First Look: FairWinds Names New CEO
Internet consulting firm FairWinds Partners has hired a veteran public policy expert as the company's first CEO.
Nao Matsukata, who said he has consulted for FairWinds in various capacities since its start about six years ago, is now heading up the company. He most recently served as the managing director for Six Trees Partners, working on global trade and regulatory issues in Asia and Europe for public and private sector clients.
Starting in 1995, Matsukata served as a senior policy adviser to Sen. Joe Lieberman, and continued through the 2000 presidential campaign. He also once served as U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick's director of policy planning and was a senior policy adviser at Alston & Bird, LLP.
Matsukata, who tells the Alley that "the Internet is probably the next issue that is truly global in nature," has a deep background on global issues. And that experience is particularly pertinent for the company's main focus: domain name strategies.
"It really gets into issues about Internet governance, and not just from a United States perspective but a global one," he said. "A lot of our companies are global companies interested in protecting their brands beyond the United States."
FairWinds clients have included Verizon, Bacardi and GAP.
When it comes to FairWinds' legislative priorities, cyber-squatting tops the list, although Matsukata says he won't be directly involved in many congressional issues. He will, however, work with the company in educating the public, including lawmakers.
"From a public policy prospective, a lot of this stuff is new to policy makers," he said. "We feel like there's a role we can play in informing the public and government on what's going on."
Nao Matsukata, who said he has consulted for FairWinds in various capacities since its start about six years ago, is now heading up the company. He most recently served as the managing director for Six Trees Partners, working on global trade and regulatory issues in Asia and Europe for public and private sector clients.
Starting in 1995, Matsukata served as a senior policy adviser to Sen. Joe Lieberman, and continued through the 2000 presidential campaign. He also once served as U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick's director of policy planning and was a senior policy adviser at Alston & Bird, LLP.
Matsukata, who tells the Alley that "the Internet is probably the next issue that is truly global in nature," has a deep background on global issues. And that experience is particularly pertinent for the company's main focus: domain name strategies.
"It really gets into issues about Internet governance, and not just from a United States perspective but a global one," he said. "A lot of our companies are global companies interested in protecting their brands beyond the United States."
FairWinds clients have included Verizon, Bacardi and GAP.
When it comes to FairWinds' legislative priorities, cyber-squatting tops the list, although Matsukata says he won't be directly involved in many congressional issues. He will, however, work with the company in educating the public, including lawmakers.
"From a public policy prospective, a lot of this stuff is new to policy makers," he said. "We feel like there's a role we can play in informing the public and government on what's going on."
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