Domisfera

Domisfera wanted to know more about Rick Schwartz, so asked for an interview with him. It’s not necessary to introduce him, a reading of the excellent profile written by Ron Jackson it’s enough.This is the result, if there are enough and relevant questions and comments from the readers, Domisfera will make a second interview.

(1) [Domisfera.com] How is any day in your life?

[Rick Schwartz] Each day is the day I plan. I start each day at about 5:30 and usually create a few projects and plant a few seeds. Have breakfast. Do a little more work and then off to a nice restaurant for lunch. Then I usually have an afternoon activity dinner and quiet night at home.

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(2)What is your occupation at present? How many people work with you?

I am a soloist. With domains I work alone with the exception of ICA where I sit on the board and with the new cowboys.com project which is a collaboration of about 18 domain owners. When it comes to TRAFFIC, I only work with my partner Howard Neu and our wives. While others like to hire people I like to contract out whatever needs to be done.

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(3) What do you think about IDN domains?

No matter what I say it is going to open a hornets nest. So do I BS everyone so the IDN folks are happy or do those reading expect me to say what I believe? What’s to think? I know many are heavy into it. Some have past credentials and successes and are friends of mine. Some are angry and lash out at anyone that is not an instant believer of IDN. Time will tell. Others are just hoping and wishing and waiting for this release and that release. Until there is a genuine market and a great need it is going to be a very slow ride. Many are bitter because the IDN’s that they do have don’t support the renewal fees.

What this or any other group or extension need to learn is that it is the MARKET that will determine WHEN and IF and not a bunch of folks running around calling everyone else stupid for not investing in IDN’s. No matter how middle of the road my comments are they want me to say it is the best thing since sliced bread. Well, let me say…..I don’t believe it is. But I don’t fault those that invest and believe in it. I do fault those folks that have taken the stance that if you don’t invest in IDN’s that you are just a stupid American. I don’t understand the anger and bigotry in that community. Makes no sense to me. Then they criticize other extensions that are breaking out. Just very weird to me and I wish them nothing but the best but that is not good enough for some of them. They want me to focus on them at TRAFFIC even tho we have had it discussed many times. But since they don’t come, they don’t know, so they make things up. They have yet to learn that the MARKET will decide. Not them, not me. Not anyone but the market. Why that makes folks angry is way beyond what I understand.

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(4) What do you think about .tv domains?

I can say much of what I said above. What’s to think? They have been out for many years and the standard seems to be a domain like this: dogtv.com they use the "TV" in the body of the name and then decide to join the .com club. I am a bit surprised that .tv has not done better. It still may in the future. Time will tell and the MARKET will decide. Not you, not me, not some .tv promoter. The MARKET and that is what so few really understand. It is about READING the market. Anticipating the market. Understanding the market. Not trying to FORCE the market. Things happen when they are ready to happen. Not before, not after. When the MARKET is ready.

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(5) Do you know the spanish domain market? If you know it, Could you valuate which is the position of .es domains at present?

I bought a few .es domains. They have done nothing. On the other hand I own a few high profile Spanish .com domains. Like sexo.com for one. They do great! However the buying power of the Spanish market has always been a bit soft. I think in time it will and has gotten much stronger and will continue to do so. I am very bullish on the Spanish market.

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(6) How many domains do you have in your portfolio? How many are developed?

5300 and about 15 are developed. I have probably developed a few hundred but most end up back at PPC where they just earn a lot more with no TIME invested.

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(7) If you have to keep only one your domains, which could it it be?

I would keep the one that either earns the most daily or has the most potential value when matched with a great business plan.

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(8) If we look at the astronomical quantities paid by some domains, Do you think it has been reached the limit? Will their quotation keep on growing up?

I don’t think the prices are astronomical. I think they are down right CHEAP and here is why. If I decide to go in the real world and by a piece of property to build a business it will likely cost 7 figures. I can only service a small geographic area and if it fails I am stuck with what I have. It will take a year or two to build after I find a suitable location. Plus I have to pay for garbage collection, insurance, have burglar alarms. Have all types of expenses. With a great domain I have less overhead and a reach around the globe. If it fails I can rebuild something else in a matter of hours or days. So when they really compare apples to apples, domains are FAR from the top. But let me emphasize GREAT domains. Because there are many worthless domains bringing high dollars.

That is just fun to watch but when/if things do go thru a tough period, those values will fall. Great domains will hold steady. That is a lesson you can learn in many industries. Right now during the housing crunch. There are some condos and communities where the value has fallen drastically and nothing is selling. Yet directly across the street or a few miles away there are the same condos and communities where prices are not falling. The difference is some overpaid for inferior properties and this is the time to pay the piper while others bought smarter. Bought better. Bought more for less and are being rewarded for doing their home work.

I have a real world example of this playing out right now. I have condos 1 block from each other. I bought both condos at the same time. One has a better view,a better floor plan, a better location. The other was billed as the most luxurious condo ever built. It is gorgeous tower of blue glass rising 45 stories and just sexy as a building can be. They had Dan Marino doing commercials as he had a condo there and they had units selling up to $10 million. To make a long story short, both buildings had different destiny’s. The building with all the glamour lost it’s shine so to speak. I got rid of the unit and luckily without a loss. a 10% profit. But I was out and the turmoil that happened after the sale is still going on a year later. The first condo on the other hand went up in value to the tune of 250% in arguably the worst housing market in modern times. So buy smart and the bad times don’t matter, do the opposite and you will pay a dear price no matter what the industry or what the asset is.

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(9) Which are for you the best parking enterprises and why?

It’s a domain by domain business so each company has strong and weak points. I can suggest 3 things. Test, test, test.

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(10) Do you think that there is a bubble in the domaining world although there is a real and firm ground that supports it?

There could be a bubble in crappy domains that only domainers will buy and sell but the end user will never have an interest. I don’t know that "Bubble" is the right word. Overpriced seems better. Many still don’t know the difference between a meaningful domain with meaningful traffic as opposed to domains that really mean nothing. Just a bunch of words or letters slapped together. But I don’t think there is and I don’t even think there will be a "Bubble." It is just a "Market" and in a market you have good times and bad times and everything in between. The domain business has never seen a bubble. Even during the collapse, domains remained a solid investment. Prices meandered for a while and then continued the rise.

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 (11) Do you consider that in some cases it has been paid out of proportion quantities for some domains?

Sure. Some domains are way overpriced. But that again is the market and if somebody is willing to pay then that is that.

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(12) You have been a lot of time in this industry, How long will you be there for? Is the work for you a hobby or a vice?

You forgot "Curse" lol. But I expect to own domains until I die and after I die many of those domains will be used to fund an educational foundation I am working on. We are so focused on teaching kids this and that and make them memorize things that have little or no value. I think the name of the game is to take each kid and instill in them the hunger and desire to LEARN. Once you do that, teaching is an assist only. Once a kid embraces learning, get the hell out of the way and let them learn. Let them learn about what interests them not what is forced on them that they will likely never need. If you want to teach them something you can teach them ONE thing. To me that one thing is what controls every part of everyone’s life. That is "Good decision making." At the end of the day it is ALL about the decisions we make. So it would be nice to concentrate on THAT part of math and algebra. Teach kids good decision making techniques using numbers and reading and basics and stop making generations of kids that are bored out of their minds teaching them things they will never use in day to day life. Teach them to have a good attitude. So this has been my pet peeve in life. We still teach kids the same way we did 100 years ago. There IS a better way.

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(13) Domain cybersquatting of well known trademarks has spattered in a negative way to the legitimate domain industry although they are different things, Do you think there is a legion of panelists that looks after number one and make prevail the trademarks over the domains that are clearly generic? Has it happened to you? Do you remember any case?

If you are talking WIPO and UDRP decisions I will say there is no rhyme or reason just predisposed prejudices. I believe that in time there will be many reversals once there are true standards and accountability in place.

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(14) We have seen to seize domains from legitimate owners by using a trademark. Do you think some day we could see the opposite one (to get a trademark using a domain registered before)?

You will see every conceivable shenanigan to get valuable domains without paying market value or from those not even interested in selling.

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(15) After having been a lot of time in this industry, you must know almost everybody, Which are most admired and respected domainers by you?

I admire any domainer that puts their nose to the grindstone, does business honestly and knows how to treat other people. We are lucky to have such solid citizens in the industry.

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(16) There are obsessions and addiction in a lot of fields. Do you believe there can be an insane, compulsive and almost pathological addiction to register domains? Has it happened to you? Do you dream about domains?

Yes, Yes, Yes.

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(17) Do you think that the type-in that increases the value of the good domains will never end? Does it grow up or down?

Type ins grows. Will it hit a ceiling? I don’t know. It hits "Plateaus" and then may stay for a while and then there will be another round of growth. A lot depends on the Internet itself. But all indications are that type in levels are ROCK SOLID!

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(18) What has been your best domain purchase? and the best sale?

My early domain purchases were the most important because that was the rocket fuel that propelled me. I always say that your first few purchases are the most important. My first 6 or 7 purchases cost less than $100k in total. It earns more than that in just days now. That allowed me to focus on premium domains like property.com, properties.com, candy.com, cd.com, widgets.com. I only have sold 6 or 8 domains with men.com for $1.3 million being the biggest. But like I always like to point out that the men.com deal produced much more when I used that money to do other things and in months was many millions instead of just one.

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(19) Do you know the .tel domains? (Deep interview about .tel domains with Benjamin Blumenthal from Telnic) What do you think about them?, What will be their future according to your opinion?

Not familiar with them. Who knows. Up to the market not me, not you and some joker hawking them as the next big extension.

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(20) Are you a regular customer of Pool or Snapnames auctions and backorders?

No.

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(21) Have you thought anytime in your extensive professional experience domaining world it’s not worth it?

About 3x a day. lol But it is fascinating and enjoyable and I would not have it any other way.

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(22) How did you live through the .com crisis?

I was prepared. I had a "Firewall" of sorts. It was not a crisis for me. It was an opportunity.

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(23) Jose Maria de Areilza, a Foreign Office secretary of Spain, said that "the good seller is the one who sells something that doesn’t exist still to prepare the market". What do you think about this sentence?

Is that like hocus pocus and to blue sky someone with a dream? Stocks making no money are valued more than those with solid earnings. One is selling a dream, one is selling reality. Reality is based on numbers and once you make $50 those numbers are real. The ones that lose money can sell dreams of what will happen. That has a bigger value. Once they cross into the realm of reality the sexyness is gone and numbers rule.

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(24) How did you meet Sahar Sarid?

I think on my board about 7 years ago. But I am not sure.

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(25) To be in favour or to be against. Do you think that there is a person who can analyze .mobi phenomenon in an independent way today?

Yes. I do that all the time. I have very well reasoned and thought out posts on my blog. I don’t understand the heated debate. One just has to look at Ron Jackson’s weekly domain sales report at dnjournal.com and see week after week that .mobi is out performing MOST extensions other than .com. The MARKET is saying something that folks don’t understand or like. The market is made up mostly of domainers, the real test will be the end user. TIME and the market will tell not some domainer that thinks their invested extension is better. I think the bitterness is there because folks are heavily invested in domains doing much less and have been around a lot longer.

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(26) Two men so influential like George Soros and Dr Kissinger stated in several declarations that they have to be very careful with whatever they say because their words are scrutinized. Taking into consideration your importance in the domaining industry, how do you manage this responsability that you have, although you have not asked for it?

My job as I see it is to do my job. My job is to be honest about what I see and what I believe. My job is not to worry about how someone wants to twist what I say to suit their purpose. My job is not to worry about that which I can’t control. I am pretty plain spoken and I say what I think and how I see things unfolding.

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(27) Is Rick Schwartz a great seller yet?

Greatness on anything is for others to decide not me. But I do think I am good at what I do and have a long track record of success. On the other hand I am not afraid to fail and do that on a daily basis. I test and experiment and fail and succeed and don’t see a down side to any of it. Those that are scared to fail are really those that are scared to succeed.

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This Article was published at 17 de December de 2007 a las 5:00 in the category Interviews, Domainers. You can follow the Comments through RSS 2.0. You can leave a comment or TrackBack from your web.

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