Schilling is right, the entire name space is exhausted…..for him. I won’t put words in to Frank Schilling’s mouth but quoting Frank (at least according to Paul Sloan who wrote this article on Schilling and UniRegistry) concerning his involvement and investment in new TLDs.
“This absolutely is the future” “We’re at this point where the dot-com name space — the entire name space — is exhausted.”
While many may feel that he is calling an end to profitable domain investing, my opinion is he is merely pointing out that there are no other ways for him to make sizable controllable profits in domaining at this point in the domain timeline. He has exhausted every angle there is to make money from a domain owner’s viewpoint. We buy, sell, park, and develop. That is our choices. He has mastered every one except development.
He developed the best catch system early on. He developed the best selling and platform available. He has no interest in developing sites so there’s nothing left to do but sit around and buy and sell. Frank doesn’t come across as the sitting type. Then along comes the new Tld opportunity.
Any business person alive has to realize the enormous potential the new tlds offer. It reminds me of the days back in the 80’s when they introduced stock options for people to trade in addition to straight stocks. Some called for the death of stocks and the market as we knew it. Others saw opportunity to make riches. Many people lost and still lose millions trading stock options. It will be no different for buyers of new TLDs domains. Some will make money, some will lose. But you know who made the least risky money in the stock options introduction. The book, the clearing houses. The people that secured the trades. They made a cut of each and every single trade. That opportunity was very similar to what’s being offered up with the new tlds. Those that have the financial stability to “back” the new tlds ,will have an opportunity to make a cut on each and every trade. Just like the book at the Options Exchange. Not only do they get to participate, they actually get to choose their market. To get in on the ground floor like this is an incredible opportunity and a necessary one.
Yes, the introduction of new tlds is necessary. I’m not sure if 1900 are necessary, but as my daughter becomes a user of the Internet it is obvious that if she wants to have a website she has two choices at this point. Pay a very expensive price for a nice dot com or get some obscure name that is either very long or on a lesser used tld. You may say that there is about to be 1900 other lesser known tlds coming available and this is true, but now Internet users will start getting used to typing in new endings. They will adapt to new endings. It will take years but it WILL happen. Frank knows it, Donuts knows it, and I know it. And yet I think it will have very little impact on high quality dot coms.
Users will certainly start utilizing the opened up names but they will never forget their first. Affordable land is now available but people will continue to want the “old fashioned” dot com. Frank has been selling but he hasn’t been dumping. He is diversifying his portfolio. The new TLDs present anew opportunity to make millions. Dot coms offer opportunity but not nearly at the pace and scale that a completely new space does to a person at the scale of Schilling. Thus the exhausted quote. If I had the money I absolutely would be invested in a new tld. I was in an investment group but the cost per name is millions. I/We didn’t have it and the names that we wanted were most likely going to be contested, so that would have meant either more millions to win the auction, or hope that the wealthier competitors bought us out for a handsome gain. At this point in my career and family, I couldn’t take that risk. Schilling has the capital to take that risk. Great risk equals great rewards. That is how Schilling has come this far, and that is how he will prove the naysayers wrong once again.
Yep. He doesn’t develop, so there is no other place to go. All the power to him. Well said.
It’s kind of the “selling shovels in a gold rush” strategy… hope it all executes the way he plans.
> “Great risk equals great rewards.”
The thing about the above statement is that it’s one-sided. Because you never hear about the losers, who are many. You only hear about the winners, who are few.
If “great risk equals great rewards” was in fact always true, then taking great risks, wouldn’t be risky at all.
Innocuous,
You are correct. It should say “great reward often requires great risk”
Forget about the money…I am just intrigued by how enterprizing the guy is. I know it’s by no means an easy road, but if someone gave you a wish for the kind of entrepreneur you would be…wouldn’t it be easy to say Frank?
I am not saying that there is, but does anyone see a relationship of AM versus FM radio and dotcom versus NEW TLD’s?
Seriously, Glenn?
You could make that comparison with .com and .biz and get your answer.
It is more like FM versus XM – old school radio versus satellite radio. Many people are subscribing to satellite radio, but the majority will rely upon FM radio for a long time.