Nerdies Founder Vying to Compete on Shark Tank
by March 30, 2015 12:00 am 88 views
Brad Harvey, founder and “head nerd in charge” of Fayetteville-based Nerdies alternative learning company, has made it to the second round of casting for ABC’s “Shark Tank,” a reality competition television show where entrepreneurs pitch business plans to a panel of investors.
Nerdies offers a rent-by-the-hour gaming studio; classes for school-age children in subjects like web development, video game development, robotics, entrepreneurship and drones; and adult classes in computer building, self-publishing and Minecraft server building.
Last July, Nerdies also launched a subsidiary, Arties, which offers classes in creative arts.
Harvey first applied for the show in September, sending a photo, overview of the company and links to its websites and social media accounts.
Six months later, he was given 13 days to pull together an audition video and fill out, by hand, a 40-plus-page questionnaire.
Harvey said, based on what he has heard, he is in the final round of casting for the show.
But don’t set your DVRs yet. This stage in the process requires an extensive background check, Harvey said, and once the segment is filmed it might not air for six months to a year.