Richard Kirkendall

In a 2017 interview, he recalled reselling magazines at eight, later selling sweets, working in retail as a teenager, and trying furniture import and export. His early online ventures included ResumeBuilder.com and Templates.com. These details are autobiographical.⁠[4]

He founded NamecheapNamecheapNamecheap is a US domain registrar and web services company founded by Richard Kirkendall in 2000. Its products include domains, hosting, email, and security services.Open the full entry in 2000. In a 2015 retrospective, he traced the idea to frustration with slow, complicated, expensive domain management. He met Mohan Vettaikaran in a domain chatroom, and they built the first website together, emphasizing customer support, usability, and price.⁠[5][6]

In December 2011, Kirkendall opposed the proposed Stop Online Piracy Act. While supporting intellectual-property protection, he argued that the bill’s sweeping remedies threatened an open Internet and innovation.⁠[7]

A 2015 DN Journal profile of Richard Lau identified Kirkendall as a Resume.com partner. Lau described joint ownership with Kirkendall and others, while crediting Ken Nybeck and his team for developing the service. The account documents a venture beyond Namecheap.⁠[8]

In July 2017, he supported the FCC’s then-existing net-neutrality rules. He framed this as a response to limited competition among Internet providers: despite generally favoring less government intervention, he believed consumers needed protection against throttling and blocking. He said a more competitive market could change his position.⁠[9]

In August 2017, he defended Namecheap’s termination of DailyStormer.lol, arguing that its content incited violence. In an addendum, he upheld the decision but questioned whether registrars should adjudicate speech, advocating neutral rules and a clear, prompt judicial process. He also acknowledged commercial and employee pressures. His legal assessment was his own opinion.⁠[10]

When Namecheap passed ten million managed domains in September 2018, he told Domain Name Wire that it had long held accreditation and its own backend but retained Enom because of favorable terms. After the contract expired, it moved to its own system. He emphasized serving many customers with small portfolios and maintaining support quality while growing.⁠[11]

In July 2019, he explained Namecheap’s challenge to ICANN over removing price caps on legacy domains including .org, citing unpredictable costs and switching burdens for nonprofits. Subsequent proceedings did not restore the caps: ICANN’s board retained the arrangement in 2024, and another review initiated in 2024 ended voluntarily in November 2025.⁠[12][13][14]

After Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Namecheap asked customers registered in Russia to move their services. Responding to objections, Kirkendall pointed to alternative providers and offered additional migration time. The company subsequently offered free anonymous registration and hosting for anti-war and protest sites in Russia and Belarus, which he described as helping dissenters speak while reducing reprisal risks.⁠[15][5]

SpaceshipSpaceshipSpaceship is an ICANN-accredited domain registration and web services platform founded by Richard Kirkendall.Open the full entry, which he founded, entered open beta in 2023 and announced more than one million managed domains in June 2024. Its Unbox feature connects domains and web products. In a signed essay, he described reducing DNS, subscription, and product-switching complexity as problems carried forward from his Namecheap experience, emphasizing user choice and control.⁠[16][17]

In a June 2023 interview, he described a product-led company as building tools around customer needs, beyond supporting third-party white-label products. He discussed product teams, developer recruitment, and expanded user-experience design, identifying support chats, social-media exchanges, and daily feedback discussions as important channels for improvement.⁠[18]

His LinkedIn dates his Namecheap CEO tenure from August 2001 to November 2025. In December, he said CVC’s purchase brought Hillan Klein’s succession, while he retained an individual shareholding and shifted toward strategy and innovation.⁠[2][19]

His public profile lists him as Thunderbolt CEO from May 2026. The current product website describes an AI receptionist for answering website visitors, qualifying leads, scheduling appointments, and handing conversations to people, with histories available through a mobile app. These are the vendor’s descriptions.⁠[2][3]

On October 5, 2026, he announced on X that .si domains would arrive at Namecheap and Spaceship the next day. On October 6, he reported that Spaceship registration was live, distinguishing the advance notice from the launch announcement.⁠[20][21]

In the 2017 interview, he described enjoying wandering and photographing streets and landscapes. He also admired Steve JobsSteve JobsSteve Jobs (1955–2011) was a technology entrepreneur, Apple co-founder, NeXT founder, and investor and former CEO of Pixar. His career spanned personal computing, digital music, smartphones and animated films, with an emphasis on product design, user experience and multidisciplinary teams.Open the full entry’s design focus, Elon Musk’s vision, and Jeff Bezos’s attention to customers.⁠[4]

Namecheap: Founded in 2000. Official website: https://www.namecheap.com/ (opens in a new window).⁠[5]

Spaceship: Its open beta began in 2023. Official website: https://www.spaceship.com/ (opens in a new window).⁠[16]

Thunderbolt: CEO since May 2026. Official website: https://www.thunderbolt.com/ (opens in a new window).⁠[2][3]

His public accounts are @namecheapceo123 on X and rikirkendall on LinkedIn, both matching his founder identity.⁠[1][2]