Thoughts

Andrew Miller

June 11, 2023

The Unsettled Investment Climate: A Reflection on 2023

It is a very unsettled time. The investment markets are tight because they are nervous. Carnage has been seen across many categories, highlighted by the collapse of major banks and leading crypto exchanges; the lack of refinance activity in the mortgage industry; challenges presented by excess inventory in e-commerce; the surge in interest rates and its effect on costs, as well as on the stock market (which, in my humble opinion, has not been totally reflected yet). The one area that is temporarily immune to the overall climate right now is ChatGPT and AI. I’m not sure there have been too many things bigger than this opportunity, and how it will shape things in the future.

I can assure you that I have seen this play out with other life-changing, disruptive tech, and ChatGPT/AI too will go through a cycle of up-and-down before it goes straight up. Throughout all of this, we have overseen transactions for many of the most valuable domain name assets on the Internet, including Chat.com, one of the largest transactions ever.

Ultra Premium Domain Assets: A Game Changer for Business

What does all this mean for ultra-premium domain assets? I’ve been through many cycles, and this one is a major hurdle, but as they always do, the best domain name assets perform stronger than any other asset class for domain registrants, investors, and most of all end-users who acquire exact match or category domains to be strategically game-changing to all facets of their business. The math backs up the fact that there are very few investments that achieve better returns than premium dot-com domain names. All the world-class assets and brands Hilco Digital Assets represent are viewable at HilcoDigital.com/domains.

A Powerful Keynote Talk: Authority, Credibility, and Power

The other day, DNJournal said of my keynote talk featuring my friend David Laz from Fairway, for whom we oversaw the acquisition of Home*com, “it was not only one of the best of this year’s show, it was one of the best of any we’ve seen ever.” I can think of nothing more powerful than what David said, that speaks to the value of the most important domain names and their authority, credibility, and power (video shared ASAP).

A Cautionary Note on Top-Level Domains

It is no secret. I have been outspoken for years about the difference between .com and the many other TLDs. Whether it be co, io, xyz, or now ai, these tend to be extensions “du jour,” and when they get replaced by the next one, their value declines fast. Just be careful if you are playing in this sandbox. You can make money, but as assets, these do not have the security or upside of ultra-premium dotcoms and will usually only be short-term solutions for leading brands and companies.

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