Michael
Robrock: Thank you, Ron for
taking the time to interview me and for sharing my insights with your
readers. I was honored and excited to accept the role of
Sedo’s CEO in September of 2020. It’s a great company and I’m very
much looking forward to leading us to develop even more products and
solutions for our customers. But I can only achieve a high level success
and customer satisfaction with the support of my awesome team across
various departments which we will continue to grow and seek to recruit
more talent in the areas of brokers, tech and more.
My
career spans many years and includes a variety of companies where I held
various roles in the domain and marketing space. In these roles, for example
I dealt with monetizing traffic from different sources as well as the
trading of single domains and portfolios worldwide including appraising
these domains and calculation the best ROI. During the last 20 years I can
say that I have worked with more or less all of the key players
at least in the domain and affiliate space testing and utilizing most of
their products. That’s a never ending task because the markets and
products are challenging, innovative and always improving. My
professional aspirations are focused on the pursuit of excellence in the
leadership roles that I hold including my current role of CEO where I strive
to provide clients with a superior customer experience while
supporting the Sedo team to achieve great things.
Future
Sedo CEO Michael Robrock (in the outlined box) with a Who's Who of
domain industry stars at the 2011 Domainerwiesn
("Domainer Oktoberfest") in Munich, Germany. Too many to
name everyone in the photo, but most of you will recognize many domain
pioneers in the crowd, including Monte Cahn, Hakan Ali, Michael
Berkens, Nico Zeifang and current Internet
Commerce Association Executive Director Kamila Sekiewicz.
DN
Journal: You have witnessed a lot of changes in the industry
– everything from the .com boom and subsequent “bust”
around 2000, the huge comeback that followed, largely driven by new ways to
monetize domain traffic. Then there was the introduction of new gTLDs,
the China boom and now a global pandemic that, according to
many, has actually increased demand for domains as businesses have been
forced to build or strengthen their online presence. Even though domains
have proven to be resilient and perhaps more important than ever, it
would take a pretty strong stomach for any executive to handle that kind of
roller coaster ride! What are some of the key things you have learned about
the domain business through all of these ups and downs?
Michael
Robrock: Actually you already called it,
our industry has gone through so many changes, ups, downs, new ideas and
improvements – that’s what makes the industry and environment so
interesting and exciting to be a part of. But you have to keep
learning, absorbing information and soaking up trends or you will not
evolve and be successful.
As
you mentioned, the domain industry as a whole tends to react and be
correlated with current events and trends. But not even the most highly
regarded expert could have predicted the global health crisis of 2020.
Fortunately Sedo’s sales continued to grow and our marketplace remained
stable throughout this difficult time which also saw an increased demand
for domains. The global pandemic greatly influenced consumer behavior and
actions of companies and organizations worldwide. We saw domain sales
aligned with behavioral shifts, such as people working from home, spending
more time and money online, plus adapting to new ways of life. Those
businesses who recognized the need to increase their online exposure greatly
benefited during this time.
Through
all the industry's ups and downs Michael Robrock has managed to fly
through the turbulence. Literally in this case when a group of
attendees at the 2010 Domainfest Conference in Prague climbed
on board an air cargo plane for a flight over the city. Left to right are Marco
Witte, Franky Tong, Markus Schnermann, Thorsten Weigl, Sam Tseng, Michael Robrock and
Gregg
McNair. Photo taken
by
Trellian Founder David Warmuz.
DN
Journal: With respect to Sedo specifically, one thing that has
always amazed me about the company is Sedo’s overwhelming dominance in
the ccTLD aftermarket space. For 20 years, Sedo has essentially “owned
it”. There have been a number of times when Sedo has swept all 20 positions
on the Top 20 ccTD Sales Chart in our bi-weekly
domain sales reports. It would be like a sports dynasty winning
the World Cup, World Series or Super Bowl 20 years in a row –
basically unheard of, especially in a highly competitive industry like this.
How has Sedo managed to do this with country code domains (many of which,
like Germany’s .de, are more popular in their home countries than .com)?
Michael
Robrock: We have always maintained a very strong international
presence backed by our corporate headquarters in Europe and having
offices in multiple countries. Sedo also consistently recruits a very
diverse staff that can support domain buyers and sellers in 25
different languages making it easy for customers from all over to do
business with us. It is this customized support and international business
model that lends itself our accolades in the ccTLD space.
Reflecting
on 2020 specifically, we experienced a ccTLD sales growth of around 20%.
But keep in mind that each ccTLD grows at varying rates – some are weaker
and some are stronger than others at different points in time. But having
the right staff in place, knowing the language along with understanding
cultural norms and last but not least having the best inventory paired
with an AI supported algorithm has lead us to be consistently successful
in this sector and beyond.
DN
Journal: Now let’s zero in your 16 months at Sedo as COO
and now CEO. What has been the biggest difference between the two
jobs and what have you concentrated on in your first four months as CEO?
Michael
Robrock: In my previous position as COO I worked very closely
alongside Sedo’s management team, so in many ways the transition to my new
position has been fairly seamless. Sedo by nature is a very flat
organization management-wise with a good support system among our team
leads and the team as a whole, so my goal is to maintain that structure
and further encourage collaboration company-wide. The biggest difference
I have experienced in being CEO is that I have more responsibilities and a
heavier workload overseeing every aspect of our business. I am
responsible for our overall strategy and driving the pursuit of excellence
within all departments which is certainly challenging but it is my personal
goal in my new role.
Domain
industry leaders from around the world gathered in Munich for the
2010 Domainerwiesn
("Domainer Oktoberfest"). Left to right are Michael Robrock,
Jasmin Carillo, NameCheap Founder Rick Kirkendall and Mario Witte.
DN
Journal: The entire world has been dealing with Covid-19 almost a
year now and it will continue to be an issue for at least the first half or
2021. What effect has the pandemic had on Sedo’s business and how
do you think it will impact the industry in the new year?
Michael Robrock: Sedo
has ultimately been able to grow our business and remain a very stable
company during this unforeseen crisis. We experienced a slight downturn
during Q2 when the pandemic first began but we rebounded nicely and
ended up having one of our best years performance-wise. Our staff was
well prepared to shift to working from home and we were without major
interruptions to our day to day work flows as a result of the past year’s
challenges.
Even
assuming we cross over to the other side of the pandemic sometime this year,
I still foresee domains in line with the new normal continuing to be in
high demand. This will center on virtualization, workplace automation
and remote work options, online shopping and delivery services and stricter
air travel and public transportation precautions. Furthermore, many of
the domain verticals that are productive right now will remain strong
throughout 2021.
In
2020 we saw more of an emergence globally of retail systems and businesses
delving deeper into the local markets, i.e. purchasing missing ccTLDs
for their company name, products and categories. This was not too surprising
but again: with a solid inventory, strong database and diverse cultural
skills our business has thrived.
Consolidation
in the domain space has been very prevalent industry-wide in the last few
years and I feel strongly that this will continue and may even
accelerate in the future. This trend is consistent with dynamics from
the old economical atmosphere and will be supported more as the flow of
private equity gets even stronger from Fintech investment firms and startup
arenas.
DN
Journal: I know you are always working on improving services and
developing innovative new ones. A lot of those remain under wraps until they
are rolled out but can you share some insight into what Sedo is offering
today and your road map going forward?
Michael Robrock: Mainly, I want to
refocus on what we already have available to our customers and make it
even better. While improving our existing product portfolio is a massive
undertaking, it’s part of striving for excellence in all areas. We have
many tasks mapped out on our roadmap to achieve best-in-class of trading
domains and it will be more profitable to monetize domain traffic.
Another goal we’re working towards is to provide domain sellers a more
efficient service and customer experience. Additionally, we’re working
towards bringing on more partners to broaden our worldwide buyer and seller
network SedoMLS. But stay tuned for what’s to come within the next
months – I personally can’t wait to see this all come to fruition.
On
the U.S. side of the pond, Michael Robrock and friends at the 2017
MERGE conference in Orlando, Florida. Left to right are Jim Grace,
Robrock, Oliver Elste and Sam Tseng.
DN Journal: Let’s close with the broad
view – How do you see the business environment for domains in general
over the next few years – what are things that make you optimistic and
those that we, as an industry, should be concerned about to keep things on
track?
Michael
Robrock: Once things return to a more “normal” state
post-pandemic, I see domain sales ramping up higher in the coming years
as the need to develop better and more engaging online footprints will only
be emphasized more. I also see the domain parking business especially
the referral traffic line expanding more with customers coming into
this space now that it has proven to be very lucrative. During 2020, we
outperformed some of our parking competitors, regaining clients back,
acquiring new clients in the affiliate and performance marketing sectors as
we developed our parking business further.
I
also believe more risks will be taken on investing in premium domains
as global financial markets stabilize. This means more domain investors will
be investing in higher quality premium domains, building domain portfolios
at exceedingly high values.
The
AI and technology spaces along with bitcoin and alternative
currencies will continue trending in domain sales. And as more time
passes we will also be able to better assess the success and sustainability
of the new gTLDs that have to come to the market in the last decade.
Some will thrive and survive the test of time while others will inevitably
fade away.
DN
Journal: Thank you for taking time out of
your busy schedule to share your insight Mchael and best of luck to you and
everyone on the Sedo team as we head into another new year.
Michael
Robrock: It’s my pleasure, Ron and we appreciate all of the
support you provide to the domain industry. Happy New Year to you and all of
your readers!
*****
|
