One of my favorite television shows is ABC’s Shark Tank. I think the “sharks” give out some excellent advice to the presenting entrepreneurs, and that advice is actionable for viewers who operate their own companies. I also think it’s fun to learn about new products and services that are offered by the entrepreneurs who are seeking investments.
This morning, I noticed that all of the “sharks” have one thing in common, besides their entrepreneurial successes. All of the “sharks” appear to own (or at least control) their exact match .com domain names. Check it out:
- Mark Cuban owns MarkCuban.com
- Kevin O’Leary owns KevinOleary.com
- Barbara Corcoran owns BarbaraCorcoran.com
- Daymond John owns DaymondJohn.com
- Robert Herjavec owns RobertHerjavec.com
- Lori Greiner owns LoriGreiner.com
For the last few weeks, domain names have made the news because of the politicians who own their exact match .com domain names (and those who don’t). I think people who have built brands around their names and personalities have a greater reason to own their domain names than others.
Most of the Shark Tank cast members have built successful companies, and those brand names may differ from their personal brands. On Shark Tank, these “sharks” have successfully built their own personal brands. Owning the exact match .com domain names ensures that people can easily navigate to their personal websites, and it prevents others from using them in ways that may not align with the brand images these entrepreneurs have crafted.
I am not sure when these “sharks” were able to acquire their exact match domain names. I presume some have been owned for a while and others may have been more recent acquisitions. Whatever the case may be, it’s a smart move for them to own these exact match .com domain names.
KevinOleary.com sold on Snapnames for $15,474 – September 2012
Nice find.
Expensive, but likely a good value for Mr. Wonderful.
Speaking of Mr. Wonderful, it looks like MrWonderful.com is for sale with a buy it now price of $30k via GoDaddy (not mine obviously): https://auctions.godaddy.com/trpItemListing.aspx?domain=mrwonderful.com
You have a bad link for Lori Greiner.
I wouldn’t advice clicking on it, because it infected my laptop.
Shawn
Ugh. I fixed the link. Sorry about that.
one shark lover to another….it’s ok!
I see you don’t own ElliotSilver.com .
True, but someone else with my name is using it. I haven’t build a brand around my name though.
You should try to buy Elliot.com.
I did and offered quite a bit of money but no dice.
Then you should change your name to ElliotGold..opps taken
or to ElliotPlatinum
Or ElliotDiamond taken
or
ElliotMercury
I also enjoy watching the shark tank show.What would be equally as enjoyable would be a update of the companies the sharks invested in that failed.*I think future business owners would benefit from seeing and hearing the dont’s as much as the do’s.
*assuming there are failures.
They’ve been airing “Beyond the Tank,” which shows some of the successes and failures. That show airs right after Friday’s Shark Tank episodes on ABC. I think the 2nd or 3rd episode aired last night.
I didn’t know about “Beyond the Tank” Thanks Elliot!
Does anyone else find it curious that none of the sharks own gtlds? Ha, just kidding. Why would they? Gtlds suck.
I didn’t even search, so it is possible I suppose.
These sharks are very smart online. They know the implication of not having their names’ domains.