[citation needed] He is co-author of the best-selling book The Starfish and the Spider, which lays out a new organizational theory for considering all organizations as existing on a continuum between centralized to decentralized, with different implications and strategies for each firm based upon their position on that axis.

In interviews with The Washington Post[1] and USA Today,[2] Beckstrom explains how, using the 'Starfish' concept illustrated in The Starfish and the Spider, the U.S. Government can take a different approach in their dealings with Al-Qaeda.

On March 20, 2008, Beckstrom was appointed to run the newly created National Cybersecurity Center,[3] a position requiring "advanced thought leadership in areas like coordination, collaboration and team work in order to best serve the mission".

[23] At ICANN, he presided over a number of notable developments, including the 15 July 2010 DNSSEC signing of the DNS root, and the 20 June 2011 opening of the gTLD namespace to additional applicants.

Rod Beckstrom is the lead angel investor in the Encino, CA-based software development company American Legalnet Inc.[27][better source needed] An active participant in the non-profit arena, Beckstrom serves on the board of trustees of Environmental Defense Fund, an organization involved in designing, advocating and implementing environmental policy solutions, such as the Kyoto Protocol and the California Climate Act.