Thoughts

Andrew Miller

September 10, 2023

The Collaborative Approach to Successful Domain Name Transactions

One of the impactful lessons I learned in my first job, a competitive, reputable Wall Street training program, was from the greatest dealmaker of all time, Mike Milken, who taught us to “empower others to help us write tickets (trades/deals) because 50 percent of something is better than 0.” The two historically large domain name transactions I have recently overseen, Home.com and Chat.com, both with my great friend Larry Fischer, followed Milken’s advice and never would have occurred without doing so. Same with significant recent deals with Adolfo Mireles, Amanda Waltz, Arif Sengoren, and Frank Tillmanns, to name a few. I do not see anyone as competition but rather peers—with their own relationships and networks—that double my chances of success. In traditional real estate, not all, but most of the high-end transactions not only have a co-broker but promote it, desire it, and market it. Brokers do open houses just for other brokers so they can bring a transaction to the table. This is how I approach domain names and digital real estate as well. If everyone viewed it this way, many more transactions would close. I relish the deals that get done together with what some may view as competition. It is a formula for a better process, more liquidity, and a more vibrant asset class.

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