Stars of the industry?

[PlexiHosting]

Who do you feel are the "stars" of the web hosting industry and why? What made them shine? What do you admire about them?

It seems like, even though I subscribe to two industry magazines and I definitely frequent forums within the industry, there really aren't a heck of a lot of standouts. Maybe too hard to see from within the sea of hosting companies around?

 

[talkwebhosts.co]

I honestly can't put my finger on this. Every large coporation has its followers and it has its opposition. I feel that the larger these companies get the less they are able to stay in touch with their clients. So my answer, revolves around an equal playing field and as these giants grow that is more business for the rest of us that still believe in one on one attention.

 

[xion]

As far as dedicated servers goes I would have to say ServerMatrix. They really capitalized on the cheap server market and offered a quality NOC. Their support is very good, although I'm not sure if thats the case anymore, haven't heard many stories recently.

For domain registration I would have to do with Enom. They followed suit of Godaddy in offering cheap domains and captured the domain reseller market fairly quickly.

For shared or reseller hosting, none really shine as far as I can tell. The good ones are too small to be recognized, and the large ones climb to the top of the ladder but end up riding down the sucky slide.

 

[PlexiHosting]

Great responses, both. I think you both hit the nail on the head. Are there any individuals (not companies) you've run across that are stars in some way, brought something special to the industry?