A must read cover story of my good friend Dr. Chris Hartnett. Via DNJournal:
“In the 1990s Hartnett revolutionized the global telecommunications industry, outmaneuvering the long distance giants with his upstart company USA Global Link - the first to enable global phone to phone calling via the Internet. Publications like the Financial Times dubbed him the “Father of Internet Telephony and VOIP technologies.” After starting with just three employees in a remote Midwestern hamlet, Fairfield, Iowa, Hartnett grew the company to over 6,500 employees and agents scattered across more than 160 countries and territories around the globe.
By 1999 USA Global Link’s annual revenue had hit $589 million. When another company he founded, internet service provider Global Online India, went public it made $780 million on the opening day of the offering. By 2000, Harnett’s companies had a total market value of $2.8 billion (with him and his family owning and controlling 85% of the equity).
Hartnett became a Wall Street Journal cover boy (seven times) and was featured in cover stories published by eight different magazines. In 1996 he received the Entrepreneur of the Year Award sponsored by Ernst & Young, USA Today, and the NASDAQ Stock Exchange. He got invited to the ultra exclusive World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland where he rubbed elbows with 42
billionaires from around the globe. He also got to know Microsoft founder Bill Gates and Hartnett’s company was chosen to be the first telecommunications company to link directly with Windows NT.”
For further reading, see the following links on my blog:
Dr. Chris Hartnett At Traffic East
A Walk Down Memory Lane With Dr. Chris Hartnett
As well as there are other priceless comments by Chris on the blog. See Google Search results for more.
Fantastic story.
Great story
Thanks Sahar
Wow,
We have seen so many times Chris and Sarid sharing the same photo.
It’s great to can finally put a name (better, an amazing story) behind a face.
We all now understand why you are so appreciated by Sarid.
(as allways, congrats Ron for your good journalist job)
Although it is an inspiring story, do remember he did not build an empire of domains from scratch like most of us did. It started from Gemstones and Telecommunication.
This is a wonderful read. No. A “must read”, especially for those “on the fence” about dot tv.
NY
—-answer—-
I had long talks with Chris about .TV. You need to remember that his .TV investment are extremely speculative in nature. No one is disputing one of those speculative extensions may work one day, just the odds of which and when.
IMHO .TV is marketed wrong right now. “TV” is not about videos, it is about Television. I believe if the registry addresses that issue and make that clear distinction they may have a chance. It reminds me lately of things I learn and when I want to see related videos I go to YouTube. But what if you want to see television content? For that, there isn’t yet a brand that is known for that stuff. Not that one day there won’t be one, but I believe that’s where the market opening for .TV is.
In any event, good luck to you with your investments,
Cheers
Sahar