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It’s a lovely 60 degree day Sunday here in NY. I had the opportunity to walk in Prospect Park, grab some coffee and think about lot of things. My life has definitely changed in the last 10 years, both for good and bad. On the positive side, money is usually not an issue. However money can’t buy you everything.
On Friday, I attended a preview of Saturday’s US Marshalls Auction of Ruth and Bernie Madoff items. I walked around the warehouse in the Brooklyn Navy Yard. My first impression was excess. There were more clothes than any human being could wear in a life time. Hundreds each of shirts, shoes and other items, many that have never been worn. There were Rolex’s and Patek’s watches, which was the reason I came down there in the first place. However, looking around at this place, I started to get a strange feeling, one of which brought me back to earth. I thought why would anyone need so much. What benefit did his greed have. He was a wealthy man before his Ponzi scheme. I remember hearing once, the more money, the more toys. I have to say it’s nice to treat yourself, but I seen people in the last few years become overwhelmed with “keeping up with the Jones” and others just keeping themselves afloat. I have to admit, at times I can get caught in the moment. It’s moments like this that keep me grounded.
Another encounter with a friend with also on my mind. He’s a regular guy, trying to keep the family afloat, working in his own business. He has hospital bills, kids college and other things many of us don’t think about that he has to pay. He came to me asking for help, which I did. It was hard for him to ask, but I’m glad he did. It felt better that any purchase I’ve ever made.
Yesterday when the auction ended. I decided not to but anything. I had one less toy, and but one big smile.
Jeff Bennett, an icon in the Search, Direct Navigation and Domain Media business, Is leaving NameMedia. He has taken on the role of CEO for Swaptree.com. Jeff is one of the smartest and nicest people that I have been associated with in this business.
Jeff was instrumental in the purchase of SmartName, which Ari and I sold to NameMedia a few years back. Last year, when my son Jeffrey was looking at schools in the Boston area, Jeff Bennett, along with Brian Carr, took time out of their schedule and took us to lunch. They answered questions and told us about their experiences at Bentley and Babson, which helped my son in his college decision process.
Jeff has been a good friend and colleague. I wish him all the best. To read more, go to his blog posting at JeffBennett.com
When I was in college, one of the first mass marketed computer games was invented. That game was Pac Man. I spent hours and many quarters playing that game in the student union. Today, Pac Man turns 30. How do I know. Well, when I went to Google’s home page and noticed the image of Google was inside the image of a pac man game. Google changes their home page image for many events. What makes this page different, is that the PacMan on google’s homepage actually works. I’m happy that these images only stay on Google’s homepage for one day. I know what i will being doing for the next few hours. At least I won’t be spending any Quarters.
On a previous post regarding last weeks Sedo sales, a comment was made questioning Sedo’s ethics. The comment basically told of another blogger stating that he believed Sedo bought the name, flipped it and kept huge profits. The domain was extremely valuable as two major UK companies combined and named their new company the same as the domain name.
I want to thank Jeremiah at Sedo for clarifying this with the following comment:
While Sedo’s privacy policy does not permit me to disclose the details of a user’s domain transactions, I wanted to comment because Sedo takes the integrity of our marketplace very seriously. After reviewing the transaction history, I can tell you that the domain everythingeverywhere.com sold via Sedo’s online marketplace with no involvement of the Sedo staff, whether on behalf of the seller or buyer. Any price reached between the parties was solely a result of their direct negotiation.
As with all transactions that take place on the Sedo marketplace, users negotiate anonymously to ensure that both parties may engage in an arm’s length, objective discussion on the domain’s value. In any negotiation, whether over a car, a piece of art, or a domain name, the parties may harbor secret motivations that may affect the final price they are willing to accept. It is the duty, however, of those involved to reach an agreement they are comfortable accepting.
Technology Review which is published by MIT listed what they feel are the Top 10 emerging technologies. Here they are:
Real-Time Search
Mobile 3-D
Engineered Stem Cells
Solar Fuel
Light-Trapping Photovoltaics
Social TV
Green Concrete
Implantable Electronics
Dual-Action Antibodies
Cloud Programming
You can also see there top 10’s for the years 2001 -2009 and see how well their prior choices did.
Check out each at Technology Review
Ok, so maybe he may not be the future of domaining, but my son has decided to attend Villanova this fall. Jeff, who has attended numerous domain shows, had a tough decision to make. I am happy that he chose Villanova. I think it’s a perfect fit for him as they have a strong business program and a wonderful campus environment.
Even though he will be away at school, Jeff will staying up to date top on the Direct Navigation industry. After all, alot will be expected of him if (when) he returns to the family business.
Let’s say you start a simple website. This website lets you look and chat with random people on the internet 1 person at a time. Before you know it, it goes viral and becomes one of the most viewed websites on the net. That’s exactly what happened with ChatRoulette.com. Now, lets say someone offers you $30,000,000 Euros. Would you take it or would you gamble for the billion dollar payout? After all, gambling on success seems to have paid off for YouTube, Twitter and Facebook.
Some might say that copycat sites can easily do what Chatroulette.com. That’s true, however when your first to market and get the exposure a site like chatroulette.com has, it’s almost impossible to accomplish similar results. Will some copycats be successful? Yes but I don’t think anywhere near the original. The problem comes with making money. YouTube, Twitter and Facebook all faced such hurdles but seemed to figure out a revenue model.
Would I take the money if I was offered $30 million euro’s and run. It would be a tough decision but Yes I would. What about you?
BTW – It is rumored that such an offer has been made.
InsuranceQuotes.com was sold earlier this month to BankRate.com. A change in the whois for InsuranceQuotes.com was noted 4/3/10 to:
« Previous Next »
Domain: InsuranceQuotes.com – Domain History
Cache Date: 2010-04-03
Registrar: GODADDY.COM, INC.
Registrant Search: Click on an email address we found in this whois record
to see which other domains the registrant is associated with:
ne@bankrate.com
Registrant:
Bankrate
11760 US Highway One
suite 200
North Palm Beach, Florida 33408
United States
Domain Name: INSURANCEQUOTES.COM
Created on: 28-Jan-99
Expires on: 28-Jan-20
Last Updated on: 01-Apr-10
Prior Registrant was:
« Previous Next »
Domain: InsuranceQuotes.com – Domain History
Cache Date: 2010-04-01
Registrar: GODADDY.COM, INC.
Registrant Search: Click on an email address we found in this whois record
to see which other domains the registrant is associated with:
domains@investimg.com
Registrant:
Domain Manager
INSURANCEQUOTES.COM DEVELOPMENT, LLC 831 Beacon Street Suite 180 Newton MASSACHUSETTS
, 02459
United States
Domain Name: INSURANCEQUOTES.COM
Created on: 28-Jan-99
Expires on: 28-Jan-20
Last Updated on: 01-Apr-10
I was contacted after the sale by a prior owner of InsuranceQuotes.com who told me that they sold the name and complete site but would not verify price or who bought them.
I could not confirm with Bankrate.com as I was told they would not comment.
My thoughts is the sale was in the upper 7 figures but again, that is just speculation.
It comes as no surprise to me that 2 of the most flamboyant domainers, Mike Mann and Rick Schwartz will be featured on the new Bravo Reality Show “The Real Men of
Business”. Bravo currently runs the hit reality shows ” The Real Housewives of Orange County, The Real Housewives of New York, The Real Housewives of New Jersey among others. According to Art Vandalay, Bravo’s VP of Marketing ” We have a formula that works. When we read about Mike and Rick, we knew right away that these guys would be the perfect. However, we are finding out that its extremely hard to film when 2 people consistently talk at the same time.” Rounding out the cast will be former Wall Streeter Michael Milken, health guru Richard Simmons and John Gilchrist, the kid that played Mikey on the Life Cereal commercials. We have been unable to reach any of the parties to confirm. Happy April fools day.
By now, everyone on the planet, or at least the domain and adult world knows that Sex.com is in a foreclosure auction this Thursday. As Elliot Silver notes in his blog, the auction is being classified as having No Reserve:
From Eliotts Blog:
“I was just informed by Richard Maltz of Maltz Auctions that there will be no reserve price for the Sex.com auction. Registered bidders will be permitted to bid online or in person at the Windels Marx Lane & Mittendorf, LLP offices. In addition, Maltz added, “the secured party does reserve the right to bid under the law.”
The truth of the matter is, there is a reserve. As with most Real estate auctions, the secured party will be there and out bid any low bidders. They will have to decide when to cut their loses.I know personally that in the past the lenders have been unwilling to bend under 8 figures. Whether that will be the case on Thursday is anyone’s guess. The excellent promotion of this auction will bring out every player possible. My thoughts is that it will not sell on Thursday but someone will be able to put a deal together within days or a few weeks after the auction similar to the way Porn.com did not sell at it’s auction but had a deal together shortly after.
BTW for those of you with money to burn on this auction, feel free to inquire as to purchasing xxx.com.
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