April DNJ Cover - Richard Rosenblatt, Demand Media

http://www.dnjournal.com/cover/2007/april.htm

Not sure how I missed this.. Easter build-up really threw me for a loop.  Richard Rosenblatt of Demand Media is this month's cover story on DNJ.

Quote: "Some people simply radiate a positive energy that is infectious and inspiring."

Well said as usual Ron!  Additionally, Richard Rosenblatt is easily the best-groomed man in domains :) Aside from being handsome and clever; Richard's charm, ability to manage and to tell a great story are feats few men can match.  I first met Richard with Shawn Colo in 2005 in Laguna Beach. Richard and I were wearing very similar leather jackets; very thin thin leather (it's a 'SoCal thing'). Shawn quipped that he felt "left out of the thin leather jacket club" (I'm sure he's added one to his wardrobe since moving to LA). I liked Richard - He's an instantly interesting and compelling individual...

Vern says: "He was very charismatic..  like a domaining Anthony Robbins!"

I really like the Demand Media organization..  it's backers are solid straight shooters, it's people are sterling: Shawn Colo, Paul Stahura, John Kane, Courtney Montpas, Taryn Naidu, Sean Muller ..  I know these people...  These are really really good people.  They try hard ..  they are smart, funny, likable, honest.. I think the world of them.

If this organization can marry those people with some generic defensible domain name traffic and high-brow development, I think they are going to have a great coming out party and they are going to grow into a terrific corporation with longevity.  At this point I don't know much about what's going on inside the co..  I know they bought eNom and Bulkregister (outstanding strategic acquisitions), but I don't know much about their proprietary names. I haven't seen the list of names who's traffic presumably fuels the "Web 2.0 Sprinkle". As a registrant, I'm not crazy about the .tv thing.. but won't bet against Paul, John and Richard's abilities. There are good folks here. They all shine.  If anyone can put the pieces together, these people will. JMO.

Comments

[rhart]

As you state, "If anyone can put the pieces together, these people will".

Further evidence of that possibility is:

On Demand Media's site under Richard Rosenblatt it says...

"Demand Media has developed a unique platform that leverages cutting edge, user-driven publishing, community, and monetization tools as it seeks to define the next generation of new media companies."

Part of that unique platform that leverages cutting edge tools is a company that he is Chairman of...www.icrossing.com.

Icrossing.com Chairman
http://www.icrossing.com/people/?bio=richard_rosenblatt

Icrossing.com mobile search and advertising partnership
http://www.promotionworld.com/news/press/070329iCrossing.html

There are others in the same space, like Yahoo and MobiTV
http://press-releases.techwhack.com/8607/yahoo-and-mobitv/

...though it is another example where Rosenblatt seems to keep himself on the cutting edge of the next big thing so he can put "the pieces together".

[VS]

Franky do me a favor and take a look at their domain holdings. Their portfolio will blow you away.

***FS*** I would, but it's hard to find because it seems to be well hidden within the forest of their clients name-services.com stuff. I guess I could run the zone for Name-services.com and then whois each one grouping those with recent updated dates or uniform whois (or both) ... Jay, are you busy? :)

[Gabe]

Frank...I take it that you were probably the inspiration for Richard to get in the game:

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/business2/business2_archive/2006/12/01/8394990/index.htm

Just doing a little deductive reasoning - I can't think of any other domainer with at least 300,000 domains with servers in the Caymans. Just don't give away the secret sauce :)

**FS*** There are a few guys who could fit that description.. and several domain portfolios are structured out of the Caymans, but only one guy 'lives' there .. I think Richard's line is an amalgamation (composite) of several operators that he mentioned to add color to the B2 story.. He talked to 'some domainers' (plural) after all. JMO

[dpari]

Dear Mr. Schilling, having read your "What can challenge the .COM foundation of the Internet" post I am a bit confused about your position.

In this April, 09, 2007 post, you mentioned that .TV and .Mobi etc have “no chance”.

Then in your post about Richard Rosenblatt and Demand Media you mentioned that you really like the Demand Media organization, and as a registrant, I'm not crazy about the .tv thing.. but won't bet against Paul, John and Richard's abilities.

So, I am left wondering how you "Really Feel" about Demand Media and the .TV extension.

-dpari

***FS*** Thanks dpari (and you can call me Frank) I said "They have no chance without a world-beating plan such as the ability to turn straw into gold".. My thoughts here are a work in progress. I may say things from time to time that seem contradictory. For example: I do not like .tv and .mobi, but I think Paul Stahura is very smart and knows a great deal about domains. Paul is behind .tv's renewed promotion platform so there is a disconnect there. What I think you are seeing is ideas flowing free-form as they come to me. I would take those elements which you find useful, digest them and then form your own opinions. Based on what I have seen so far I do not like .tv.. But Paul may floor me tomorrow with something I hadn't thought of previously, Like maybe verisign plans to give away "free gold" with every .tv name.. that would make me change my mind about its prospects.

[Snoopy]

In terms of quality domains that main acquisition they have made is Hotkeys I think. This was a portfolio of very high quality names like Turkey.com, Areacodes.com, Engines.com and Pakistan.com.

We have a thread on the Hotkeys acquisition at domainstate,

http://www.domainstate.com/showthread.php3?s=&threadid=71608&perpage=15&pagenumber=1

Quite a lot of the other acquisitions is typo/spillover type names I believe. Even running a whois on the name-services names wouldn't give a good indication since many names are under proxy whois which is the same as client names.

[Hairy Ape Like Creature]

Unfortunately, nobody points out the fact that all these latest huge domain consolidators are running on regfee names. Demand Media, as well as Name Media (and some others), are imo really lame names that sound as if they were coined in five minutes by kids who were late for a high school business class project.

Make no mistake, these names don't dazzle anyone, in fact they show lack of creativity, lack of sophisticated branding and marketing savvy on behalf of their owners. It's flabbergasting to see these so-called "visionaires" exhibiting anything but when it comes to coming up with a name that stands out from others in the already ubercrowded american marketplace that is perpetually inhabited by other corporate bores with such bland and unmemorable names.

When you think about it, it really is a shame that such ambitious multimillion dollar inventories are flying under $6.95 flagships.

***FS*** Always very honest commentary from you ape.. I really haven't seen the lists on those so can't say. I like my potfolio better than those I 'have' seen, but everybody always thinks their babies are the prettiest ;)

[Hairy Ape Like Creature]

Actually, just to clear any potential misunderstanding, I wasn't commenting on the quality of names in their portfolio,

instead I wanted to make a point that their corporate names (Demand Media, and Name Media) which they chose as their business and branding identities (and under which they manage huge and expensive domain/site inventories) are nothing but (just about) regfee names (in domain lingo) that are hardly inspiring to say the least.

***FS*** Ah ah ah .. okay.. got it. :)