NamesCon

In just a few short days, NamesCon 2017 will be taking place in Las Vegas! Domain industry professionals from around the world will be traveling to the Tropicana Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas for the biggest NamesCon event yet. Tickets are still on sale, so if you have not made plans yet, there is still time to come.

Today’s NamesCon Sponsor Spotlight is with George Hong of Guta, a domain brokerage firm with a focus on the Chinese domain name market.

What is your company’s mandate; what sets you apart?

Guta, a professional domain name brokerage firm, is a trusted bridge between the Western and Chinese domain communities. Founded by George Hong, a bicultural Chinese-American and a longtime veteran of the domain industry who is familiar with the key players on both sides of the Pacific, Guta is currently focused on helping Western investors and companies sell premium domain names to Chinese buyers. We are one of the most trusted brokerage firms in both the WEST and the EAST. We are an authority figure in the Chinese domain market and are very familiar with Chinese buyers.

Who benefits from your product or service?

If you are an owner of premium domains (such as short domain names, numeric domain names or pinyin .com domains) and plan to sell them, you should speak to us. There is an unprecedented demand for these types of domains from Chinese buyers. Many recent Chinese buyers are new to this industry. They don’t know English and/or have no experience buying domain names from overseas. We can help you sell your domains to Chinese buyers.

What factors have contributed to your company’s growth and success?

We are ethical. We represent either the buyer or the seller in a transaction but never both. We are transparent with our clients. In the rare case that we buy domains from our clients, we will let our clients know upfront that we are interested in buying their domains and we don’t charge them a brokerage fee. We are professional. We help bridge the gap between the buyer and seller to overcome the barriers between them such as the communication and language barrier, valuation difference barrier, as well as the cultural barrier and purchasing barrier. We perform proactive research to give our clients professional opinions backed by data. We focus on premium domains and offer personalized service and attention that our clients deserve. We are well connected. We know and have worked with many key players in the global domain name industry.

What’s the story behind how your company was founded?

Our founder, George Hong, first entered the domain industry as an investor a decade ago. George holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics from Xiamen University of China as well as a Master’s degree in Mathematics and a Master’s degree in Computer and Information Science from Temple University in the US. His mathematics background is one of the main reasons that he is so fascinated with numeric domains. Prior to founding Guta, George held leadership roles in internet startups as well as a Fortune 500 company based in the greater Philadelphia, PA area, USA. Additionally, he has actively participated in global domain conferences. For the past 7 years, George has unreservedly shared his insights on numeric domains, pinyin domains, Chinese culture, the Chinese domain market, etc. to Western domain investors. He is considered by many in the West as the go-to person and trusted advisor for anything related to the Chinese domain market. Therefore, Western investors will ask for his advice and help in regards to selling domains to Chinese buyers. On the other hand, as the owner of some of the super premium pinyin domain names and numeric domain names like 797.com, mama.com, zuqiu.com (soccer in Chinese pinyin), and ruanjian.com (software in Chinese pinyin), George is widely considered to be one of the most successful Chinese domain investors. Gradually, more and more Chinese investors have come to him asking for his help on overseas domain business like hiring UDRP lawyers, getting back stolen domains and buying domains. As a famous Chinese saying goes, “When water flows, a channel is formed.” With his passion for domain names and status being so widely trusted in the EAST & WEST, it was a natural next step for George to start a professional brokerage firm focusing on bridging the gap between China and the international domain community. That was how Guta was founded.

What major milestones has your company accomplished?

We have successfully brokered the sales of some super premium domain names. Below are some notable publicly reported sales:

Beijing.com, DD.com, WG.com, CV.com, MW.com;

PPP.com and over 100 other LLL.com domains;

08.com, 1999.com, 989.com.

The first full year we were officially in business, our total sales reached nine figures, CNY.

How will your company engage attendees at the upcoming NamesCon?

Please come by our booth and speak to us! Also, our Founder and CEO, George Hong, will be speaking at the “China Master Class” panel on Jan 24th, 12:00-12:45pm. We look forward to reconnecting with our old friends, business partners, and clients in person. We are also very keen on making some new friends there too!

How has (or will) NamesCon helped your company achieve its goals?

Since the very first NamesCon was held in 2014, Guta has participated in it every single year. As the biggest domain name industry event in the world, NamesCon is a great platform for communicating with industry peers from all over the world. It is like a huge gathering party of the domain industry where we can meet old friends and industry legends that rarely appear at other conferences. It offers us a great opportunity to learn and exchange knowledge. The business opportunities that came up for us during our past conference trips pay for the price of admission and sponsor fees many times over. We expect our participation in this conference will yield a similar result.