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Here's the The Lowdown
from DN Journal,
updated daily
to
fill you in on the latest buzz going around the domain name industry.
The Lowdown is
compiled by DN Journal Editor & Publisher Ron
Jackson. |
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Companies
and People in the News: NameDrive, Kamila Sekiewicz,
Left of the Dot & Frank Michlick
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In
our new State of The Industry 2011 Cover
Story
I
commented on the growing number of talented
female executives who are changing the landscape
in what has traditionally been a male dominated
business. This morning I heard from another one
those special ladies when NameDrive's
Director of Business Development, Kamila Sekiewicz, dropped me a note detailing
some major changes that have taken place
at the well-known domain monetization
company.
Following
a new investment in the company led by BIP Investment Partners
S.A., the firm has been re-organized into a new
entity, NameDrive S.A., that will have its home office in
Luxembourg. The NameDrive management team
will move from Cologne, Germany to the new headquarters
where they will direct three separate
subsidiaries that will operate from a Luxembourg
office as well as ones in Texas and Romania.
The
company expects the investment and
re-structuring to help them expand their global presence
and launch innovative new products. BIP
is a public investor listed on the Luxembourg
stock exchange and they have
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Kamila
Sekiewicz
Director of Business Development
NameDrive.com |
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also
invested in other domain industry companies
including German registrar Key-Systems,
Luxembourgian registrar EuroDNS, domain
fund Domain Invest and Polish registrar az.pl.
Michael Riedl, Investment Director at BIP said “We want NameDrive to be the
Apple of the domain parking industry. We
plan to widely intensify our cooperation with
registrars and other related companies to
provide seamlessly integrated products for
domainers, ISPs, and hosters." Those who
will be attending the DOMAINfest
Global conference coming up Feb.
1-3 in Santa Monica, California will
have a chance to meet NameDrive's new executive
team members in person and learn more about what
they have planned.
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Frank
Michlick
Chief Technical Officer
Left of the Dot |
Elsewhere,
new monetization service Left
of the Dot scored a coup
with the announcement that they have
signed on well-known industry veteran Frank
Michlick as the company's Chief
Technical Officer. Frank,
who co-founded Domain
Name News, began to work
with Internet technology in 1993 and
registered his first domain name in
1995.
His
company, CyberTeam, helped many
big European brands build their first
internet presence. From 1997 to 2000 he
worked to shape one of the biggest
German Internet Service/eBusiness
providers then, during his 5 years with
the largest wholesale registrar, Tucows/OpenSRS,
Frank enabled many domain name portfolio
owners, registrars, hosting companies
and resellers to better manage, monetize
and grow their domain names. Most
recently, Frank's entrepreneurial
pursuits led him
to found DomainCocoon,
which provides |
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services in the areas of
domain name management, custom registrar
creation, and ICANN & ccTLD
accreditation consulting. |
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Left
of the Dot co-founder Chris Jensen
said, "I am delighted that Frank
has agreed to become our CTO. We were
looking for someone to drive our
technology hand in hand with our rapidly
growing business; Frank brings a skill
set and business understanding that few
people in the world can match. Not only
does he possess a great technology mind,
strong character, and immense passion,
but his knowledge of Domaining, domain
registrars, and the entire domain
ecosystem is second to none." |
LeftOfTheDot.com
Co-Founders Chris Jensen (left) and John Lyotier
presenting at T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Test Track in
Vancouver,Canada in June 2010.
Left
of the Dot has developed a platform to enable
premium domain name holders to lease sub-domain
inventory to small businesses, creating
significant new, recurring, revenue streams for
the domain holder. The monetization service
leases these "Marketing Names" along
with a fully-equipped, ecommerce-ready
website to small businesses giving them a
highly-brandable web presence. An early example
of such an implementation is the generic domain
name www.Villa.com
that is presently under development by the
company. At that site, villa owners and agents
can lease premium sub-domains, such as Tuscany.Villa.com,
Bali.Villa.com or Luxury.Villa.com.
For many of its domains under management, Left
of the Dot builds out the entire website for the
generic domain name, converting the once parked
page into a real and sustainable web business.
Of
his new employer Michlick said, "Like
many Domainers, I learned about Left of the Dot
when the company was pitched successfully during
the Test Track event at the June 2010 T.R.A.F.F.I.C.
conference in Vancouver. When I
learned that the company was seeking a CTO and
technology evangelist and spoke in detail with
them, I knew that the company was the right
fit. Together, we have an opportunity to
create something special and unique for the
domain industry while building something of
lasting value. I look forward to the adventure
and journey ahead."
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(Posted Jan.
21, 2011)
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