Domain Name Interviews

Chris Gimmer and his co-founder built a pretty slick piece of software called Snappa. I liked it so much I became a paying customer just nine months after their launch.

But they launched on a .io domain name and – as Gimmer describes in “How (and Why) We Purchased the Snappa.com Domain for $40,000” – their “cool startup domain name” left their customers confused and questioning the longevity of their operations. So, negotiating the price down from $84,500, they bought Snappa.com for $40,000 on a payment plan.

But nothing is ever as easy as it sounds, and in this interview Gimmer explains the details behind his thought process at each stage of his bootstrapped SaaS startup.

Michael Cyger May 1, 2017 10

It’s easy to dismiss emoji – consisting of silly faces ??? and undefined symbols ??➿ – as a language only for teenagers.

But it’s actually a universal language that people all over the world use, and emoji domain names are heating up in use and value.

Listen in as two of the most experienced emoji domain pros in the industry discuss what emoji domains are, how they work, how they’re valued, and how you can get your ? (piece of the pie).

Michael Cyger April 10, 2017 47

Liquid domain names are the types of domains that are actively traded in the domain name industry.

Would you like to learn more about investing in liquid domains?

Every quarter Ivan Rasskazov and Giuseppe Graziano put together a “state of the market” industry report. Get the insights directly from those who wrote the report.

Michael Cyger February 14, 2017 9

Lots of companies make eight figures per year and generate a high profit margin. But those that upgrade to a premium domain name can see even greater success and market dominance.

Consider:
* Slack used to be SlackHQ.com.
* Facebook used to be TheFacebook.com.
* Dropbox used to be GetDropbox.com.
* Mint used to be MyMint.com.

Those companies that buy a premium domain name are saying something about their company to their customers and the industry. According to Noah Kagan, they’re saying they have status, they’re going to last the test of time, and they have a “seriousness of business.”

Learn how Kagan persisted through seven years of negotiations to finally own Sumo.com, and how his financing creativity finally got the deal done.

Michael Cyger February 8, 2017 50

Should you buy a killer, exact-match domain name and build a business?

Or should you stick to the business of investing in domain names?

If you want to know what goes into running a business—with employees, inventory, shipping/receiving and customer service—this is the show to watch.

And what better exact-match domain name to take on the $15 billion North America ($62 billion worldwide) battery market than Batteries.com.

Michael Cyger February 6, 2017 47

There are a few companies in the domain name industry that provide financial services.

One of them, Domain Capital, provides financing so you can buy premium domain names with only a fraction of the capital required to make the purchase – as long as you can service the loan.

Domain Capital can also provide cash based on the value of your portfolio to grow your business.

Listen in to learn how these “hard money” types of loans are structured, including over what period and at what annual percentage rate; how a borrower’s credit worthiness factors in; what happens if you default; and what types of domain names can be financed.

Michael Cyger January 9, 2017 10

Today we’re going to learn about a TLD that’s currently for sale. We’ll dig into the vision, finances and opportunity.

If you’ve thought of selling picks and shovels instead of doing the mining yourself as an individual domain name investor, this is a show you should watch.

Michael Cyger November 21, 2016 19

It’s rumored but not confirmed that today’s Sherpa sold a five letter, dictionary word domain name that has hundreds of thousands of exact match searches per month, and thousands of companies use this word in their name…but nobody’s been able to confirm the sale or the price.

The domain? Ocean.com.

Michael Cyger October 17, 2016 18

Sales happen when you work backwards from YES.

Look for where the sales are, and turn yourself into a reverse engineer.

Michael Cyger September 5, 2016 11