Monte Cahn
Monte Cahn is a renowned Internet entrepreneur and domainer. He established the first Internet domain brokerage, NameShop.com. He has founded and acted as CEO for a number of important industry companies, such as Moniker and Domain Systems.[1] He is currently working on a new project, Right of the Dot, with Michael H. Berkens.
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Mr. Cahn was head of Moniker in 1999 when it became a registrar, and set the unprecedented standard of passing its ICANN registrar accreditation and connection requirements on its first try. His company, DomainSystems, invented the first domain appraisal system, which has largely become an industry standard.[2]
Background
Monte Cahn was already establishing himself as a medical equipment salesman before he graduated college. Post graduation, he took his business of selling specialized cardiology equipment to South Florida. He then took on a low-performing unit of the drug corporation, Eli Lilly; within 2 years Mr. Cahn had moved that department from its #111 rank within the company's territories, to #4. He and other senior managers then set out to establish their own distributor of specialized medical equipment in San Diego, California; they later sold the company to one of the world's largest drug distributors, after first bringing it public and seeing their systems integrated in a majority of American hospitals.[3]
Domaining
Monte Cahn became aware of domaining through a client, and decided to start a side business with him. The result was the Internet's first domain brokerage company, NameShop.com. He moved on but continued to become a bigger part of the burgeoning domaining marketplace. His next company HitDomains.com made headlines throughout the late 1990s thanks to their multi-million dollar domain sales; a merger with SolutionHome.com created DomainSystems.com.[4] Through a business model that allowed him to capitalize on domains being sold off due to bankruptcy or other court proceedings, Monte Cahn was able to set record sales numbers for highly-sought domains. Some of his famous sales include: WallStreet.com (1.03 million, 1999), Autos.com (2.2 million), eCommerce.com, eToys.com, Mortgage.com, Celebrities.com, Hotel.com, Guns.com, OfficeSupply.com.
His reputation as a domaining expert was certainly solidified when some of the world's largest corporations tapped him to manage and protect their online brand presence.
Leaving Moniker
In 2008, Moniker was purchased by Oversee.net for $35 million USD. It had previously been acquired by Seevast in 2005.[5] Part of the acquisition of Moniker by Oversee stipulated that Cahn come along as the President of Moniker for 3 years. During this time he also filled other roles within the company, such as President of SnapNames.[6] He left in December, 2010; in May, 20111 he filed a lawsuit against his former employer.[7] He filed suit against Oversee, and named its CEO, Jeff Kupietzky, and its founder, Lawrence Ng; the suit was over alleged non-payment of a $13 million USD incentive plan.[8] This suit does not seem to have been resolved as of August, 2011.
Education
Mr. Cahn has degrees in Marketing and Biology from The University of Kentucky.[9]