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Successful VC Fred Wilson: Spend Up to $50k on a Domain Name

Fred Wilson is one of the most well known and successful venture capitalists, and he is currently a partner at Union Square Ventures in New York City. Some of the best known investments his company has made include Foursquare, Etsy, Meetup, Zynga, and Twitter, among many others.

On Wilson’s blog today, he discusses domain names and their importance to a startup. Although a domain name is not on “The 10 Golden Principles for Successful Web Apps” he wrote, he believes it’s something that could be listed.

In the article, Wilson makes an interesting observation about prices of domain names:

We’ve noticed the average price of a good domain has risen fairly dramatically in the past year. We used to advise companies to spend $10k or less on a domain, then we upped that recommendation to $25k. We recently upped it again to $50k. I suspect domain prices and pre-money valuations of newly launched startups are highly corrrelated <sic>.”

If a startup builds its brand on a confusing domain name, they are actually building value on someone else’s domain name. For instance, when Del.icio.us was launched, it made the already valuable Delicious.com even more valuable (and expensive) due to the lost traffic and likely revenue generation for the previous owner. Had the startup bought Delicious.com earlier, the cost would likely have been significantly less, although it still may have made a big dent in its budget.

For domain owners who own a name coveted by a startup, they should realize that perhaps taking equity in a company is a good idea in addition to the cash. This is especially true when a startup is backed by a guy like Fred Wilson or his team at Union Square Ventures.

Perhaps if more startups are upfront about who they are and what their plans are, domain owners would be more amenable to working out mutually beneficial deals.  In fact, here’s a piece of advice for operators of startup companies looking to get a good domain name without spending a lot of cash up front: telling a domain owner you’re a poor student or a single mom trying to buy a domain name doesn’t work).

Whether you’re a domain investor or you are operating a vc-funded startup, Wilson’s article is a good one to read.

CarInsurance.TV Sells for $13k and Now CarInsuranceQuotes.TV on The Market for $16+ Million

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DN Journal reported the $13,200 sale of CarInsurance.TV in this week’s domain sales report. The sale was closed by the team at Sedo, and it was the second highest ccTLD sale of the week, trailing the sale of Deals.co.au, which sold for $100,000.

In case you are interested in a similar domain name, I may have found one for you, although the price is a bit higher.

CarInsuranceQuotes.TV is currently on the market at Sedo for the ambitious listing price of just $16,777,215. That would be around €11,383,632 at today’s exchange rate. If it sold, it would likely set the record for highest recorded domain sale of all time, and certainly set the record for highest ccTLD sale.

Keep Unique Passwords for Different Accounts (Email, Parking, Registrars, Forums…etc)

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Most of us have accounts at various domain registrars, maybe a couple of parking companies and at least one or two email  addressees. With potentially 10 or more accounts, all with different user names, it can be much easier to access accounts by having the same password.

This is a HUGE no-no. If a thief is able to gain access to one of your registrar or parking accounts, he will be able to  see what email address is on file for that particular account. Should you use the same password for your email account, he will then be able to break into your email archive. This will allow him to not only change things with whatever account he broke into to get access to your email, but he can also search through your email and see where else you have accounts.

I know that most people use various passwords for different user accounts, and that is smart. I also know than many people are lazy and prefer to use the same password for multiple accounts. Not a good idea.

In fact, someone mentioned this on Namepros the other day, and a three letter .com domain name was stolen from his account. Thieves can be very tricky, and if you have one account compromised, you should ensure that it’s not simple for him to gain access to your other accounts.

Could the NFL’s Oakland Raiders and MLB’s Oakland A’s Play at the O.CO Coliseum?

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OverstockHere’s some news that will surely excite .CO domain investors and potentially be a HUGE win for the .CO Registry.

NFL.com is reporting that the Oakland  Coliseum, home of the National Football League’s Oakland Raiders and Major League Baseball’s Oakland Athletics, has signed a deal with Overstock, and the stadium will be called Overstock.com  Coliseum.

So why is this interesting to the .CO Registry and domain investors who own .CO domain names?

Overstock is in the beginning stages of rebranding the company name to become known as O.CO. The NFL.com article makes note of this, and apparently, the agreement takes this into consideration. According to the article, “even the Overstock.com moniker is temporary because the company is in the process of rebranding itself as O.com.”

What this likely means is that as soon as Overstock has finished its rebranding efforts in the US, the stadium will be called O.CO Coliseum. According to a different report in BizJournals.com, the company has not made a final decision on this yet.

This is  publicity  money can’t buy. I am sure everyone at the .CO Registry is thrilled, and they should be very happy. Selling O.CO for $300k was the deal of the century.

Sedo Closes Nearly $440k in .com Domain Sales Last Week

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SedoSedo closed approximately $440,000 in .com domain sales last week (according to my currency conversion calculations). Leading the way was Instyler.com, which sold for €50,000, which is roughly $73,000 at a $1.46 conversion rate to USD. Fiver.com was next at $70,000.

The buyers of both names have privacy protection, but it wouldn’t surprise me if Fiverr purchased the less confusing Fiver.com. Fiverr is a popular startup that’s known as the “place for people to share things they’re willing to do for $5.”

Here are the publicly reported .com domain sales from Sedo last week:

fiver.com 70000 USD
instyler.com 50000 EUR
b3.com 25500 USD
goutattack.com 15500 USD
takeon.com 10000 USD
enfore.com 10000 EUR
jl-i.com 10000 USD
lifecity.com 8500 USD
freewebstore.com 7500 USD
kidar.com 6500 USD
cash-back.com 6500 EUR
somit.com 6050 USD
instigate.com 6000 USD
safeonlinecasino.com 5500 USD
mobileimpact.com 5010 USD
exu.com 4500 USD
c2cc.com 4200 USD
investinguniversity.com 3500 USD
namestrategy.com 3333 USD
chairmaker.com 3333 USD
citypath.com 3200 USD
bravada.com 3000 USD
yellowboard.com 3000 USD
cheapfires.com 3000 USD
abva.com 3000 USD
topjeans.com 2932 USD
paymyphone.com 2900 USD
coranet.com 2800 USD
mybestshot.com 2800 USD
topnames.com 2785 USD
vinciconsulting.com 2750 USD
kote.com 2610 USD
onlinescasino.com 2600 USD
networkeffect.com 2512 USD
newvodka.com 2500 EUR
usponsor.com 2500 USD
limelightdigital.com 2500 USD
cloudgeek.com 2200 USD
myestatesale.com 2022 USD
n-1.com 2000 USD
myeim.com 2000 USD
adpark.com 2000 USD
clevermail.com 2000 EUR
aeroseeker.com 2000 USD
motornews.com 1963 EUR
speicherstadt.com 1890 EUR
agencedevoyages.com 1800 EUR
orderdrinks.com 1800 USD
energygood.com 1795 USD
nive.com 1700 USD
vidyos.com 1677 USD
dating-websites.com 1677 USD
summerlandkey.com 1651 USD
chrg.com 1600 USD
unixsolutions.com 1595 USD
starnumber.com 1500 USD
netbooklive.com 1500 EUR
hundeerziehung.com 1500 EUR
serabella.com 1500 USD
vvzv.com 1500 USD
africaelectricity.com 1500 EUR
rifis.com 1350 USD
retusz.com 1300 EUR
chinaguy.com 1290 USD
petbuy.com 1250 USD
lawberry.com 1250 USD
jouerjeuxgratuit.com 1250 EUR
retailintegration.com 1250 USD
motorleasing.com 1250 USD
emoneybroker.com 1200 USD
myscans.com 1200 USD
godinheaven.com 1200 USD
biura.com 1150 USD
tiketo.com 1100 USD
e-care.com 1100 USD
2game.com 1050 GBP
spend360.com 1000 EUR
inkpond.com 1000 USD
webcelebs.com 1000 USD
nepadailydeal.com 1000 USD
new-medicine.com 1000 USD
partycocktails.com 1000 USD
careergold.com 1000 USD
biosole.com 1000 USD
oravo.com 995 USD
abacuspartners.com 970 USD
drivedatarecoveryservices.com 950 USD
holidayblog.com 930 EUR
breastfeedingbook.com 899 USD
quotesautoinsurance.com 899 USD
skopelosvillas.com 899 USD
esl.com.ar 850 EUR
tobaccoking.com 800 USD
breedgame.com 800 EUR
phukethouses.com 800 USD
scrive.com 800 USD
tvcheck.com 790 USD
restaurantrecruitment.com 775 USD
podiobook.com 750 USD
tinyhelpers.com 750 USD
nicetomeet.com 750 EUR
fine-jewelry.com 750 USD
draincleaningmachine.com 714 USD
lightningloan.com 700 GBP
beyonder.com 700 USD
pompandceremony.com 700 USD

Afternic Closes Just Under $500k in .com Sales Last Week

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Afternic DLS closed a little over $472,000 in publicly reported .com sales of $1,000 or more last week. The three most popular sales categories last week were recreation, business and computers, which accounted for 1/3 of the sales. Three of the week’s five top sales were from the DLS platform, meaning they weren’t owned by NameMedia entities.

Here are the public .com sales of $1,000 or more from the last week from Afternic DLS:

immerge.com $9,000.00
nishinomiya.com $7,588.00
knowledgenation.com $7,370.00
beyondthebody.com $6,500.00
kellyrutherford.com $6,400.00
storagebuilding.com $5,852.00
finebook.com $5,500.00
ycpc.com $5,000.00
pokerband.com $5,000.00
THRIVEHIVE.com $5,000.00
insuremenow.com $5,000.00
livelead.com $4,600.00
c2cc.com $4,200.00
gtacs.com $4,000.00
1525.com $4,000.00
healthperformance.com $3,988.00
tobaccostore.com $3,788.00
intelligentluxury.com $3,688.00
globalplan.com $3,688.00
labcafe.com $3,588.00
2phone.com $3,500.00
lciinc.com $3,441.00
internethomepage.com $3,388.00
coolads.com $3,300.00
dietbasics.com $3,288.00
autorehab.com $3,288.00
marketmania.com $3,188.00
cornerstonenetworks.com $3,188.00
childrensgarden.com $3,188.00
emiratestodayonline.com $3,149.00
wellnesslane.com $3,088.00
teenintervention.com $3,045.00
guestmail.com $2,988.00
trustgo.com $2,988.00
topjeans.com $2,932.00
postid.com $2,900.00
delr.com $2,900.00
michelago.com $2,860.00
yourmax.com $2,795.00
SevenSources.com $2,795.00
hypershield.com $2,790.00
foundhere.com $2,788.00
freetruck.com $2,788.00
lawbuff.com $2,748.00
lasertechnik.com $2,700.00
metal-x.com $2,688.00
modernjobs.com $2,588.00
realityweekly.com $2,588.00
soulspring.com $2,588.00
networkeffect.com $2,512.00
beefco.com $2,510.00
spinesociety.com $2,500.00
peakhosting.com $2,500.00
hallsforhire.com $2,500.00
backtotheroots.com $2,500.00
webtxt.com $2,500.00
gulfventures.com $2,500.00
provecta.com $2,488.00
patrickco.com $2,488.00
rocksaws.com $2,400.00
bahamasdirectory.com $2,300.00
awardco.com $2,288.00
positivetalk.com $2,288.00
floridarewards.com $2,200.00
ecoshield.com $2,200.00
gogifting.com $2,188.00
colourgraphics.com $2,100.00
finalmatch.com $2,100.00
mopartireworks.com $2,100.00
serraonline.com $2,088.00
helpforhomeless.com $2,088.00
businessofsport.com $2,088.00
flightoffice.com $2,088.00
zignature.com $2,088.00
myestatesale.com $2,022.00
amazonday.com $2,000.00
powerwallet.com $2,000.00
newyorkarchitects.com $2,000.00
familycoupon.com $2,000.00
icookies.com $2,000.00
digitalshadows.com $2,000.00
lostine.com $2,000.00
airportcab.com $2,000.00
puuha.com $2,000.00
profitmarketing.com $2,000.00
itjobseeker.com $1,988.00
laactivities.com $1,988.00
residentialincome.com $1,988.00
slimmingmassage.com $1,988.00
bigsplashmarketing.com $1,900.00
SavingsDaily.com $1,895.00
youronlinecollege.com $1,888.00
dbssolutions.com $1,888.00
betterrewards.com $1,888.00
usnationaldebt.com $1,888.00
equityoutlet.com $1,888.00
garnerhealth.com $1,888.00
fabulousfemale.com $1,888.00
webmarketingtool.com $1,888.00
nightvibe.com $1,800.00
militarygift.com $1,800.00
rodguide.com $1,800.00
tapscreen.com $1,800.00
xmlserver.com $1,800.00
SELECTGOODS.com $1,799.00
mypersonalrecords.com $1,789.00
tobeyoungagain.com $1,788.00
exerciseforhealth.com $1,788.00
arabnewsagency.com $1,788.00
medsathome.com $1,788.00
silversails.com $1,788.00
appliedmeta.com $1,788.00
nationwiderecruiting.com $1,750.00
bugabug.com $1,700.00
cashtek.com $1,700.00
canadianmerchant.com $1,699.00
MonsterFoods.com $1,695.00
circleofgiving.com $1,688.00
triumphanddisaster.com $1,688.00
donationmatch.com $1,688.00
clearburst.com $1,677.00
gotgreens.com $1,672.80
fprgroup.com $1,652.00
BrilliantYou.com $1,595.00
AvailableDoctors.com $1,595.00
Bemob.com $1,595.00
criminaldefenseatty.com $1,588.00
industrytracker.com $1,588.00
callereal.com $1,588.00
millionaireblueprint.com $1,530.00
birdbox.com $1,500.00
humandiscovery.com $1,500.00
analogmedia.com $1,500.00
qolgroup.com $1,500.00
balticmarket.com $1,500.00
capitalconstruction.com $1,500.00
gotropical.com $1,500.00
soxmart.com $1,500.00
contracttoclosing.com $1,500.00
spiritandword.com $1,500.00
rockproperty.com $1,500.00
thegoodiebag.com $1,500.00
netbee.com $1,500.00
wealthaccess.com $1,500.00
originalradio.com $1,500.00
bodyanalysis.com $1,500.00
bluedeer.com $1,500.00
takingittothestreets.com $1,500.00
youmagic.com $1,500.00
braincasts.com $1,488.00
video-club.com $1,488.00
arabnewsnetwork.com $1,488.00
retaillending.com $1,488.00
communityprojects.com $1,400.00
communitycollaboration.com $1,400.00
ramanagement.com $1,400.00
loveyourmom.com $1,400.00
clubliberty.com $1,400.00
kidsout.com $1,400.00
leadlogistics.com $1,400.00
familier.com $1,400.00
HowBooks.com $1,400.00
sharethru.com $1,400.00
migraineassociation.com $1,388.00
interactiveview.com $1,388.00
bluestv.com $1,388.00
cycletek.com $1,388.00
liquorbook.com $1,388.00
lifeinhand.com $1,361.00
eatmussels.com $1,350.00
fogodechaorestaurant.com $1,300.00
brainjet.com $1,288.00
ourpad.com $1,288.00
sterlingfitness.com $1,288.00
journeytoyou.com $1,275.00
localawards.com $1,258.00
walletpower.com $1,250.00
motorleasing.com $1,250.00
bookingbee.com $1,250.00
myfamilydoc.com $1,200.00
surgeryspine.com $1,200.00
campusarts.com $1,200.00
godinheaven.com $1,200.00
simya.com $1,200.00
gipro.com $1,200.00
lifelibrary.com $1,200.00
praguedeals.com $1,200.00
prepayme.com $1,200.00
monea.com $1,195.00
giftview.com $1,188.00
medicalthriller.com $1,188.00
mobilecheckout.com $1,186.00
netbadges.com $1,150.00
saltwaterfarms.com $1,150.00
fundlaw.com $1,100.00
easytoaccess.com $1,100.00
artistology.com $1,100.00
seniorfacts.com $1,100.00
FamilyKeeper.com $1,095.00
BrandNice.com $1,095.00
MonsterBid.com $1,095.00
simplebill.com $1,094.00
financialbill.com $1,088.00
styleyourway.com $1,088.00
givingresults.com $1,088.00
designedforsale.com $1,088.00
thenewoffice.com $1,088.00
superstarclub.com $1,042.00
urbansmart.com $1,000.00
ramaswami.com $1,000.00
theislamicworld.com $1,000.00
airlineonline.com $1,000.00
boatcameras.com $1,000.00
careervibes.com $1,000.00
universalchips.com $1,000.00
alternativemodels.com $1,000.00
pocketbroker.com $1,000.00
internetprophets.com $1,000.00
webdad.com $1,000.00
shiwen.com $1,000.00
schulhilfe.com $1,000.00
retoucheren.com $1,000.00
biosole.com $1,000.00
africacapital.com $1,000.00
liftway.com $1,000.00
animalsystems.com $1,000.00
NICELAWN.com $1,000.00
miuraregister.com $1,000.00