S. Mike Dierken

S. Mike Dierken

Founder at First Principle Ventures
Greater Seattle Area

S. Mike Dierken is currently the Founder at First Principle Ventures. He has previously held engineering and management roles at Amazon.com, Asymetrix, and DataChannel, and has expertise in product development, e-commerce, ad-tech, platform building, and applying ML and AI.

  • First Principle Ventures Founder 2023–present · current
  • paywalls.net CTO / Co-Founder 2025–2026 · past
  • Nerdy CTO 2019–2022 · past
  • Spruce Up, Inc. CTO, Co-Founder 2018–2019 · past
  • McKinsey & Company VP Digital 2016–2018 · past
  • Sears Home Services VP Technology 2015 · past
  • the Rubicon Project VP Engineering, Platform 2013–2015, Director of Engineering, Platform 2011–2013, Sr. Troublemaker 2009–2011 · past
  • Others Online Sr. Troublemaker 2006–2009 · past
  • Amazon Engineering Manager, Offer Listing Systems 2005–2006, Sr. Technical Project Manager 2003–2005 · past
  • Amazon Enterprise Services, LLC Engineering Manager 2004–2006 · past
  • DataConcert Engineer 2001–2002 · past
  • KnowNow Engineer 2001 · past
  • DataChannel Principal Architect 1997–2001 · past
  • iDream Program Manager 1997 · past
  • Asymetrix Senior Software Engineer 1993–1997 · past
  • Sundstrand Data Control Senior Software Engineer 1987–1992 · past

Education

  • Washington State University BS, Electrical Engineering · 1983–1987

Organizations

See all 16
  • First Principle Ventures Founder 2023–present · current
  • paywalls.net CTO / Co-Founder 2025–2026 · past
  • Nerdy CTO 2019–2022 · past

Education

  • Washington State University BS, Electrical Engineering · 1983–1987

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