Dan Kohn
I write today with tremendous sadness to share the news of a great loss in our midsts. Dan Kohn passed away earlier today of complications from colon cancer.
Daniel Mark Kohn was Popularly called as Dan Kohn, an Americal National born on 20 November 1972 in United States. He was so interested in learning new technologies and implement the same in real life. He was also part of many First of its kind on internet world. He have also helped and worked for multiple telecom indistries.
1987 - 1990 - High School - Philips Eeter Acadamy
He has completed his High School from Philips Exeter Academy, Often called as Exeter or PEA. Exter is a highly selective, coeducational independent school for boarding and day students in grades 9 through 12, and offers a secondary postgraduate program. Located in Exeter, New Hampshire, it is one of the oldest secondary schools in the United States. Its history, influence, wealth, and academic reputation have made it one of the most elite boarding schools in the United States. Exeter is based on the Harkness education system, a conference format of student interaction with minimal teacher involvement. It has the largest endowment of any New England boarding school, which as of 2018 was valued at $1.3 billion.
1993 - 1993 - Economics - The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)
He has completed his Economics from The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). The London School of Economics (officially the London School of Economics and Political Science, often referred to as LSE or the LSE) is a public research university located in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1895 by Fabian Society members Sidney Webb, Beatrice Webb, Graham Wallas, and George Bernard Shaw for the betterment of society, LSE joined the University of London in 1900 and established its first degree courses under the auspices of the university in 1901. LSE started awarding its own degrees in its own name in 2008, prior to which it awarded degrees of the University of London. The LSE has produced many notable alumni in the fields of law, history, anthropology, economics, philosophy, psychology, business, literature, media and politics. Alumni and staff include 55 past or present heads of state or government and 18 Nobel laureates. As of 2017, 27% (or 13 out of 49) of all the Nobel Memorial Prizes in Economics have been awarded or jointly awarded to LSE alumni, current staff or former staff, making up 16% (13 out of 79) of all laureates. LSE alumni and staff have also won 3 Nobel Peace Prizes and 2 Nobel Prizes in Literature. Out of all European universities, LSE has educated the most billionaires according to a 2014 global census of U.S dollar billionaires.
1990 - 1994 - Honours Graduation - Swarthmore College
He has completed his Graduation in Bachelor of Arts (B.A), an Honors Degree in Economics and Computer Science from Swarthmore College. Swarthmore College is a private liberal arts college in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania.[6] Founded in 1864, with its first classes being held in 1869, Swarthmore was one of the earliest coeducational colleges in the United States. It was established to be a college "...under the care of Friends, at which an education may be obtained equal to that of the best institutions of learning in our country." By 1906, Swarthmore had dropped its religious affiliation and became officially non-sectarian. Swarthmore is a member of the Tri-College Consortium along with Bryn Mawr and Haverford College, a cooperative academic arrangement between the three schools. Swarthmore is also affiliated with the University of Pennsylvania through the Quaker Consortium, which allows for students to cross-register for classes at all four institutions. Swarthmore offers over 600 courses per year in more than 40 areas of study, including an ABET accredited engineering program that culminates with a Bachelor of Science in engineering. Swarthmore has a variety of sporting teams with a total of 22 Division III Varsity Intercollegiate Sports Teams, and it competes in the Centennial Conference, a group of private colleges in Pennsylvania and Maryland. Despite the school's small size, Swarthmore alumni have attained prominence in a broad range of fields. Graduates include five Nobel Prize winners (as of 2016, the third-highest number of Nobel Prize winners per graduate in the U.S.), 11 MacArthur Foundation fellows, 30 Rhodes Scholars, 27 Truman Scholars, 10 Marshall Scholars, 201 Fulbright Grantees, and many noteworthy figures in law, art, science, academia, business, politics, and other fields.
1993 - 1995 - CEO NetMarket
Dan started his career as founder and CEO of NetMarket, one of the first Internet companies. Kohn co-founded and was CEO of NetMarket, an online marketplace. On August 11, 1994, NetMarket sold Ten Summoner's Tales, a CD by Sting, to Phil Brandenberger of Philadelphia using a credit card over the Internet. The New York Times described this as "...the first retail transaction on the Internet using a readily available version of powerful data encryption software designed to guarantee privacy." The encryption used in the transaction was provided by the Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) program, incorporated into the X Mosaic browser. In 1994, he led the development of the first music store on the web, including conducting the first secure commercial transaction, deploying the first commercial database-backed website, and implementing the first shopping cart. He later sold NetMarket to Cendant, a multi-billion dollar membership services company.
1995 - 2000 - Vice President, Strategy - Teledesic
Dan helped manage several telecom firms controlled by Craig McCaw, including XO Communications, Nextel (now Sprint), ICO, and Teledesic. He served as a key negotiator in transforming a $12 million portal outsourcing payment from Nextel to Netscape into a $600 million investment by Microsoft into Nextel. He conducted board-level presentations as part of investor and contract negotiations around the world, raising over $1.6 B. He authored the business plan and financial model for Teledesic, the global, broadband Internet-in-the-Sky backed by telecom pioneer Craig McCaw and Bill Gates. Teledesic was a company founded in the 1990s to build a commercial broadband satellite internet constellation. Using low-Earth-orbiting satellites small antennas could be used to provide uplinks of as much as 100 Mbit/s and downlinks of up to 720 Mbit/s. The original 1994 proposal was extremely ambitious, costing over 9 billion USD and originally planning 840 active satellites with in-orbit spares at an altitude of 700 km. In 1997, the plan was scaled back to 288 active satellites at 1400 km. Teledesic Corporation changed its name to Teledesic, LLC by pro forma assignment of its license, granted on 26 January 1998. The commercial failure of the similar Iridium and Globalstar ventures (composed of 66 and 48 operational satellites respectively) and other systems, along with bankruptcy protection filings, were primary factors in halting the project, and Teledesic officially suspended its satellite construction work on 1 October 2002.
2000 - 2005 - General Partner - Skymoon Ventures
Dan served as a general partner at Skymoon Ventures, a $70 M seed-stage venture capital firm that created startups in semiconductors and telecom infrastructure. He co-founded and served as the initial CEO of Pedestal Networks, an innovative DSL equipment company (sold to UT Starcom); Dash Networks, the first Internet-enabled automotive GPS device (sold to RIM); and Habeas, an email accreditation and reputation company that helps legitimate mailers ensure delivery (sold to Return Path). In each case, Dan developed the business plan, hired the management team and raised external venture funding.
2006 - 2010 - COO - Linux Foundation
As the #2 person at the Linux Foundation (LF), Dan previously managed the not-for-profit trade group that promotes, protects and advances Linux, with an annual budget of over $10 M. He orchestrated the merger of the two predecessor organizations in 2006. Collaborating closely with the high-powered board representing the whole technology industry, Dan rebuilt the LF by assembling a unified business plan and budget, winning over the combined membership and running a consistent budget surplus. The Linux Foundation (LF) is a non-profit technology consortium founded in 2000 as a merger between Open Source Development Labs and the Free Standards Group to standardize Linux, support its growth, and promote its commercial adoption. It also hosts and promotes the collaborative development of open source software projects. It began in 2000, under the Open Source Development Labs (OSDL) and became the organization it is today when OSDL merged with the Free Standards Group (FSG). The Linux Foundation sponsors the work of Linux creator Linus Torvalds and lead maintainer Greg Kroah-Hartman and is supported by members such as AT&T, Cisco, Facebook, Fujitsu, Google, Hitachi, Huawei, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, NEC, Oracle, Orange S.A., Qualcomm, Samsung, Tencent, and VMware, as well as developers from around the world. In recent years, the Linux Foundation has expanded its support programs through events, training and certification, and open source projects. Projects hosted at the Linux Foundation include the Linux kernel project, Kubernetes, Automotive Grade Linux, Open Network Automation Platform (ONAP), Hyperledger, Cloud Native Computing Foundation, Cloud Foundry Foundation, Xen Project, and many others.
2006 - 2012 - CTO - Healing Thresholds
Dan built and ran the leading autism therapy website, Healing Thresholds Autism Therapy. He co-founded the site after his nephew was diagnosed with a genetic disorder putting him at high risk for autism. The site provided layperson-accessible summaries of essentially all child-focused research from the last several years, plus comprehensive therapy fact sheets and a global directory of autism therapists.
2012 - 2014 - COO and Head of Engineering - Shopbeam
Shopbeam, a shoppable ad company, transforms any website into an ecommerce store as easily as embedding an image. Dan architected led development of Shopbeam, including hiring and managing a team of 10 developers. Shopbeam is implemented with full stack Javascript, using a Node.js and AngularJS stack with a PostgreSQL database running on Amazon's EC2 cloud via Heroku, with all information accessible through a RESTful JSON API, and using responsive design for full mobile support. This thin server and API-first design enables a high level of scalability and flexibility. SHOPBEAM unleashes a powerful new sales channel for advertisers and publishers. SHOPBEAM's platform delivers tools for advertisers and digital media companies to launch shoppable advertisements by placing products for purchase directly from targeted banner and native ads anywhere across the web. Readers remain on the publisher's site through checkout from SHOPBEAM's Universal Shopping Bag.
2014 - 2016 - CTO - Spreemo
Dan led the engineering team and also managed the successful fundraising efforts. Spreemo has implemented a robust, scalable, continuous deployment architecture with HIPPA and SOC-1 compliant hosting on Amazon Web Services. Spreemo is a healthcare marketplace that connects employers and their insurers with healthcare providers. Starting with radiology services for the workers’ compensation market, Spreemo offers quality-based metrics and predictive analytics that enable employers and insurers to provide the best treatment for injured employees, improving outcomes and lowering the total cost of care.
2014 - 2020 - Senior Advisor - Core Infrastructure Initiative
The Core Infrastructure Initiative is a multi-million dollar project housed at The Linux Foundation to fund open source projects that are in the critical path for core computing functions. Inspired by the Heartbleed OpenSSL crisis, the Initiative’s funds are administered by the Linux Foundation and directed by a steering group comprised of industry backers. Dan helped create the project and advises on funding priorities.
2016 - 2020 - Executive Director - Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF)
As Executive Director for 4 years, Dan grew CNCF from 28 to 560 members and ran the largest developer events in the world. CNCF became what TechCrunch called "one of the most successful open-source foundations of all time". The Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) is a Linux Foundation project that was founded in 2015 to help advance container technology and align the tech industry around its evolution. It was announced alongside Kubernetes 1.0, an open source container cluster manager, which was contributed to the Linux Foundation by Google as a seed technology. Founding members include Google, CoreOS, Mesosphere, Red Hat, Twitter, Huawei, Intel, Cisco, IBM, Docker, Univa, and VMware. Today, CNCF is supported by over 450 members. In order to establish qualified representatives of the technologies governed by the CNCF, a program was announced at the inaugural CloudNativeDay in Toronto in August, 2016. Serial entrepreneur Dan Kohn (who also helped launch the Core Infrastructure Initiative) led CNCF as executive director until May 2020. The foundation announced Priyanka Sharma, director of Cloud Native Alliances at GitLab, would step into a general manager role in his place. Sharma describes CNCF as "a very impactful organization built by a small group of people but [within] a very large ecosystem" and believes that CNCF is entering into a “second wave" due to increased industry awareness and adoption. In August 2018 Google announced that it was handing over operational control of Kubernetes to the community. Since its creation, CNCF has launched a number of hosted sub-projects. In January 2020, the CNCF annual report for the previous year was issued and reflected significant growth to the foundation across membership, event attendance, training, and industry investment. In 2019, CNCF grew by 50% since the previous year with 173 new members and nearly 90% growth in end-users. The report revealed a 78% increase in usage of Kubernetes in production.
2020 - 2020 - Vice President, Strategic Programs
Cloud native computing empowers organizations to build and run scalable applications with an open source software stack in public, private, and hybrid clouds. The Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) hosts critical components of the global technology infrastructure, including Kubernetes, Prometheus, and Envoy. CNCF brings together the industry’s top developers, end users, and vendors, and runs the largest open source developer conferences in the world. Supported by more than 500 members, including the world’s largest cloud computing and software companies, as well as over 200 innovative startups, CNCF is part of the nonprofit Linux Foundation. For more information, please visit www.cncf.io.
2020 - 2020 - General Manager - Linux Foundatio Public Health (LFPH)
LF Public Health is using open source software to help public health authorities (PHAs) around the world combat COVID-19 and future epidemics. Planned launch in late June. You can signup to receive more info at https://www.lfph.io.
1 November 2020
Dan has left us on this day a Sunday due to complications from colon cancer in New York City. He leaves behind a beautiful family who we will always remember often accompanying Dan on his many travels.
Hiran Ram Babu Ontivillu (HRB) Having more than 9 years of Experience in IT Automation. Opensource Lover Director of Training | Trainer | Maho Jase Institute of Technology
