Arno Vis

Person
◀ ▶
ICANN SO/AC	Openprovider
Region	EUR
Country	Netherlands
Achievements

Arno Vis is a Dutch entrepreneur, investor, and mentor, best known as the founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Openprovider, a global domain registrar and technology company headquartered in the Netherlands.

He is also the CEO of Hosting Concepts B.V., the parent company of Openprovider, and has been active in the Internet and hosting industry for more than three decades.

Career History

Arno Vis began his career in the entertainment industry as an organizer of rhythm and blues concerts. In 1994, he co-founded a graphic design company, which was later transformed into a web design and search engine optimization (SEO) agency as the Internet began to gain momentum.

In 1998, Vis acquired a small hosting company, motivated by a desire to create a subscription-based business model alongside project-based work. He eventually sold the web and design company in 2010, but retained the hosting company, which evolved into Openprovider. The hosting company itself was sold in 2012, though a part of it was retained and became the foundation for Openprovider’s current operations.

As CEO of Openprovider, Vis pioneered a subscription-based model for domains: Openprovider Membership.

Unlike traditional domain wholesalers who typically add a profit margin, Openprovider charges an annual membership fee and sells domains at cost price. Vis has described the philosophy behind this approach as:

"We believe that the wholesaler doesn’t add any value to the actual product (i.e. domain names or SSL certificates), so why should they add a profit margin to that?"

Under his leadership, Openprovider also transitioned into a fully remote company during the COVID-19 pandemic. The company expanded from a close-knit group of 50 employees to more than 100 team members spread across 26 countries, requiring new approaches to maintaining connection and collaboration in a distributed environment.

In addition to his work at Openprovider, Vis has been involved with several industry organizations. He previously served as a Member of the Registry Advisory Board at EURid and also held the role of Manager of External Relations at the Association of Registrars SIDN (VvR).

Other Ventures

Beyond Openprovider, Vis has founded and invested in other companies, including Procys, an AI-driven document automation startup. He remains active as an investor and mentor in the tech and startup community.

Personal Life

Vis was born and raised in the Netherlands and currently resides in Barcelona, Spain. He is known for his entrepreneurial philosophy, emphasizing reinvention and resilience in business.

Vis once said:

"I just want to say that I want to keep doing what I love and to keep having fun. I want to keep working until I die – creating a company that survives me."

Among his favorite quotes is from Winston Churchill: “Success is going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.”