Via Yahoo:
On the acquisition news of CNet by CBS The Washington Post published an article called “The Brand Everyone Wanted To Buy, But Didn’t Really“.
From the article:
So the saga of CNET (NSDQ: CNET) Networks finally has a home…well, at least on paper for now if and when the deal goes through, because there will be a lot of drama and opposition from Jana consortium on this. As Joseph mentioned, and as we implored before for CBS, this is the big one they had been wanting to do. I know from sources that CBS (NYSE: CBS) had looked at CNET at least three times before, as had everyone in the world, and passed on it. Not sure how CBS felt the economics had changed (well, CNET became more desperate, for one), but this certainly gives them a big play to build on its relatively small-ish and TV-focused online efforts till now. Everyone looked at CNET, including Yahoo (NSDQ: YHOO), New York Times (NYSE: NYT), CBS-sister company Viacom (NYSE: VIA), and many many others, but couldn’t make the economics work. The very same economics which Jana had been criticizing for a long time now.
Many companies who previously looked at CNet only saw what they had, what they produced. In essence, they were looking at a free ride, and not what can be done with what they have. Category killer domains such as TV.COM, Search.Com, Help.com, Downloads.com, MP3.Com, each on its own has the potential to be worth more than the CNet acquisition combined. How? Of course it takes talent, funding, execution, luck. With CBS behind these web properties many previously missing pieces are now in place. It is the combination of the two which compounds the potential of CNet alone.
Via Search Engine Journal:
CBS is making a major Internet and news powerplay, acquiring CNET for $11.50 per share (44% more than CNET is trading at) for a total of $1.8 Billion. Acquiring CNET and its $406 million per year in revenue is a big and bold move by CBS, which was the original parent company of iWon Search (now an IAC company) when it launched.
Read more here.
Pretty busy for next couple of weeks. I’ll try to post here and there but no promises. Will get back to normal blog postings after TRAFFIC Orlando.
Cheers
Sahar
Via Google Blogoscoped:
Google is shutting down Hello, Picasa’s photo sharing service which was part of the Picasa acquisition back in 2004.
Not sure what is the likelihood of Google auctioning off the domain Hello.com. From my experience, in today’s market and given the novelty value attached to the domain (owned/operated by Google) , the domain should fetch US$ 500K or more.
Sahar
Slowly but surely domainers are building the next web. While building a business is extremely demanding the rewards can be extremely rewarding.
Below is a list of few companies (and individuals) to keep an eye on:
Ammar Kubba and Kevin Vo’s company, recently acquired Jay Westerdal’s Name Intelligence. Ammar is a close friend of mine, one of the most likable individuals in the domain industry. Ammar and Kevin are extremely driven, they seem to look at the marketplace, recognize inefficiencies, and act quickly and decisively.
A new comer in the development world, founded by domain veterans Shaun Pilfold and Rob Montgomery. I happened to do business with Shaun over the years and known Rob for a couple of years as well. Both are top notch in my book, level headed, hard working individuals, and I believe are headed in the right direction.
Founded by Andrew Miller, Mike “Zappy” Zapolin, and Peter Hubshman, this company not only own some of the very best domains in the world, but also has a track record with some of the big names on the web, names such as Shop.com, CreditCards.com.
Founded by Mike Mann, Washington VC, to put it mildly, is set for greatness. Washington VC has already put deals together with BPHG, Internet Real Estate, and Monster Venture.
Founded by Michael Bahlitzanakis and Jimmy Pittas, some of the smartest individuals in the domain space. Michael is a close friend as well with an internet background dating back to 1992 and financial experience from JP Morgan.
Founded by our friends David and Michael Castello, the focus of Castello Cities has been mainly around geographical domain names, domains such as PalmSprings.com, Nashville.com, and Acapulco.com to name just a few. In addition to Geographical domains the Castello brothers also own and operate Daycare.com, Whisky.com, and have partnered with Thought Convergence on domains such as Rate.com, Cost.com.
With extensive track record in publishing, Boulevards News Media was founded by media veteran Dan Pulcrano. The story of Dan is the story of sticking to what you believe in. There is little doubt in my mind Dan has a clear picture where he is taking his company, and with his track record, even less doubt he will get there.
Founded by Lawrence Ng and Fred Hsu, with 2007 revenues of over 200 million dollars, Oversee.net is already a giant in the online world. With the latest acquisitions of Moniker, Snapnames, and a roll-out of a successful domain conference, I feel there’s much more to come.
Founded by my good friends Kevin Ham and Colin Yu, and with Dr. Chris Hartnett as a board member, and with stellar domains such as HDTV.com, VC.com, God.com, Mother.com, Attorney.com, and hundred of thousands of others Reinvent is setting their eyes on reinventing the web (and the domain space) as we know it. At the moment most of Reinvent’s businesses are in stealth mode however knowing some details, all I can say is: pay attention to what’s coming!
Founded By Rob Monster, Monster Venture is backing up MatÃas de Tezanos‘ Healthcare.com, Washington VC’s Phone.com, and a number of other deals in the domain space. Rob to me seems to be on a mission to turn the best domain names into the best web destinations.
And lastly, our company, Recall Media Group
Recall Media Group, founded by Darren Cleveland, Jeff Bhavnanie, and Sahar Sarid, already runs a number of successful businesses. Most of what we do is private however, to give you an idea of the scope of our organization, we have over a million domains under management, over 120 full time employees, over 400 servers, and offices in three continents around the world. Our public offerings include FuneralHomes.com, FuneralJobs.com, LifeMemory.com, DNZoom.com (and soon Bido), and technologies such as Niche Directory Platform and VPS, and others I’m sure forgetting right now.
All of us at Bido have been working tirelessly last few weeks on this project. We put all the pieces together however, as DNZoom and Bido become one product (yes, you will be able to use the same account for both) we’re going through extremely rigorous testing phase to make sure all works to the highest standards.
The next couple of weeks are going to be as busy as ever. No final release date is yet set. I will keep the blog updated as we release more information about Bido in the next few days.
Sahar
An informative video found on YouTube this morning explaining the process of Domain Capital, “the first and only financial services company to offer financing to businesses based on the inherent and recognized value of premium domain names. Our vision is to innovate exciting new financial products and services designed to enable entrepreneurs to exploit new business models”
(quoted from their website)
(quoted from their website)
Enjoy,
Sahar
Not to say my way is the right way but it is nevertheless, my way. I always paid more attention to the one who is giving the advice than the advice itself. Few questions I would like to ask you: Would you take a fitness advice from a person who isn’t in shape? Would you take a cooking advice from a person who does not know how to cook? And with your financials, would you take a financial advice from a person who isn’t doing well? I remember a little over eight years ago when I first met Rick Schwartz and joined his message board, as many other members, I too had many conflicting issues with Rick’s personality. Rick, as many of you know, isn’t the easiest person in the world to get along with. With that said, at the time, Rick had few years in the domain business prior to me joining the board (started in 95/6), has done extremely well by making highly calculated bets, “talked the talk” and “walked the walk”, and in addition, had over 20 years of sales experience offline. While I had some issues with Rick’s personality, I had absolutely no issues with his thinking, visionary outlook on business and life, and then I chose: This guy, pay CLOSE ATTENTION to everything he says!
While at the time there were many other in the domain industry on the board there were very few who have done well but many who seems to be doing well. The credibility Rick brought because of his proven success was of more importance to me than the actual advice given. What I mean is from a person who walked the walk, say from 1 to 10, I would give him an 8 for their advice without even listening to what they had to say. The last two points would be for the content. On the other hand, If someone who had not walked the walk would give an advice I would start it at zero, and very rarely they would get to an 8 on my personal scale.
Today, there are many blogs and message boards out there and one has to be extremely careful what one listens to, what one accepts. There are many who never walked any walk but will gladly tell you what you should do, for no other reason than their personal self interest. It is up to you to sort between the good and the bad. It is up to you to choose who you listen to, and who to give the time of day.
How do you find out who knows their stuff, who to seriously pay attention to? You have to read between the lines, look for hidden motives, look for personal agendas. When one says he is doing well you have to ask at what cost? How long did it take to do well? Is it scalable? How the operation looks like? What is the time invested? Is what they say can be repeated today? Is it fundamental or a timing issue? Is it even real? One important point to note, those who always have positive stories of what they say/promote are the ones to ALWAYS question and question hard. There are always two sides to any issue, the good and the bad, and if a person cannot understand this, he is likely there to sell you into something rather then help you learn something. I remember at DRT last year (Seattle) I was on stage with a number of reps from other companies and one question was about development. While I said a person can approach our company for development partnership opportunities, in the same sentence I also said there are other companies in the marketplace, even those who were on stage with me, who may be of equal help. My focus was to help others, not just help myself.
If you choose to take an advice from someone, my advice, if you choose to take it, is to make sure you ask, and ask a lot.
Have a great weekend!
Sahar
P.S.
If you were to adopt these ideas that will make many who do not walk the walk and who continuously are trying to push their own personal self-serving agendas with you of less importance. Because of that it would not be of a complete surprise if this post attracts some fire from other bloggers, especially the weak ones who feel threatened by it. Why post it then? As I said at the first line of this post, these are just my ideas, and since it is my blog, I’m simply expressing myself. You do not have to adopt it, you do not have to agree with anything I say. Bottom line, whether I say it or not at the end of the day you will do whatever works for you, and I’m perfectly fine with that.
Sahar
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