SAN FRANCISCO -- The Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF), a Linux Foundation project and organization advancing the development of cloud native technologies, today announced Dan Kohn as its new executive director. His leadership will accelerate the project’s efforts to cultivate development of open source technologies, reference architectures and common formats for cloud native technologies.

Kohn previously served as chief technology officer of several startups including Spreemo, a health care marketplace, and Shopbeam, a shoppable ads company, and was earlier a general partner at Skymoon Ventures, a $70 million seed-stage venture capital firm that created startups in semiconductors and telecom infrastructure.

“Every business, from startups to giant enterprises, is looking for a roadmap on how to deploy to the cloud in a way that provides scalability without a ceiling, keeps costs manageable, and avoids vendor lock-in through reliance on widely used, best-in-class open source projects,” said Dan Kohn, executive director of Cloud Native Computing Foundation. "I'm excited to help CNCF members build that roadmap."

Open source is pivotal to making cloud native work. Kubernetes and Prometheus are the first CNCF projects. The organization plans to incorporate other complementary technologies to foster innovation in container packaged, dynamically scheduled, microservices-based application development and operations.

Kohn and The Linux Foundation have collaborated for more than a decade. He helped found The Linux Foundation, working closely with board members that represent the world’s leading global technology companies, to help build it into one of the industry’s top consortia. More recently, he served as an advisor for The Linux Foundation’s Core Infrastructure Initiative (CII), a multi-million dollar effort to improve the security of critical Internet open source software.

Kohn also co-founded and served as the initial CEO of Pedestal Networks, an innovative DSL equipment company (sold to UTStarcom); Dash Networks, the first Internet-enabled automotive GPS device (sold to RIM); and Habeas, an email accreditation company (sold to Return Path). He started his career as founder and CEO of NetMarket, one of the first Internet companies. 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.

Cloud Native Computing Foundation