Thoughts

Andrew Miller

August 25, 2024

More Than Meets The Eye

It has been a hectic end of summer for me but the beauty of domain names as an asset class is, they do not play by the rules. They do not sleep, acknowledge vacations, and they can transact at any moment. We at Hilco Digital Assets have recently closed deals originating in the east coast, west coast, China, UK, Cyprus, France, and Germany. Awhile back, I posted that no day is the same in domains which is what makes it so enjoyable. Last week, I discussed the importance of a “champion”, which has sparked a lot of interest from readers. All of this got me thinking deeper about why, in my 26+ years investing in and advising on domain names, that some leaders (Founders/CEO’s/Investors)”just get it” and others struggle to recognize what all of us who have experienced the power of a category or exact match .com domain understand, which is when you make the strategic move to acquire yours, it rapidly becomes the single most valuable investment across all facets of your business trajectory. I again point to these actual use cases, to hear this from some of those that get it, https://lnkd.in/eFS_NYXp. I believe the answer has multiple layers to it, and there is not enough room to properly address it here, but the bullet points are: They do not understand how to unlock the value, are fearful of change, believe that the money would be better spent on more payroll and talent, or are comfortable with their inferior brand or domain name, to name a few. This is why a champion is so key. There is no other investment that will boost the company ROI and enterprise value more than the exact match or category defining .com domain. If you are a leader, it is your job to at least try to learn as much as you can and explore this. Dismissing it without doing so is the sign of a leader who will likely be limited in their quest for success. I will need to do a Random Thoughts podcast on this with larry fischer soon, and this is a great topic for my next NamesCon talk.

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