Happy Boss's Day! Get to Know "the Boss" Todd Han

Today is Boss's Day, a day to appreciate your boss. Here at Dynadot, that's not hard to do because, let's face it, we have an awesome boss. Todd Han started Dynadot in 2002 and ran it by himself for the first three years. In 2005, he hired his first employee and since then we've grown to almost 20 employees. You can read more about Todd's insight into Dynadot's past, present, and future in our past interview with him, but today I wanted to let you get to know Todd a little better...

 

 

1. Who do you admire? Who is your role model?

Lately I have been following the NBA basketball player Jeremy Lin. Throughout his career, nobody believed he could make it at the next level. But Jeremy persevered, believed in himself, and kept on working hard. His success now with the Houston Rockets is the ultimate underdog story. Plus Jeremy went to my high school, and his family is from Taiwan like mine.

 

 

 

 

2. What is your most memorable moment?

I will never forget the birth of my twin daughters. My life changed forever that day. I was in the delivery room, and all I will say about that experience is that I could never be a doctor. The first cute little cries of my twins announcing their displeasure at being thrust into this cold world are seared into my memory. Well, the crying got old pretty fast, but I still break into a smile every time I think of my daughters.

I gained a whole new level of respect for doctors. My daughters were born premature, and the hospital assembled an elite team of delivery and neonatal experts to bring them into this world. I have to say I have never seen so much competence, teamwork, intelligence, and compassion assembled into a single room. I am truly grateful to doctors and modern medicine.

 

 

 

 

3. What things do you find yourself doing that you said you'd never do?

Well, all the things my mother said to me growing up, I am now saying to my daughters. Things like "you better finish your meal, there are starving children in the world" or "study hard in school, or you won't be able to have nice things in life". I rolled my eyes when I heard those things growing up. But here I am saying them to my children.

 

 

 

 

4. What are your pet peeves?

I really do not like driving in traffic. It puts me in a bad mood.

 

 

 

 

5. What is your favorite thing to do for fun?

I am writing this from Portland, where my wife and I are attending the Portland Tango Festival. So I guess you can say I have been bitten by the ballroom dancing bug. At work I spend all my time in front of the computer thinking deeply about company strategy or writing Java code. Dancing allows me to decompress and live in the present. It allows me to express my non-logical artistic side. Also, I meet all kinds of people and have made many new friends.

 

 

 

 

6. What is your favorite travel destination?

When I was younger, I wanted to travel all over the world. I even seriously considered living overseas for a while. But lately I have fallen in love with my home base, the San Francisco Bay Area. I love the openness and inclusiveness of the people here. I enjoy the rich cultural offerings in the city. I get excited being a part of the Internet revolution here in Silicon Valley.

 

 

 

 

7. What is the craziest thing you've ever done?

Starting Dynadot! If I had known how hard it was to run a company well, I don't know if I would have done it. I started Dynadot when I was 29 years old. I was just a kid and didn't know anything. I thought I would build out the website, and everything would be automated and the business would just run itself. Yes, I was very naive. Businesses do not run themselves. They require constant supervision and innovation. It has been an exhausting 11 years, but every time we make a customer happy it is completely worth it.

Post by Robyn Norgan