NamesCon and Cloudfest are under new ownership. On this week’s show, I talk with Christian Jaeger, CEO of the new owner WHD Event GmbH, and Soeren von Varchmin, Chairman of the Supervisory Board. We discuss the history of the events, who now owns the company, and what’s next now that the conferences have been spun out of a large corporation’s control. It has me excited to attend my next in-person event!

Tool of the week: InstantDom...

Many businesses (especially big ones) require a contract before doing a domain name purchase. Joe Uddeme of Name Experts has brokered many domain transactions with contracts. On today’s show, he talks about when contracts are usually required and specific points to negotiate over, such as liability and trademarks. It’s an informative interview.

Tool of the week: NameBio categories

Also: France.com, Nominet, BrandBucket and more...

Most domain name registrars charge their customers whatever fee the registry charges them for a domain plus a markup. Openprovider has a different business model, which founder Arno Vis compares to Costco. Customers pay a membership fee and then get domains at cost. On today’s show, Vis explains the model and how his company uses automation to keep costs low.

Tool of the week: DomainLeads.com and Estibot’s domain lead generator

Verisign operates one of the most profitable large businesses in the world thanks to a no-bid contract to operate the .com namespace. My guest on today’s show talks about how Verisign got to where it is today and what the chances are that antitrust forces will take a look at it in the future. David Dayen is the Executive Editor of The American Prospect and the author of Monopolized: Life in the Age of Corporate Power. It’s an enlig...

Last week I wrote about how domain investing is constantly changing and how you need to change your approach to adapt. This week’s guest is a domain investor who has done just that. Logan Flatt returns to the podcast this week to talk about his results in 2020. He also explains some strategic shifts he’s made and tests he’s running to stay ahead of the times. I also introduce a new segment this week — the domain investing tool or t...

There has been a lot of talk about censorship and taking down websites over the past couple of months. On today’s show, I talk with Tucows CEO Elliot Noss about the issue. Tucows is one of the world’s largest domain name registrars. We discuss the role that registrars and registries could play in taking down domains used for nefarious purposes, and how Noss’ take on the issue has changed over time. He also explains what Tucows is d...

This week we take an outside-in look at your domain business from a business perspective. My guest, Warren Coughlin came on the show last year when the economy grinded to a halt due to the pandemic. We talked about how to save your business. The domain business had a good year in 2020, but that doesn’t mean you can rest on your laurels. Today, Warren discusses planning for your businesses’ future. Our conversation got me fired up f...

Squadhelp launched its new whitelabel marketplace for domainers last summer and I’ve been testing it out ever since. Today, I quiz Squadhelp CEO Darpen Munjal about many of the features and how to get the best results out of the platform. We get a bit into the weeds (for example, which domains work best with logos vs. images) and I found it very helpful. I hope you do too!

Also: Donuts acquired (again), Namecheap milestone, Close...

They say "all of the good domains are taken" and many people think that if you didn't get into domain investing early, it's too late. But last week, I hosted a panel on behalf of the Internet Commerce Association that proves it's not too late. I interviewed three relative new-comers to domain investing: Joshua Schoen, Doron Vermaat, and Josh Reason. On today's show, I'm providing an abbreviated recording...

My guest today is Andrew Miller, an early domain investor who sold beer.com, shop.com, diamond.com and many other gems. On today's show, we dig into domain investing in the early 2000s. We also talk about developing vs. just selling domains, with creditcards.com as an example. I also ask Andrew about the trend away from category defining keyword domains to using one-word domains as brands, and he has a good take on it.

Also: ...

Nielsen — the company you know for TV ratings — is really much more than that. This year, the company is splitting into two. On today’s show, I interview Jacqueline Woods, Chief Marketing Officer of NielsenIQ. We discuss the split, what NielsenIQ does, and how it chose its domain. Jacqueline also explains why the company decided to acquire the three-letter domain NIQ.com.

Also: Donuts completes acquisition, GoDaddy phishing fury, r...

Not many domain name brokers can say they’ve “been there” — in the shoes of a company trying to acquire a premium domain name. But today’s guest is one of those. Tim Hargis worked for online mattress seller Tuft & Needle and helped it acquire TN.com. Hargis explains why the company needed a new domain, how it acquired it, and the results. He recently was named VP of Premium Domains a Buckley Media.

Also: DomainTools gets cash...