Oversee.net just put out a press release announcing that Monte Cahn will be leaving Oversee at the end of the year:
Here is the the press release:
“Monte Cahn, the founder of Moniker® and a widely-known domain name industry pioneer, has elected to leave the company at the conclusion of his contract later this month.”
“Oversee appreciates all of Monte’s contributions to the company and to the industry,” said Oversee CEO and President Jeff Kupietzky. “We respect his readiness to part ways and look forward to working with him in new capacities.”
“Cahn joined the organization in December 2007, after Moniker’s acquisition by Oversee.”
“He was instrumental in the successful integration of the retail registrar function into Oversee’s other operating divisions, and continued his prominent industry role as a leader and facilitator of domain name sales through private and live domain name auction events. During his time with Moniker, Cahn helped create and introduce inventive services like domain name appraisals, escrow, theft protection, WhoIs privacy, bulk name and asset management, and live domain auctions.”
“I want to express my sincere gratitude to all those that have worked with me at Moniker, SnapNames and Oversee and helped build an industry-leading brand and company. I know that their successes as individuals and as a company will continue for years to come,” said Cahn. “I also want to express my thanks to our loyal customers and business partners who believed in and contributed to the domain name industry. It has been a real pleasure serving the industry for the past 15 years.”
“Cahn will leave the Oversee organization on December 31, 2010.”
Wow this is huge news.
Certainly Monte has been one of the leaders in the domain industry for over 15 years.
Monte started Moniker from nothing with no VC money, and built it into a top 10 registrar.
Pretty impressive stuff.
Its probably safe to say that no one on the planet has sold more domains in terms of price than Monte through brokerage and live auctions, certainly totaling in the Hundreds of Millions of dollars as well as some of the biggest sales of all time.
Monte was just and very well deservedly, elected into the Domain Name Hall of Fame at TRAFFIC Miami.
That is shocking news.
Ron Sheridan and Monte were the ‘faces’ of Oversee, Moniker, Snapnames, DomainSponsor.
And, they were the ones that added creditability to the company.
Now both of them are gone.
I’ve said it hundreds of times, “Monte is the hardest working guy in the business”.
I could communicate with him anytime of the day or night and he would quickly respond.
I use to joke that he slept with one eye open watching his blackberry.
He will be sorely missed by Oversee.
As for his future?
Monte is one of those guys that can continously make lemons into lemonade.
I wish Monte good luck on his new ventures.
And, I’m positive there are plenty available.
Spot on guy – Best of luck in your future ventures Monte.
A big loss for Oversee.
Hello Mike,
I have known Monte since 1999 and have had nothing but great thoughts about him. He helped me out more than once and always was on top of everything at the early stages of Monikers rise to dominance in the industry. Good luck to you Monte!
Gratefully, Jeff
Big news indeed when one of the industry leaders says good by to their impressive, successful creation.
Three worthwhile questions left unanswered by the press release:
1. Why?
2. Where will we see Monte next? Another company? A new startup?
3. Who will be replacing him at Oversee?
In any case, the industry owes a debt of gratitude for the years of hard work Monte’s given (and may yet continue to supply?) to the domain industry.
Should he elect to leave domains behind, the industry won’t be the same without him.
Thanks Monte; and best wishes for whatever your future holds.
This does not inspire confidence.
Whenever a company is bought out and the founder winds up leaving, that’s the first sign the company in question has jumped the shark.
Founders view their company like a child- their emotions are invested in it, they’ve raised it, they’ve nurtured it, they’ve watched it grow- and founders usually run their companies with the same degree of deliberate care and consideration. Those sentiments depart whenever a founder does; the company in question becomes nothing more than a ‘subsidiary’. Things change, rarely for the better.
My better names aren’t with Moniker, so I’ll take a wait and see approach.
For the last decade, if you had problems getting something done …you could contact Monte and it would suddenly get done (almost like magic). You hesitated to contact him, because you knew he was doing this for a constant stream of customers 24/7.
He once handled a problem for me from his mobile While he was on a family vacation. He always went “above and beyond the call of duty” for the sake of the industry.
But, you always wondered how long a person could live like that. You always feared that someday he would leave and Moniker would become “just another registrar”. I have to agree with Morgan and tend to think Moniker will never be the same. Let’s just hope they will find someone who will give it even half the dedication that Monte did and hope for the best.
Anyway, here’s wishing Monte all the best and endless thanks for going the extra mile, even the smallest of his customers.