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I've been casually interested in small time domain name "investing" (with and without intention to develop) since the early days and when it so happened that d
by settsu 10y ago
I've been casually interested in small time domain name "investing" (with and without intention to develop) since the early days and when it so happened that during a stint at GoDaddy, I was charged with the UX of the domain auction product, imagine my surprise to discover were a handful of very big players, some of whom ran bespoke software (not unlike a Bloomberg terminal) and were so profitable for the company that they essentially had their own in-house concierge.
That certainly dampened my enthusiasm when I realized it had long since become more like commercial real estate investment than the American West land rush.
Similarly illuminating was working at a regional bank and learning how much of their growth was based on investing in a patch of dirt as it was in the operation of the branch location that sat on that dirt.
Made me realize how uninformed I was about business in general.
- markdown 10y ago> Similarly illuminating was working at a regional bank and learning how much of their growth was based on investing in a patch of dirt as it was in the operation of the branch location that sat on that dirt. Reminds me of McDonald's founder Ray Kroc's famous quote "We are in the real estate business; not the hamburger business."
- eightturn 10y agoSears has a somewhat similar story I believe..
- i4i 10y agoMy understanding is that Godaddy employees are forbidden from buying and selling domains and have been for at least the 6 years I've been purchasing the occasional domain in their auction platform. When were you at Godaddy?
- settsu 10y agoI was there 2010-11 and can't recall the specific policies. One fun thing I do remember was the internal testing system which provided for an unlimited "budget" to purchase any domain which only resolved internally. So, for example, I could register google.com on my test account. But since it only resolved internally, if I wanted something to appear at that address it had to be a GoDaddy product that functioned on that system (various website builders, etc.)