|
buying
and reselling or monetizing domains
from their own portfolio, but that
very highly competitive space isn't
the only way to fly. Lumis.com,
a successful new domain brokerage
and digital asset consulting
company, is a case in
point.
|
|
Lumis
was founded just last year
by three guys who all
entered the domain business
less than three years ago.
One of them has already
helped complete a $2
million domain sale
(Freedom.com - the
second biggest sale of the
year to date). |
Lumis
Co-Founders (left to right):
Hobi Michalec, Slade Michalec
and Keith Richter
|
It
all started when Lumis
Co-Founder Hobi Michalec
crossed paths with Domain
Holdings
Co-Founder John Ferber
(who was profiled in our
March 2011 DNJournal
Cover Story).
"I met John while I was
still in college at Florida
Atlantic University in Delray
Beach," Michalec
began. "A professor had
John come into her class and
enlist students to help with
a project he was doing on Restaurants.com.
At the time, I had
absolutely no idea
about the domain industry or
even that domains were being
bought and sold for
substantial sums on the
aftermarket. After the
class, I reached out to John
because I had a lot of ideas
for Restaurants.com."
"John
eventually asked me to come
in for an interview. After
talking about
Restaurants.com for a bit he
looked over my resume which
consisted of mostly bar or
restaurant experience and
said, "Well, we
normally only hire people
with more experience but if
you want to come in as an intern
at a reasonable rate, that
might be something we can
do." |
John
Ferber
Domain Holdings
Co-Founder |
"Six
months later, I was introduced to
the team," Michalec said.
"After my initial meeting with Alan
Dunn (their
former Managing Director) it
took a while to really define my
role with Domain Holdings. Given my
lack of credentials, and how dynamic
this industry is, I can understand
why this was indeed an uphill
battle. Step one was persistence.
I kept showing up at the office to
see if a decision had been made
regarding hiring me. I really wanted
this paid internship. Later, I found
out that just before both times I'd
shown up they'd spoken internally
about needing to contact me and when
they opened the door...there I
was!"
"Once
I received my offer letter I was a
bit confused. Why were they going
through such formalities for an
intern? This doesn't make any sense.
It turned out they'd completely
forgot I was offered an internship,
and instead gave me a full-time
job. I kept my mouth shut and
didn't say anything. The next year
or so I worked to the bone learning
as much as I could," Michael
recalled.
"After
about two years there Keith
Richter was introduced as the
new Sales Manager at Domain
Holdings and soon after that, my
brother Slade was hired. This
was where a real culture was
created. There was a positive
synergy and a real work ethic that
was pushing us to new heights in
everything we were trying to
accomplish."
Hobi
and Slade Michalec at the 2015
edition of
THE Domain Conference in Fort
Lauderdale, Florida.
"Fast
forward a few years later to 2016.
We launched Lumis
and have assembled a dynamite
team," Hobi declared.
Co-Founders Slade
Michalec and Keith
Richter have brokered
many impressive domains and continue
to add value to the domain industry
as well."
"Slade
got his start in internet
marketing, working on the
affiliate marketing side of things
where focus was on website
optimization and user
retention/recovery. After hearing of
domains for several years from me,
Slade became more fascinated with
the world of domains. Not by
accident, he eventually made the
career jump and began brokering
premium domain names at Domain
Holdings and has not looked back.
Most recently, Slade helped close
the 7-figure sale of Freedom.com."
"Slade's
done phenomenal work with both the
startup community and more
traditional organizations. With each
day, he aims to provide education
and understanding of the world of
domains to the entrepreneurial and
corporate world."
|
"Keith
brings to the table decades
of experience from the corporate
sports advertising world.
This is apparent in his
sales. His understanding of
how to break down a
corporation and work with
the correct chains of
command have most recently
found him brokering Aerial.com
from T-Mobile and
Pilot.com from Hearst
Communications."
"We're
working hard to bridge
the gap between investors
and end-users. It's too
often that we speak with
someone who could truly use
and benefit from a domain
but doesn’t fully
understand why. We
understand branding and the
value of domain names
and |
Photo
from Lumis.com website |
|
strive
to bridge the educational
gap of our clients. Whether
it's aggressive outbound
marketing on your assets or
stealth acquisitions, we're
more than happy to
help!" Hobi concluded. |
|
