One of the most successful domain investors is also probably one of the youngest and someone that has sort of flown under the radar. He is a 24 year old Czech domain investor who got his start in the business in 2007, and he has rapidly grown his business in a very short period of time. He prefers to keep his name private, but he is the real deal.
This past week, he announced the launch of his domain blog, Facing the Absurd, which offers his take on the domain industry. His business encompass many verticals, including domain names, lead generation, affiliate marketing, domain monetization, a car insurance broker, search, arbitrage, Facebook apps and games, and even a liposuction clinic. In total, his companies employee 70 people.
This blog promises to offer a different perspective on the domain industry than most, and it is destined to become one of the better resources for domain investors. Check it out when you have a chance.
Congrats to mr. absurd on the launch. Already half a dozen posts in less than 48 hours. Not a bad start
-PS-
http://www.PragueCzechRepublic.com is for sale… 😉
Elliot – thanks for pointing me to another valuable resource. Always appreciated.
BS sensors going off big time=).
Not bad advice on his blog but I don’t believe that this guy has had 10% of the success that he is claiming.
I could say that I have owner businesses that have employed 70 people over the last three years. I could say this because I am sure that at least 70 people have been associated with work that I have done.
“His business encompass many verticals, including domain names, lead generation, affiliate marketing, domain monetization, a car insurance broker, search, arbitrage, Facebook apps and games, and even a liposuction clinic. In total, his companies employee 70 people.”
Boy, I have done just about all of these things in one way or another as well. It is easy to justify claims when you don’t put any proof out the back them up.
I am no saying that he will not have good advice, he very well might, but any regular persons BS filter should go off the charts when someone claims something like this but does not back it up with any proof. If you really are that successful but you don’t want people to know they you don’t bother telling them what you have done. If you have done successful things and want people to know then you give them proof. If you want people to think you have done awesome things but you really haven’t then you take the route that this guy has taken, you claim it but don’t show any proof.
Either way, I wish him the best of luck and if I am wrong I am more than happy to eat my words (it happens often enough).
Troy
@ Troy
I know the guy and wasn’t compensated in any way for this post. He’s the real deal, and I am sure after additional posts/comments on his blog, it will be easier to see who the guy is and research his background.
In any case, he isn’t selling anything, so it’s your choice whether or not to read his blog. I’m merely pointing people his way, since I know it can take some time for a new blog/site to attract visitors, and his viewpoint will be different from most.
Thanks for sharing Elliot – this is a great resource and welcome addition to the Domaining blog community!
@troy, i heard wonderful things about him and yes he is the real deal!
go join dnforum or namepros for the drama.
is it me but 95 percent domainers are jealous of peoples success?hmm…
I wish him the best of luck. Just from knowing human nature his actions are very abnormal for a person that is telling the 100% truth. I am sure I will stop by the blog from time to time.
No jealousy here, I like it when people find success, I just don’t like it when people fabricate success using the anonymity of the internet to hide proof. Of course if it is true then he does not need to show anyone else proof anyway=)
Troy
in his first post he claims to have one of the 10 largest domain portfolios in the world. he would probably have to have over 100k domains for that to be true and he has only been domaining for 2 years. also having a lot of domains doesnt mean they are all any good.
@troy
He could be telling you the truth. It’s something I learned growing up down south. They said there’s “new money” and “old money” New money talks about how much they have, buys expensive things and ALWAYS have an expensive watch (no offense Rick). Old money has more money, more assets, and they look and talk like they have none.
So I went to the blog and read it. Anyone else feel belittled?
@ Shane
Why do you feel belittled?
One of the reasons I recommended this new blog is because this person started out recently and has done very well. His perspective is much different than most others.
It was an interesting read for sure and I enjoyed reading about his success in the business…
I’m very curious now as to what some of the better domains he owns are and whether he started out in the business already wealthy or if he started on more of a shoe-string budget…
Either way I hope he continues to have success and thanks to Elliot for introducing us to him…
I know who it is too and I imagine it won’t take long for the cat to be let out of the bag about who it is.
@troy did you read the articles? Doesn’t read like newbie BS to me. Sounds like someone who knows the business of domains.
I would think most domainers want to know who this anonymous new guy is that they are reading and what success he has and where he came from. Seems reasonable to post something of that nature. Usually the writing is enough to gauge a persons experience and background as that all comes out eventually as you write.
Estibot?
“@troy did you read the articles? Doesn’t read like newbie BS to me. Sounds like someone who knows the business of domains.”
I never claimed that I thought everything was BS. I think he sounds like he knows what he is talking about as well. He certainly knows the companies and their relationships with each other.
The thing that I think is not wholly true is his employing of over 70 people full time. I would be willing to make a bet that this number is stretched and manipulated. Apart from that most everything is believable. We all know how easy it is to start a “business” online. I have done it many times and I make a fine living from online business. I simply have a hard time believing that this individual is employing 70 people full time on his businesses. Maybe I am wrong but I don’t think so.
Time will tell however.
He has some good ideas.
As far as him keeping anonymity, I respect that in a big, big way. I know there are plenty of operators just like us out there in the world- quietly winning and not bothering with any of the ‘look at me’ BS that can be found in any community of a shared interest- where a select handful of people who’ve succeeded really get off on blowing hard and making the sycophants fawn.
Very few in the “domain name community” know me or my partners ad they never will. We operate a completely closed-end development consortium and are intensely private about our involvements, strategies and chiefly, earnings. I think our company name appears on google a grant total of 5 times. We do OK at what we do… Matter of fact, as far as performance goes, I’m 100,000% certain we absolutely crush any number of the ‘domain community celebrities’, although we don’t have 70 employees, like this guy…
I’m sure if I were to post some of our accomplishments, it would trigger “BS detectors” all across Domainville, but I certainly couldn’t care less. I’ll just keep quiet, and keep cashing those checks.
Much respect to this guy.
Troy,
I think one of the reasons a lot of people who are very successful in this business do not blog or have given up blogging is exactly due to comments like yours.
People who have earned a good living in this space – whether by luck, hard work – whether they are new or old – usually don’t have much to benefit from blogging. The only reason they do is to advance the industry or share some knowledge.
The main areas of news within this small industry are well covered by people like Michael Berkens, Elliot and Andrew Allerman.
The minor blogs really publish very little of any substance experienced domainers and developers can use. In fact, many times its simply content to fill the writers need for attention that day and involves nothing that has not been written before.
Of course, there more worthy blogs than the 3 I mentioned above but only a handful or two at most.
I’m pretty sure I know who this is and he has an incredible insight into the domain industry and has success to show it. In fact, if he was invited to Munich by Oversee last year (and if its who I think it is he was) then you would never second guess this guy if you have any idea about the qualifications for this event. In fact, I’m willing to bet you can’t name 5 people who were invited – that’s how quiet many of the best domainers in the world are.
The small, irrelevant fact, that he has 70 employees or so is just misguided and negative. If he has 5 full time and 65 part time employees or 10 full time and 60 contractors – who cares?
Everything else this guy has said is an extremely educated opinion of the domain industry with a breathtalking new style of writing. In addition, he has taken the time to share his thoughts on the industry to newbies and well established people alike. Something many many successful domainers still never do.
A reason many people have stopped blogging (I can name quite a few) is because its entirely unproductive to have conversations with people who only extract the finer points to find something negative to say.
Look – if this guy can bring some more knowledge to the table then go for it. He isn’t selling anything or asking you to join a club so why question the very little fact that is entirely possible? There are many people in this industry who employ dozens of people.
Well I looked up some of the domains this guy owns and they are all crap.
Your blog is interesting to read and brings from time to time some realy interesting news but please cut the crap. There are dozens of other blogs where I can read crap every day.
You better post one interesting story every few days then 2 crap stories a day.
This was just a waste of time
@ Franky
If that’s the case, perhaps you should spend less time reading my blog and more time managing your own business.
I am sure he doesn’t care what you think about his domain names.
A guy behind the blog is real 🙂 Good that he has started blogging and I hope that he will not stop soon 🙂
Thanks for the info regarding this domain blog. Will keep an eye on this blog.
@Elliot,
Thanks for pointing our attention to the launch of a very interesting blog and the successful entrepreneur behind it (congrats to the blogger of Facing the Absurd, who ever you are 🙂 )!
It is very refreshing and well written (sounds like this guy picked up a lot of knowledge concerning the domain industry, in a very short time!)!
What I find not so refreshing is how the “green-eyed monster” always have a tendency to rear its ugly head, with stories like these.
Thanks for posting info Elliot
Thanks Elliot, added to my reader… =)
I didn’t read anything wrong with his blog. IMO, there was only one topic even worth reading anyways.
You can tell that the person of that blog knows his/her stuff. That is all that matters in my eyes. They can claim however many employees and I don’t care. I am focused on growing my own business.
His blog has got some good posts. Quality is what everybody wants and his blog got it.
This guy is obviously well informed about the industry. Regardless how many employees he has, he must be the real deal. You can’t fake insight.
Thanks for the tip Elliot. I added his site to my reader. It’s 2:30AM I should get some sleep.
Cool he finally start blogging in english.. Used to translate his czech blog 🙂
Well informed, highly insightful blog. A VERY welcome addition to the few worthwile blogs in this space. Thanks for reporting Elliott
Great article, very interesting, thanks!
Seems like the Facing the Absurd blog suddenly disappeared; too bad. Facing the Absurd is the blog that truly inspired me to explore domain investing 🙁