# Mike Demopoulos

**Strategic Partnerships & GTM Leader** — Hudson, Wisconsin, United States

> I help digital agencies make hosting and partnership decisions that still hold up three years later. That means the unglamorous parts — hosting stacks, support costs, margin, and which integrations are worth building versus which ones just look good in a press release. A decade inside hosting and five years agency-side means I've sat on both ends of the same conversation, which is where most of my useful opinions come from. Today I lead partnerships for North America at hosting.com, managing 500+ VIP and enterprise accounts and holding roughly 90% success on quoted renewal, upgrade, and expansion opportunities within six months. At Codeable I identified web hosting as a strategic market beyond our WordPress base, shipped native WP Toolkit integrations into cPanel and Plesk, and cut applicant-to-approval time from about ten months to three weeks across 1,000–2,000 applications a month. At InMotion Hosting I sourced roughly 80% of the qualified M&A opportunities that ultimately closed, including six- and seven-figure deals. Before all that I spent six years on the board of Open Source Matters, the non-profit behind Joomla, leading fundraising that raised more than $1M. Holding the checkbook for an open source project changes how you think about trust, contribution, and what it actually costs to keep an ecosystem alive. I write about that alongside agency infrastructure for the Forbes Agency Council, where I lead the Web Hosting & Infrastructure Group. If you're an agency owner weighing a hosting change, a partner program, or an exit, I'm glad to talk it through — including the parts where the answer is that you shouldn't do it.

Career Archetype: **Launchpad Artisan** (HS-MX) — One of the first Launchpad Artisans on Saywise

## Links

- LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/mikedemopoulos
- Website: https://mikedemo.com

## Experience

### Member & Group Leader, Forbes Agency Council (2026-01 – present)
• Lead the Web Hosting & Infrastructure Group within the invite-only Forbes Agency Council, convening executive discussion on hosting, infrastructure, and agency strategy. • Published 2 bylined Forbes.com articles and contributed to 18 additional Forbes Agency Council pieces on hosting, infrastructure, and agency market trends. • Selected for group leadership within the Council's invitation-only membership. • Build relationships with agency and infrastructure executives to expand industry perspective and company visibility.

### Partnerships Lead, North America, hosting.com (2025-04 – 2026-09)
United States · • Lead North American partnerships for hosting.com, working with digital agencies on web hosting solutions aligned to client growth needs. • Manage strategic agency relationships across the US market, connecting technical hosting requirements to commercial outcomes. • Develop partner account plans that address agency challenges, expansion opportunities, and long-term relationship health. • Add the number of agency partners managed, partner-sourced pipeline or revenue, retention results, and major partner initiatives.

### Head of Partnerships, Codeable (2021-06 – 2024-12)
• Doubled traffic growth by launching new partners and expanding into new business sectors. • Built a partner engagement cadence through a newsletter and twice-yearly business reviews to align priorities and strengthen collaboration. • Led development and launch of native WP Toolkit integrations with Plesk and cPanel, extending reach across hosting ecosystems serving millions of WordPress sites. • Managed an affiliate program of 1,000+ partners and led its transition to the TUNE affiliate network. • Add partner-sourced revenue, traffic baseline, conversion impact, and integration adoption metrics where available.

### Business Development Specialist – Product Evangelist, InMotion Hosting (2016-10 – 2021-06)
• Sourced roughly 80% of qualified M&A opportunities that ultimately closed, including six- and seven-figure deals. • Supported business development initiatives and M&A opportunity identification within the hosting sector. • Led BoldGrid's growth from an emerging product brand to a recognized presence in the WordPress community. • Built visibility through field marketing, speaking engagements, and partnerships with hosting companies. • Add the number of closed opportunities, total deal value where shareable, and measurable BoldGrid growth indicators.

### Senior Digital Services Manager, MVP Marketing + Design (2015-08 – 2016-10)
Minneapolis, Minnesota · • Directed a digital department transformation around Joomla that increased productivity by 400% within 12 months. • Partnered with Account Executives to win new client relationships, doubling and in some cases tripling the client portfolio. • Evaluated and transitioned vendors, saving tens of thousands of dollars while maintaining service quality. • Add the productivity measure, number of clients won, and vendor savings figure to make the outcomes more concrete.

### Lead Developer, SPC (2013-06 – 2015-08)
Blaine, MN · • Created and maintained 100+ websites for banking and insurance clients. • Led the upgrade of 85 websites to Joomla 3, preserving data integrity and minimizing client disruption. • Supported digital marketing initiatives spanning in-store signage, social media, websites, and mobile applications. • Add delivery timelines, team structure, and client retention or performance outcomes where available.

### Treasurer, Joomla (2013-01 – 2018-12)
• Served as board member and Treasurer for Open Source Matters, Inc., the non-profit behind Joomla. • Led fundraising efforts that generated more than $1M for the Joomla project. • Directed sponsorship strategy across 5 Joomla conferences, securing 30+ sponsors over three consecutive years. • Supported governance transition, fundraising, and financial planning for an international open-source community with an annual budget of nearly $700K. • Co-organized JoomlaDay Minnesota and marketed its first edition to sold-out attendance.

### Technical Specialist, Sengistix LLC (2010-02 – 2013-06)
Mendota Heights, MN · • Managed technical installations and developed custom cloud-based applications for a national health data programming firm. • Directed the technical program and contributed to strategic technology planning. • Built a Joomla cloud application that increased human-capital capacity by 1,100% while meeting HIPAA compliance requirements. • Clarify the capacity baseline, user population, compliance controls, and business impact of the application.

### Chief Manager, Binary Web Design, LLC (2008-02 – 2013-06)
Bloomington, MN · • Founded and led a web design and online marketing firm. • Built the brand and client base while overseeing recruiting, HR, sales, marketing, and contract negotiation. • Launched a sister company and retained clients during a period of broad economic pressure. • Established a formal sales office and developed a sales training program. • Replace the final editing note with client count, revenue, retention rate, team size, or growth milestones.

## Education

### Certificate in AI and Machine Learning, MIT Professional Education (2025-01 – 2025-04)
No Code AI and Machine Learning: Building Data Science Solutions Top 1% of cohort

### Certificate in Gaming and Esports Industry Essentials, Fashion Institute of Technology (2021-01 – 2021-01)

### Web Page, Digital/Multimedia and Information Resources Design, The Art Institutes International-Minnesota
Web Design

### UX Design, Bloc
In depth apprenticeship for UX/UI

### High School in High School/Secondary Diplomas and Certificates, Minnesota Business Academy
DECA and intern for Saint Paul Area Chamber of Commerce

## Projects

### AI Deployer
Copy-and-paste install guides for self-hosted AI agents — no live SSH, no accounts. Technologies: TypeScript, React, TanStack Start, Tailwind CSS, Zod. Project: https://local.mikedemo.dev

### AI Project Portfolio
This site - a retro level-select portfolio of my AI projects.

### Bugle Crowns
My AI agent team in the AWS Agentic Football Cup — five agents, 120-second matches. Project: https://agenticfootballcup.com

### CEO Owl
Privacy-first English grammar checking: an in-browser editor and a remote MCP server, both powered by Harper.

### Crosspost
Crossposting from tweet.app to X, automatically. Technologies: TypeScript, React, TanStack Start, Supabase. Project: https://tweet.mikedemo.dev

### Design Systems
Two complementary design systems powering this portfolio: retro NES pixels and accessible Web Awesome components. Technologies: TypeScript, React, NES.css, Web Awesome, Font Awesome Free. Project: https://design.2.mikedemo.dev

### Fresh Ink
An AI-agent bookable tattoo studio: custom linework in Saint Paul, bookable by humans and AI agents alike.

### Lite Analytics
A tiny self-hosted web analytics service: cookieless tracking and a dashboard in one SpaceFast worker.

### On-Device AI
An AI model running inside the page — on-device inference with no server round-trips. Project: https://ai.mikedemo.dev

### QueerCade Connect
A curated arcade cabinet of queer games — search IGDB, curate collections, and track what matters. Project: https://queercade.mikedemo.dev/

### Rainbow Jot
A pride-themed shared idea whiteboard for conference rooms — start a board, share the room code or QR, and brainstorm on any screen; boards auto-close after 24 hours. Project: https://mikedemo.one/

### Skill Finder Plus
AI workflow and agent skills directory. Project: https://skills.mikedemo.dev

### Awesome Adventure CV
A playable résumé as a retro text adventure — type commands to explore a career. Technologies: TypeScript, React, TanStack Start, Tailwind CSS. Project: https://mikedemo.work/

### PretendPro Office Suite
A fake productivity suite — set up your fake workday. Technologies: TypeScript, React, Tailwind CSS, shadcn/ui, Supabase. Project: https://pretend.pro

### Pride Blobs
Deterministic pride-flag blobatars from any name — same string, same avatar, every time. Technologies: TypeScript, React, SVG, Canvas API. Project: https://blobs.gay

### STA 2e D20 Roller — LCARS
A Star Trek Adventures 2d20 dice roller with an LCARS interface. Technologies: TypeScript, React, Tailwind CSS. Project: https://2d20.space

### Open Source Pride Parties
Produced inclusive flagship-event experiences across 3 major WordPress community events: WordCamp Asia, WordCamp Europe, and WordCamp United States. Grew registrations for a recurring event series from ~75 to 700 within two years. Expanded visibility and inclusion for LGBTQ+ attendees across 3 major international community events.

### JoomlaDay Minnesota
Successfully marketed the first JoomlaDay Minnesota event, resulting in sold-out attendance in its first year, 2014, and projected sell-out attendance for 2015.

## Skills

Enterprise Accounts, Web Hosting, Strategic Partnerships, Partner Ecosystems, Partner Go-to-Market Strategy, Relationship Building, Microsoft Copilot, Go-to-Market Strategy, Business Development, Channel Partnerships, Contract Negotiation, Renewals, Enterprise Account Management, Managed Service Providers (MSP), Pipeline Generation, Revenue Growth, Alliance Management, Cross-Functional Leadership, Executive Stakeholder Management, Generative AI, Workflow Automation, Developer Ecosystems, Software as a Service (SaaS), Cloud Infrastructure, Strategic Alliances, Website Management, Digital Services, Process Improvement, Onboarding, Presentations, Branding, Partnership Development, Partner Engagement, Affiliate Management, Event Coordination, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning, Data Science, No Code, Artificial Intelligence for Business, Machine Learning Algorithms, Sponsorship Generation, Corporate Sponsorships, Event Management, Event Marketing, Community Development, Outsourcing Management, Sponsorship Sales, Meeting Planning, Project Planning

## Credentials

- **Joomla Event Travel Recipient** — Joomla (issued 2015-05)
- **Celebrate Small Business Success Award,** — Saint Paul Area Chamber of Commerce (issued 2007-01)
- **Finalist, Minnesota Cup, Global Student Entrepreneurship Competition** — MN Cup | Carlson School of Management (issued 2007-01)
- **Highest SCANS Score in the U.S.** (issued 2004-01)
- **National Marketing Education Honor Award** — DECA (issued 2004-01)
- **Award for Entrepreneurship** — Pentair
- **International & State Awards Winner** — DECA ICDC & DECA/DEX ICDC
- **Out in Tech Leadership Institute** — Out in Tech (issued 2026-09)
- **No Code AI and Machine Learning: Building Data Science Solutions** — MIT Professional Education (issued 2025-04)
- **The Community MBA** — CMX (issued 2021-02)
- **Disney's Approach to Leadership Excellence** — Disney Institute (issued 2020-10)
- **Presentation Advantage** — FranklinCovey (issued 2016-12)
- **How Agencies Are Using AI Without Sacrificing Creative Quality**
- **Beyond Standard Social Media Tactics: How To Build A Brand Community**
- **How To Get The Best Deal Selling An Agency: Key Things To Think About**
- **What Multi-Location Brands Need To Know About TikTok's New Local Feed**
- **How To Leverage Gen-Z's Affinity For Nostalgia: 15 Expert Insights**
- **19 'Rules' Of B2B Email Etiquette: How To Achieve The Best Outcomes**
- **How To Build An Agency: 20 Must-Read Books For Agency Owners**
- **From Streaming To AI: Agency Leaders' Next Big Media Bets**
- **The Lifespan Of SSL Certificates Is Shrinking, And Agencies Must Adapt**
- **Rituals And Rules: How Agencies Ensure High Creativity And Quality**
- **How To Reach Gen-Z And Gen-Alpha On Social Media: Expert Tips**
- **How To Optimize Campaigns For AI Answer Engines: 15 Key Components**
- **Agencies And Influencers: How Today’s New Biz Partners Strike Deals**
- **The Most Important Metrics Agencies Track (And Why)**
- **What Seven Agency Leaders Learned From Big Client Wins**
- **Important Things Agencies Won’t Cut, Even When Budgets Tighten**
- **How To Meet Agency Clients’ Performance-Based Pricing Preferences**
- **How To Meet Agency Clients' Performance-Based Pricing Preferences**
- **How To Drive E-Commerce Engagement And Conversions: Agency Insights**
- **How To Drive E-Commerce Brand Engagement And Online Conversions**

## AI Fluency

- **Microsoft Copilot** (https://copilot.microsoft.com)

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Source: https://saywise.com/mikedemo (last modified 2026-10-06T06:41:07.396Z)