Ray King is a serial entrepreneur with deep roots in the domain industry, having founded three notable companies in the space: SnapNames, the registry Top Level Design, and the global top-20 registrar Porkbun.com, where he currently serves as CEO.
Profile Questions
Name: Ray King
Company: Porkbun.com
Favorite Domain: Porkbun.com came from my personal stash of domains, so I’m a bit biased. But hey, it’s memorable, makes people smile, and perfectly captures our quirky vibe – so I’m sticking with it.
Favorite Industry Conference: Been lurking around ICANN meetings for more years than I care to admit – you could carbon-date me by ICANN meeting numbers. But I’m genuinely pumped about attending my first ICA conference soon.
Favorite Industry Blog(s): I dip into DomainNameWire when I need the straight scoop. Andrew really knows his stuff, and honestly, because he’s one of the good ones.
What is your current role and what are you (or your company) currently working on?
As Chief Bottlewasher at Porkbun, I’m lucky to work with a solid crew that keeps our domain registration shop growing. We’re sticking to what we know – being a good domain registrar without getting distracted by shiny objects. These days, we’re mostly tinkering with aftermarket stuff and integrations to make things run smoother for our customers. Nothing fancy, just trying to do one thing well.
Tell us a little bit about your background and your personal story.
I’m a kid from the concrete jungle of New York who somehow ended up tending goats (just as a hobby, mind you) in the green hills of Oregon. I got there building tech companies, including three in the domain space. Just your typical NYC-to-goat-farm pipeline that they tell you about in business school.
How did you get involved in the domain industry?
I had to scratch my own itch – building a tool to register expiring domains, and that little side project somehow morphed into SnapNames – classic entrepreneurial accident. Along the way, I also founded ICANNWiki, trying to make the often impenetrable world of domain governance a bit more accessible to everyone. Fair warning to anyone reading this: domains are basically the Hotel California of tech industries – you can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave. I’ve managed to then play in the registry sandbox with Top Level Design, and now I’m slinging domains as a registrar with Porkbun.
What have been some key milestones in your career in the domain industry?
Anyone that can remember the Waitlist Service (WLS) knows that was a milestone moment in my SnapNames era, albeit a failed one but really interesting and formative nonetheless. 2012 and becoming a registry was the next big moment as we participated in the new TLD application process and successfully signed 5 registry contracts over the years, and that also led directly to Porkbun. Porkbun’s milestones include its 2.5 MM domains under management right now backed by 300k active customers. Those numbers motivate and excite me and the team every day because Porkbun had a really organic growth. I don’t know if I can point to just one moment or milestone that led to this but just every day it got more and more real and now we’re in control of this incredible destiny.
Why did you choose to support the ICA?
The members speak so highly of the ICA and I had so many conversations at domain conferences where the other person’s jaw would drop when they found out Porkbun was not an ICA member. It was time.
Can you share a prediction about the future of the domain industry?
I should probably say something profound about AI here without sounding like I just discovered buzzwords. The truth? AI will shake things up plenty while DNS remains that steady foundation we all rely on. It’s like domains are this perfect blend – boring enough to be dependable, flexible enough to enable the next big thing.
What do you like most about the domain industry?
The accidental community I stumbled into. Somehow I’ve been lucky enough to build a few things people find useful, work alongside folks way smarter than me, and see corners of the world I’d never have discovered otherwise. Most days it doesn’t feel like “work”.
If you could change one thing about the domain industry what would it be?
The endless spam and abuse. It’s disheartening how much time gets wasted fighting bad actors instead of building worthwhile things.
What do you think are some of the biggest challenges the domain industry is faced with?
Finding ways to innovate on customer experience when the core product—a domain name—hasn’t fundamentally changed in decades.
What do you wish other people knew about the ICA?
As a new member, I’m excited to have an answer for this in a year’s time.
What would you tell someone who is thinking about joining the ICA?
It turns out having a unified voice on industry issues beats shouting alone into the void.
What unexpected doors opened for you because of your involvement in the domain industry?
Our registry adventure was pure happenstance. We only considered applying a month before ICANN’s deadline—a spontaneous decision that completely changed our trajectory. The domain world has a funny way of presenting opportunities when you least expect them.
What’s the best advice ever received (domain related or otherwise)?
Never trust a TLD with more characters than your password
What are your main interests outside of the domain industry?
I find something genuinely therapeutic about escaping the digital world to work with physical things – currently fumbling my way through 3D printing, Arduino projects, and Raspberry Pi experiments. There’s a certain satisfaction in creating something tangible, even when half my prints fail or my code refuses to cooperate. For physical exercise, I love playing table tennis and walking my dogs. For mental exercise, I love playing the two ancient games, go and chess.
Favorite place to get away?
China, where I’ve perfected the art of dumpling consumption
Anything else you’d like to share?
I still get a thrill from these tiny digital objects that are at the intersection of technology, marketing, language and objects of desire for collectors!