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Jeff Neuman quits Neustar for Valideus

Kevin Murphy, January 23, 2015, 12:13:22 (UTC), Domain Registries

Neustar’s top domain name guy is moving to UK new gTLD consultancy Valideus.
Jeff Neuman, who’s been with Neustar for over 15 years, will become Valideus’ senior vice president for North America, starting this coming Monday, according to Valideus managing director Nick Wood.
I don’t know who’s replacing him at Neustar, where he’s been in charge of the company’s domain name business for the last couple of years, overseeing the company’s business as a registry back-end provider and registry for New York’s .nyc new gTLD.
Neuman was previously Neustar’s longstanding VP of policy, a role which also saw him heavily involved in ICANN’s GNSO Council and Neustar’s application for and launch of .biz, back in 2000.
He’s been quite a pivotal and sometimes outspoken figure over the years.
Valideus is the new gTLD service provider sister company to Com Laude, the brand-focused registrar. It provides application consulting and ongoing registry/registrar management for dot-brand gTLD applicants and registries, Amazon among them.
I gather that Neuman will remain based in the US, as his new job title implies.

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Comments (11)

  1. Paul Dubrov says:
    January 23, 2015 at 5:34 pm

    It’s not suprising. Neustar has been plagued by a loss of really talented resources over the past year in their registry business. There’s been a lot of speculation about the reason why, from politics to coup attempts, but their leadership and talent pool has been gutted. It doesn’t bode well for them, when customers are watching familiar faces exiting in a steady stream. It also doesn’t help that they are being clumsy in addressing the matter with their stake-holders and we the customers.

    Reply
  2. Rubens Kuhl says:
    January 23, 2015 at 6:40 pm

    Considering Neustar’s main source of revenue, the US phone number portability contract, is going away, I was expecting the domain business to grew in importance, not the other way around. Surprising.

    Reply
  3. Tom says:
    January 23, 2015 at 8:18 pm

    .co is never even talked about anymore. I would rather buy a .com, but if I can’t find a .com, I would go with .co, but now I would choose a new GTLD

    Reply
  4. Enemy of says:
    January 24, 2015 at 12:58 am

    I’ve known, worked with and admire Jeff and wish him well. I also know Neustar management quite well and this article exaggerates his role there. “in charge of the company’s domain name business for the last couple of years” is south of accurate. He was one of many (many) people involved in the management of the service. Check your facts, Mr Murphy.

    Reply
  5. Bill Bruner says:
    January 24, 2015 at 1:36 am

    Whether he left on his own because he saw the writing on Neustar’s crumbling walls or was forced out remains to be seen; Neustar has lost many, many seasoned and effective staff on all levels in the past 6 months. Internal struggles and divisons are pretty public at this point, and all signs point to a complete lack of leadership. Not competitively pursuing the NPAC contract is another sign of an utter lack of ability to lead an organization not only through the challenges of the new gTLDs, but day to day operations.

    Reply
  6. anony (eroyalmail) says:
    January 26, 2015 at 10:38 pm

    The new gtlds in the majority the vertical ones are too specific to the extent they are for unprivacy and this is not comforting. Exception to this is .guru.
    Only when you read after ‘Trunk’ or the ‘/’ referred to as the forward slash in the URL is where you get vertical sort information.
    I refer to ‘/’ being ‘Trunk’ because it is like the Lord Ganesha’s, the elephant head Demi-God famed for removing obstacles.
    If the gtlds on the internet rather than have dot before them had ‘Trunk’ before them then the new vertical sort new gtlds would have a possibility.

    Reply
  7. Paul Dubrov says:
    January 29, 2015 at 2:01 am

    In regards to reporting comments, Jeff reported to Mr. Kaine for only a few months after yet another Neustar sudden re-organization. Prior to that he was the much respected go to leader for all things Registry at Neustar. Regardless, of why he left, I am sure anyone who is familiar with Jeff’s passion and dedication in the industry can agree that Valideus has gained an incredible resource and a well seasoned professional. That wealth of expertise is not easy to come by in the industry. I am glad for him.

    Reply
  8. J. Gerrar says:
    February 19, 2015 at 4:28 pm

    The dismissal participation of Neustar at the recent ICANN Singapore events, demonstrates how radical the changes are that are taking place within the company. The NTLD customers were in attendance, but Neustar had no representatives from the New TLD group to speak with them. So much for being valued customers. Meanwhile the other Registries showed a strong presence.

    Reply

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