autonomous vehicles, and trying to understand where technology is taking the world next.
We’re working toward visiting 100 countries over the next few years, and I’m also writing essays about entrepreneurship, leverage, AI, disruption, and the lessons I learned the hard way while building a company. You can subscribe to receive updates on new essays I publish by clicking here.