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By
now most of you know that I was one of four
co-founders of Bido.com,
a multi-faceted company that now operates the free
domain management platform DNZoom.com
and that is scheduled to debut a one-name-a-day auction
service on March 20. The company has come a long
way since Sahar Sarid, Darren Cleveland, Jeff
Bhavnanie and I started putting it together last
October. With many other services scheduled to be rolled
out in the months ahead I
think it will prove to be a very successful
venture but after careful consideration I have decided
not to continue what has been a very enjoyable journey
with Sahar, Darren and Jeff. |
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Bido.com
Co-Founders (left to right): Darren
Cleveland, Sahar Sarid and Jeff Bhavnanie
(photo courtesy of Barbara Neu) |
Having
never been involved in a business partnership before I
had some concerns about how well four guys with their
own ideas about how things should be done would be able
to work together toward one goal, but they have been an
absolute delight to
work with and I can’t imagine any group getting
along better than we have. My decision to depart now has
nothing to do with our
working relationships or the Bido
business plan which I
still think is an exceptionally strong one.
My decision is based on relationships, but they
are relationships outside the company rather than inside
it.
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While
Bido.com was an exciting joint venture for me, DNJournal.com
remained my primary enterprise. I have been able to
report on the industry in the way that I have for the
past five years because I have taken time to build key
relationships and trust with people and companies in
every part of the domain business. As long as I call on
them as an independent party, the door is always open.
If I had to call on anyone as a potential competitor
that would change the dynamic with those parties and
make it more difficult for me to do my job at DN
Journal.
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I had not
anticipated that this would be a problem because
Bido’s business plan is based on launching
entirely new services or bringing new twists to
existing services that made them unlike any
current platforms. However, as we have gone
about putting the bricks in place I am seeing
that other companies also have an interest in
entering some of the same territory Bido is targeting.
While that will
not be
a problem for Bido as a company
(because I |
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think they
will be a strong competitor in any category they
choose to operate in), it eventually
would be a
problem for me because DN Journal
would no longer have open access to information
from those
Bido might end up competing with. |
So,
while we are still early in the process I feel now
is the time to step away and avoid future problems.
Considering the track record that Sahar, Darren and Jeff
have I understand that this decision means I am likely
leaving a lot of future revenue on the table. But relationships
have always meant more to me than money, so all things
considered, I know that this is the right decision.
Working
with Sahar, Darren and Jeff has been a very valuable
experience. I
learned a lot from observing
how they work together and leave grateful that I
had the opportunity. As businessmen each of them is
truly light years ahead of me. I
leave knowing that they are the ones who have
been doing the heavy lifting on this project so
they deserve to be the ones who reap the benefits from
their talent and hard work. My best wishes go with
them.
(Posted
March 11, 2008) |
