About

An enthusiastic self-starter, Kai Recke has consistently displayed an ambitious streak throughout his legal career, pushing him to succeed within the online domain in giving premier legal guidance to creative companies in the IT sector. His in-house career started with a small company in Cologne called Sedo, a start-up with around 60 employees. He describes his time there as ‘a blast’ as it gave him the opportunity to look behind the curtains of the domain-industry and learn how its mechanics work. Recke was also able to open the legal department for the daughter company based in Boston, USA, picking and managing the global external counsels for Sedo. Recke was integral to inventing an industry standard contract template to organise, auction and distribute the new domain gTLD. Also during his time at Sedo he defended third party claims for trademark infringements, settling cases all over the world. After eight years and several changes in management under his belt, Recke decided it was time for a new challenge. He assumed his current position at Eyeo in 2014, building a solid legal department from the ground up. In this position the role involves checking the websites for legal issues and shaping the product to minimise legal risks. Encouraging and maintaining a relationship of honesty and truth, Recke has made sure that legal was not seen as a stopper but rather a growth enabler, a goal which he has managed to achieve: ‘In a small(er) company it is important to learn quickly about the products and get familiar with the several persons working for the business. Only if they understand and support you can really achieve the [business] goals’. Passionate about the informational technology industry, Recke has been at the forefront of a number of pro bono work projects as well as initiatives involving the evolving sphere of the adtech market.