Mike Mann posted a tweet on Twitter yesterday that seems to imply he is seeking investment capital for his domain name business:
If you’d like to make a safe bet (investment) you can bet that I will sell enormous numbers of domains at very high prices.
— Mike Mann (@mikemanndotcom) July 5, 2017
People who follow Mike on Twitter know that he regularly reports high dollar domain name sales. Yesterday, for example, he shared that he sold GeorgiaBride.com for $24,888, a domain name he acquired for $20 at the end of 1999. While sales with huge returns like these are great, the cost to run a business with hundreds of thousands of domain names must be quite high.
I believe Mike’s company owns hundreds of thousands of domain names (DomainMarket.com says it has 288,839 domain names listed for sale). I have to think that the renewal fees are into the seven figures each year. I would also imagine Mike is actively buying new domain names to bolster his company’s inventory, and that is also expensive.
Even though Mike reports getting top dollar for the domain names that he sells, the cost of renewals plus the cost of new inventory (registrations, auctions, and aftermarket acquisitions) must also be very high. When I emailed him to ask about his tweet, Mike told me that the “money would be used to buy super premium .com domains.”
Mike was the founder of BuyDomains, and he sold that business in 2005 (he wrote a brief case study about it). He has built his current company into one of the largest domain portfolio operators. Mike knows domain names better than most, and this Washington Post article about Mike from 2014 has some good background information about him and his business.
I have no information about Mike’s operating costs or revenues, nor do I know how much he is seeking to raise. As with any investment, you should do your due diligence first.
Sorry, but a well funded successful investor like he claims to be would never do this, ie, ask for capital. Domains aren’t stocks and he isn’t Warren Buffet.
I don’t really agree with that. I like to run a smallish business without any outside capital, but if I were to raise $10m in funding, I am sure I could grow my business quite a bit. I have no desire to do that though and want to be held financially accountable to nobody but myself.
“Domains aren’t stocks and he isn’t Warren Buffet” WTF has that got to do with M Mann got to do reaching out.
Don’t think it’s the first time he has done this.
You dont agree with what Tony said?? He is stating sales with 1000x return and he looks for investment through twitter??
He should already have that funds for buying “super premium” domains as he stated with these returns which he enjoys to share.
Even if you did require that, is twitter the right platform to announce?
For me this an alarm bell.
Well, his tweet caught my attention enough to write an article, so that was a success.
Aside from that, I keep my business smallish, so I have no need for outside capital. If I had access to $10 million, I am sure I could build a great portfolio of awesome generics, but I have no interest in having to essentially answer to an investor. I sleep better knowing I am only risking my own capital and am keeping things manageable.
A sure sign of a top in the domain market. Mr Mann is very bright and positioning himself for the coming collapse in the premium name market.
I don’t know about that.
I hope there isn’t a drop in the market, but I am buying when I see good opportunities.
In 20 years of doing this he hasn’t built up a reserve of cash? Or he’s not willing to use his cash? But why wouldn’t he if it is a safe bet?
With 300,000 names he should just sell, sell, and sell some more. Why spend money on new inventory if you can’t float what you have.
Time is information we don’t have. Time is our ignorance [Rovelli]
“Look at me! Look at me! I’m a lamp!”
– Homer Simpson
Good on the spotlights
“domains at very high prices” ? Not a good marketing rationale. The market does not lie nor can/will AI root domain whatever algo’s / technological advances the root domain equation is finite. Mike Mann,trade up change the mindset eg https://www.crowdfundinsider.com/
Life’s too short…
It’s time to cash out…
Sell your domains to GoDaddy…
Think he has tried to, but not 100% sure.
Have to admit I wouldn’t want to face the annual renewal rates.
But I also give Mike credit. He gets some amazing ROI(s) for his domains. & he’s a hard negotiator. I tried to buy a domain which is perfect for one of my businesses, but he wouldn’t budge on his desired price. & more power to him.
That’s probably the reason why he’s stuck with 300,000 domains and is asking for capital to buy more names.