Client Reviews

John was instrumental in guiding us through the complexities of the first round of the new gTLD program. His deep understanding of the ICANN guidebook—both in terms of its interpretation and the intent behind key provisions—gave us a significant strategic edge. Beyond regulatory guidance, John played a pivotal role in shaping our overall strategy, including business and financial modeling that helped us assess the opportunity with clarity and confidence.

Equally valuable was his ability to facilitate alignment across our executive team, ensuring that all stakeholders were informed, aligned, and moving in the same direction. Thanks to John's expertise and leadership, we were able to maximize our odds of securing the TLD we had targeted.

— Sandeep Ramchandani, CEO RADIX Registry

John has a unique skill and passion for designing facilitated sessions that engage participants at a professional and personal level. These sessions have been integral too our strategic planning, diversification initiatives, team building and board engagement and have helped Sharpe the arc of CIRA for the past decade.

- Byron Holland, CEO CIRA (.ca)

SIDN and CIRA needed to engage across an ocean and navigate deal complexities in a very short time. John and his human-side tools enabled us to candidly interact, find common ground and build trust. John’s tools and methods were a refreshing change that bridged international and cultural barriers.

- Roelof Meijer, CEO SIDN (.nl)

It was always reassuring when we were able to lean on John Matson’s facilitation skills and strategic guidance, to help build trust within our board, and between board and senior leadership. Building trust and ensuring alignment across two organizations was a natural extension.

— Andrew Escobar, CIRA Board Member (2011–23)

John facilitated our most recent strategic plan. He designed and facilitated the strategic planning effort to be 100% remote due to pandemic restrictions. The multi-month process engaged our Staff, Executives and Board in a series of video (remote) facilitated sessions. At the end we had developed a new strategic plan that was clear, concise and inspiring. Subsequent communication with stakeholders was effective with - Defend the Core, Grow the Base, Create the New and Develop our Staff.

— David Curtin, CEO IEDR (.ie)

I had the honour of working with John for quite a while. I have not yet met somebody who has a deeper understanding of the domain name industry than he does. He made the difference in many aspects of the business.

— Caspar Veltheim, Managing Director Bayern Connect (.bayern)

Over the years, I have attended many sessions facilitated by John. Big groups, small groups, experienced executives, board members, operational teams….all shapes and sizes. A session facilitated by John is always expertly planned, masterfully presented, inclusive of input from all participants and finishes with actionable outputs that exceed expectations.

— Dave Chiswell, VP Diversified Services CIRA (.ca)

In a world driven by data John is a master at sales and operations analysis. Breaking complex issues down to the key variables and develop financial models with insightful graphic dashboards. John's passion for data and more importantly facilitating the ability to measure our business initiatives allowed us to grow our business.

— Tony Farrow, CEO MMX Ltd

John's unique skill set can liberate any business from drowning in data. He turned our data into real actionable insights that helped us make decisions to drive the organisation forward that aligned with our short and long-term strategic objectives.

— Ben Anderson, COO MMX Ltd