GoDaddy

Yesterday morning, I received an automated email to inform me that the WordPress version that I use on DomainInvesting.com was automatically updated. A short time later, I noticed a major technical error on my website, and I snarkily tweeted to GoDaddy about the situation, as this website is hosted there:

Dear @GoDaddy Thanks for automatically updating WordPress for me without advanced notice. It broke my website.

— Elliot Silver (@DInvesting) April 21, 2015

When I noticed the error, I immediately

I have visited the Go Daddy and Afternic office in Cambridge, Massachusetts two times. One of the things I noticed when driving to the office was the close proximity to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology campus. MIT is one of the leading engineering schools in the world, and it produces some talented graduates. The GoDaddy office is a stone’s throw away from MIT.

Perhaps a result of the closeness, GoDaddy and MIT have established a collaboration. In an article in the Phoenix Business Journal yesterday, it was announced  that “GoDaddy Inc. and MIT Media Lab have announced a collaboration to explore and develop emerging technologies to help small businesses achieve success.” The article further stated that GoDaddy and “the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Media Lab will dedicate teams to research a range of projects on topics such as big data, user interface design, collaboration technologies and social research.”

I think this is a

While watching the Arsenal v. Burnley English Premier League match today, I noticed something interesting. GoDaddy is advertising .com domain names on the electronic sideboards. GoDaddy also recently promoted .com at a NASCAR race last month, paying homage to the 30th anniversary of .com domain names.

The call to action rotations I captured on camera say “.COM DOMAINS FOUND HERE” and “GET YOUR .COM DOMAIN @” with the GoDaddy logo +.com appearing next to the message. I took a photo of two rotations of the sideboards for you to see:

As you already know, GoDaddy went public this morning, trading on the NYSE under the GDDY ticker symbol. GDDY stock is off to a solid start, and it is now trading well above its $20 opening price at around $26/share. After watching CNBC for a while this morning, it seems that most people agree that this was a great start for GoDaddy.

Shortly after GoDaddy stock began trading, CNBC interviewed GoDaddy CEO Blake Irving. He made some interesting comments on the company’s growth, marketing tactics, branding and rebranding efforts, and cash flow. If you did not have a chance to see the interview with Mr. Irving when it was broadcast live, I embedded the videos below.

Today was a very good day for GoDaddy.

Here are the two videos of Blake Irving’s interview on CNBC:

I woke up to many more emails than normal this morning. A large percentage of those were Google Alerts and other emails about GoDaddy’s initial public offering. GoDaddy stock is set to begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange today under the GDDY stock ticker symbol.

This is a major milestone for the company, which is valued “at around $4.5 billion, including debt,” according to Rec/Code. There have been quite a few articles written by financial publications with opinions on the company, its valuation, and the IPO. Here is an assortment of articles:

• GoDaddy IPO Not a Sure Bet – US News and World Report
• Why GoDaddy’s IPO Shares Look Cheap – Money
• Why We PASS On GoDaddy IPO (GDDY) – Seeking Alpha
• Why You Should Stay Away From This Tech IPO – Motley Fool
• The GoDaddy IPO is looking hotter than expected – Business Insider

With GoDaddy’s IPO news, there has also

Market Watch reported that GoDaddy hopes to “raise up to $418 million” in its initial public offering. The report stated that the company plans to offer shares priced somewhere between $17-19, although I would imagine that number could change as the GoDaddy IPO gets closer. Based on the IPO numbers, the company market cap would be “approaching $3 billion.”

I am uncertain about whether I am going to try and have my financial advisor get an allocation of shares when the company goes public. I also don’t know if I am going to purchase shares of the company once its starts trading on the New York Stock Exchange (under the ticker symbol GDDY).

I am not much of a stock picker, but one thing I know is that a stock’s performance doesn’t necessarily jive with the company’s products and services. There are many factors that play into the valuation of a stock and how it trades, and just because GoDaddy is good (or bad) for you doesn’t mean you will make money with the stock.

Deciding whether to buy the stock is