Welcome to the latest edition of DomainTools' Employee Spotlight! Last quarter I interviewed the one and only Michael Klatt, aka the hack days champion. This quarter I'll be highlighting a member of our Account Executive team, Damon O'Brien. Damon is sometimes referred to around the office as "Damon Tools", and works hard to have honest conversations with infosecurity professionals so he can help them fight the good fight. Damon has had a varied career, in fact, he has: owned a Taco Del Mar franchise, worked at the Dow Jones, and even worked in Japan. Prior to DomainTools, Damon worked at Twisted Pear (which was eventually scooped up by Motorola). Twisted Pear, which is a fairly technical product, connects your walkie-talkie to a cell phone or tablet. Damon also spent 12 years working in the financial software game in New York City including ComTex and Dow Jones. Additionally, Damon worked as an IT buyer at GoToNet (later purchased by Infospace). Infospace was known for its large domain portfolio, so I guess you could say Damon has always had a passion for domains.
Although Damon has had an interesting and multifaceted career background, I would argue that his life outside of work is even more intriguing. When it comes to hobbies, Damon loves to spend his time doing any and everything outside. This includes golf (which he plays each weekend with his dad), hiking, fly fishing, and snowboarding. During his Taco Del Mar days in Bozeman, Montana, Damon fell in love with Big Sky mountain. I learned during my interview that Damon is quite the trendsetter. He purchased the first Burton board (a woody), and has never looked back. Damon's passion for outdoor activities began at a young age. In fact, he was in Thrasher Magazine when he was only 12 years old (don't worry, I'm still trying to acquire photo evidence).
On any given day, you can catch Damon enjoying some Metallica and Led Zeppelin, but it sounds like he is an incredible guitarist himself. He meets up with an instructor (who actually played with Ray Charles and many more) every few weeks.
Needless to say, Damon is quite talented. We are very lucky to have him at DomainTools, and week look forward to coercing him into playing guitar for us at our annual company picnic!
Spending 12 years working in the financial software game in New York City is a whole lot of experience. Like you said, Damon is quite talented.