The Domain Game

A great new book just hit the stands, “The Domain Game” by David Kesmodel is an intriguing book about our industry. The book is filled with people that I am intimately familiar with, so it was fascinating to read the book on many different levels. I was also mentioned a few times in the book but the best part was reading the many other stories in the book that I had never heard. There are new facts which have never seen the light of day that are now shared publicly in this book. Mr. Kesmodel was a Wall Street Journal reporter that quit his job and immersed himself into the domain community for about a year so he could write this book.
It was a book Kesmodel said had to be written, there was just too much to uncover. When an investigative journalist gets embedded inside a secret industry a lot of dirt and details are going to come out and they did. Readers are able to follow as people in the Industry got those million dollar domains for $50.
The Domain Industry has always been shrouded in secrecy so I was surprised how many people opened up for this book. Kesmodel went beyond interviews, he searched public records and talked to neighbors and friends of some of the people he investigated.
When reading the book I started jotting down notes about when people where mentioned in the book, it may not be completely accurate but hopefully it is 95%. There was no index in the book so I am sharing the one I made so anyone can quickly find people as you skip through the book. The book is 9 chapters and hands down the best Tutorial/Introduction on the domain space I have seen. I hope there is a second book in the series because I know several hidden chapters that have not been told yet!
Official Description of the book:
Almost everyone has heard a tale of someone getting rich by selling an Internet domain name for a staggering price. But few understand the secretive world of domain investing, a game that a growing number of people are playing around the globe. The Domain Game chronicles the exploits of leading domain investors and explains how this mysterious market works. Learn how an Oklahoma watermelon farmer wound up owning some of the world’s most valuable Web addresses, from recipes.com to chairs.com, and how a college dropout became a multimillionaire by scooping up domains that others abandoned amid the dot-com bust. Find out how the rise of Google and Yahoo has helped boost the fortunes of domain investors. And explore the shenanigans of investors who snag names associated with corporate trademarks. Finally, read how you can jump into this exciting market with a relatively small initial investment. It’s a market with high risk, but huge potential reward.
You can order the book for $19.99. So I highly suggest it.

In order of appearance and PAGES found on:
Frank Schilling 9, 94-109, 123, 146, 154, 158, 177, 186, 190-192
Adam Dicker 10, 120, 123, 146, 189
DNJournal.com 11, 130, 137, 180
Ross Perot 11
Howard Schultz 11, 172
John Berryhill 12, 108, 146, 160
Sedo 13
Gary Chernoff 13, 34-38, 54, 57, 67-71, 75, 96, 132, 190-191
Scott Day 15, 26, 30, 37, 57, 72, 75, 80, 177, 190-191
Joshua Quittner (Wired.com) 20
Gumby.org 22
Dennis Toeppen (Hydrogen.com and 240 domains) 23
Mike O’Connor (Television.com, Bar.com, Company.com) 24
CNET 25
Procter & Gamble 24, 56
CES Marketing 26, 75
Christopher Wall 26, 37
Eric Woodward 26
Scott Musgrove 26
DigiMedia.com 32
George W Bush 32
Rick Schwartz 38-43, 47, 80, 110, 133-134, 139-148, 151, 183
Marc Ostrofsky 43-52, 119, 146, 148, 152, 188
Pinkard Alan “Pinky” Brand 44
Matthew Grossman (WallStreet.com) 46
Eric Wade (WallStreet.com) 46
Ehud Gavron (WallStreet.com) 46
Monte Cahn 46, 56-57, 147, 154, 161
Bonnie Neubeck (Drugs.com) 47
Jeffrey Tinsley (GreatDomains, CEO) 47
GoDaddy 50
Telepathy (Nat Cohen, Crew.com) 51
ACPA 51
Lieven Van Neste (24 Hour) 53
Vincent Schiavone (4 Anything) 53
Jay Westerdal 58-61, 82, 146, 149-151, 158-160
Anthony Peppler 58-61, 169
Lee Hodgeson 59, 82
Yun Ye (Mystery Man, UltSearch) 62-67, 79, 91, 105-106, 110, 174
Jin Lu 62
Chad Folkening 66, 149
Adam Strong 66, 79
Bill Gross (GoTo) 68
Roy Messer (90,000 vistoris per day in 98, Vodka.com, Razors.com) 72, 130
Oingo (Allied Semantics, DomainSense, DomainPark) 73-75
Gil Elbaz 73
Adam Weissman 73
Michael Zurakov (Sued Register.com for Ads) 74
Eytan Elbaz (Google) 74, 143-144, 147
Sergey Brin (Google) 76
Overture Suggestion Tool 79
Dotzup 81
Dark Blue Sea 81
SnapNames 83
NameWinner 83
Kevin Ham 84
WLS 84
Paul Stahura 86, 128
SiteFinder 86
Rob Hall (Pool.com) 88
Ray King (SnapNames.com) 88, 155
Tim Cole 89
Mike Mann 89-95, 117
Ronald Fitzherbert 90
Michelle Miller 91, 117, 147
Chip Yamasaki 91
Ale Ikenson 91
Ross Rader 93
Dwayne Rowland 99
Megadic 99
Vern Jurovich 102
John Keister (Marchex) 102
Russell Horowitz 102
Peter Christothoulou 103, 114-115
Mike Mann 104
Richard Lau 104
Kevin Ham 106
Bill Messer 106-107
Dick Cheney 108
George Soros 108
Ethan Caldwell (Counsel of Marchex) 109, 174
Mike Zapolin 110
Andrew Miller 110
Chad Wright 114
Jeff Bennett 116
Bob Davis 116
Kelly Conlin 118
Cats.com, Biking.com, Photography.com 118
Bob Martin 119, 172
Andrew Allemann 119, 179, 183
IREIT 120
Stuart Rabin 120
Blake Bookstaff 122
Brian Null (OfficeSupply.com) 122
Michael Bahlitzanakis (CellPhones.com) 122, 145, 147, 189
Paul Sloan (Business 2.0) 123, 146
Mike Gorzynski (Spectrum Equity Investors) 124
Shawn Colo 124
Richard Rosenblatt 125, 186
Barry Diller (CEO of IAC) 128
Michael Blend 128, 134
Thomas Kundel 128
Quinn Daly 128
Jeremiah Johnson (Sedo) 131
Amy Schrier (Blue.com) 131
Ari Bayme (Gorilla Nation Media) 134, 147
Gary Kremen (Sex.com) 135, 174
Stephen Cohen (Sex.com) 135
Zooknic 136
Lawrence Ng (Oversee.net) 137
TrafficZ 137, 144
Ron Jackson 137, 180-183
Howard Hoffman (PPCincome) 138, 143, 146, 149, 178
Leonard Holmes (ParkQuick) 138
Andrew Goodman (Page Zero Media) 138
Jon Lisbin (Point It) 139-143
Hal Bailey (Google) 139
Erick Schonfeld (Business 2.0) 139
Josh Meyers (Yahoo) 141
Danny Sullivan (SearchEngineLand) 142, 144
Andrew Beckman (SearchAd Network) 143
Ammar Kubba 144
Howard Neu 145
Dean Shannon 145
DeanFest 145
TRAFFIC 145-146
Michael Berkens 146
Lesli Angel (BeautyTips.com, DrugOverDose.com) 147
Joe Langbaum 147
Scott Richter (OptinRealBig) 147
Sigmund Solares (Cameras.com, Intercosmos, Parked.com) 148, 152
Larry Fischer (SmartNames) 148
Rick Latona (DigiPawn) 149
Ofer Ronen (Sendori) 150
Kevin Daste (LSU Drop out) 150
Slavic (Bob) 150
Sammy Sosa 150
Ron Sheridan (DomainFest) 150
Larry Seltzer (eWeek) 152
John Kane (eNom) 153
Jonathon Nevett (Network Solutions) 154, 160
Mason Cole (SnapNames) 155
EU Landrush 156-157
Bret Fausett 157
Bob Parsons 159-160
George DeCarlo (Dotster) 163
Kevin Kilroy (Baker Capital) 163
Clint Page (Dotster) 164
Linette Ueltshchi (Dotster) 164
David Steele 165
Ravi Puri (Dotster Lawyer) 165
Scott Fish (Doster Employee) 165
Ann Ford (DLA Piper) 166
Chesterton Holdings (Oversee.net company) 167
Camille Miller (IP Laywer) 167, 171
Josh Armstrong (Counsel of Oversee.net) 167
Maltuzi (Oversee.net company) 167
John Zuccarini (Typosquatter) 168
Sarah Deutsch (Verizon) 168
Ari Goldberger (Domain Lawyer) 170
Dan Levitan (Maveron) 172
Craig Snyder (Ireit President) 172
Steve Blasnik (Perot Investments) 173
Ben Edelman (Harvard Business School) 175
Matt Bentley (CSO of Sedo) 175-176
Dan Cera (Domain Investor) 176
Brian Taff (NameMedia) 179
Tim Schumacher (Co-Founder of Sedo) 180
Ryan May (GeoSign Employee) 182
Michael Allen (NewYorkRestraunts.com) 182
Tim Nye (GeoSign CEO) 182
Jeff Burkey (Domain Investor) 183
Dan Warner (CSO of Dark Blue Sea) 184
Sahar Sarid (Florida Domain Investor) 185
Steve Balmer (CEO of Microsoft) 187
Jay Steinfeld (Blinds.com) 188
Vint Cerf (Pioneer of the Internet) 189
Alphabetic Order and PAGES found on:
ACPA 51
Adam Dicker 10, 120, 123, 146, 189
Adam Strong 66, 79
Adam Weissman 73
Ale Ikenson 91
Ammar Kubba 144
Amy Schrier (Blue.com) 131
Andrew Allemann 119, 179, 183
Andrew Beckman (SearchAd Network) 143
Andrew Goodman (Page Zero Media) 138
Andrew Miller 110
Ann Ford (DLA Piper) 166
Anthony Peppler 58-61, 169
Ari Bayme (Gorilla Nation Media) 134, 147
Ari Goldberger (Domain Lawyer) 170
Barry Diller (CEO of IAC) 128
Ben Edelman (Harvard Business School) 175
Bill Gross (GoTo) 68
Bill Messer 106-107
Blake Bookstaff 122
Bob Davis 116
Bob Martin 119, 172
Bob Parsons 159-160
Bonnie Neubeck (Drugs.com) 47
Bret Fausett 157
Brian Null (OfficeSupply.com) 122
Brian Taff (NameMedia) 179
Camille Miller (IP Laywer) 167, 171
Cats.com, Biking.com, Photography.com 118
CES Marketing 26, 75
Chad Folkening 66, 149
Chad Wright 114
Chesterton Holdings (Oversee.net company) 167
Chip Yamasaki 91
Christopher Wall 26, 37
Clint Page (Dotster) 164
CNET 25
Craig Snyder (Ireit President) 172
Dan Cera (Domain Investor) 176
Dan Levitan (Maveron) 172
Dan Warner (CSO of Dark Blue Sea) 184
Danny Sullivan (SearchEngineLand) 142, 144
Dark Blue Sea 81
David Steele 165
Dean Shannon 145
DeanFest 145
Dennis Toeppen (Hydrogen.com and 240 domains) 23
Dick Cheney 108
DigiMedia.com 32
DNJournal.com 11, 130, 137, 180
Dotzup 81
Dwayne Rowland 99
Ehud Gavron (WallStreet.com) 46
Eric Wade (WallStreet.com) 46
Eric Woodward 26
Erick Schonfeld (Business 2.0) 139
Ethan Caldwell (Counsel of Marchex) 109, 174
EU Landrush 156-157
Eytan Elbaz (Google) 74, 143-144, 147
Frank Schilling 9, 94-109, 123, 146, 154, 158, 177, 186, 190-192
Gary Chernoff 13, 34-38, 54, 57, 67-71, 75, 96, 132, 190-191
Gary Kremen (Sex.com) 135, 174
George DeCarlo (Dotster) 163
George Soros 108
George W Bush 32
Gil Elbaz 73
GoDaddy 50
Gumby.org 22
Hal Bailey (Google) 139
Howard Hoffman (PPCincome) 138, 143, 146, 149, 178
Howard Neu 145
Howard Schultz 11, 172
IREIT 120
Jay Steinfeld (Blinds.com) 188
Jay Westerdal 58-61, 82, 146, 149-151, 158-160
Jeff Bennett 116
Jeff Burkey (Domain Investor) 183
Jeffrey Tinsley (GreatDomains, CEO) 47
Jeremiah Johnson (Sedo) 131
Jin Lu 62
Joe Langbaum 147
John Berryhill 12, 108, 146, 160
John Kane (eNom) 153
John Keister (Marchex) 102
John Zuccarini (Typosquatter) 168
Jon Lisbin (Point It) 139-143
Jonathon Nevett (Network Solutions) 154, 160
Josh Armstrong (Counsel of Oversee.net) 167
Josh Meyers (Yahoo) 141
Joshua Quittner (Wired.com) 20
Kelly Conlin 118
Kevin Daste (LSU Drop out) 150
Kevin Ham 106
Kevin Ham 84
Kevin Kilroy (Baker Capital) 163
Larry Fischer (SmartNames) 148
Larry Seltzer (eWeek) 152
Lawrence Ng (Oversee.net) 137
Lee Hodgeson 59, 82
Leonard Holmes (ParkQuick) 138
Lesli Angel (BeautyTips.com, DrugOverDose.com) 147
Lieven Van Neste (24 Hour) 53
Linette Ueltshchi (Dotster) 164
Maltuzi (Oversee.net company) 167
Marc Ostrofsky 43-52, 119, 146, 148, 152, 188
Mason Cole (SnapNames) 155
Matt Bentley (CSO of Sedo) 175-176
Matthew Grossman (WallStreet.com) 46
Megadic 99
Michael Allen (NewYorkRestraunts.com) 182
Michael Bahlitzanakis (CellPhones.com) 122, 145, 147, 189
Michael Berkens 146
Michael Blend 128, 134
Michael Zurakov (Sued Register.com for Ads) 74
Michelle Miller 91, 117, 147
Mike Gorzynski (Spectrum Equity Investors) 124
Mike Mann 104
Mike Mann 89-95, 117
Mike O’Connor (Television.com, Bar.com, Company.com) 24
Mike Zapolin 110
Monte Cahn 46, 56-57, 147, 154, 161
NameWinner 83
Ofer Ronen (Sendori) 150
Oingo (Allied Semantics, DomainSense, DomainPark) 73-75
Overture Suggestion Tool 79
Paul Sloan (Business 2.0) 123, 146
Paul Stahura 86, 128
Peter Christothoulou 103, 114-115
Pinkard Alan “Pinky” Brand 44
Procter & Gamble 24, 56
Quinn Daly 128
Ravi Puri (Dotster Lawyer) 165
Ray King (SnapNames.com) 88, 155
Richard Lau 104
Richard Rosenblatt 125, 186
Rick Latona (DigiPawn) 149
Rick Schwartz 38-43, 47, 80, 110, 133-134, 139-148, 151, 183
Rob Hall (Pool.com) 88
Ron Jackson 137, 180-183
Ron Sheridan (DomainFest) 150
Ronald Fitzherbert 90
Ross Perot 11
Ross Rader 93
Roy Messer (90,000 vistoris per day in 98, Vodka.com, Razors.com) 72, 130
Russell Horowitz 102
Ryan May (GeoSign Employee) 182
Sahar Sarid (Florida Domain Investor) 185
Sammy Sosa 150
Sarah Deutsch (Verizon) 168
Scott Day 15, 26, 30, 37, 57, 72, 75, 80, 177, 190-191
Scott Fish (Doster Employee) 165
Scott Musgrove 26
Scott Richter (OptinRealBig) 147
Sedo 13
Sergey Brin (Google) 76
Shawn Colo 124
Sigmund Solares (Cameras.com, Intercosmos, Parked.com) 148, 152
SiteFinder 86
Slavic (Bob) 150
SnapNames 83
Stephen Cohen (Sex.com) 135
Steve Balmer (CEO of Microsoft) 187
Steve Blasnik (Perot Investments) 173
Stuart Rabin 120
Telepathy (Nat Cohen, Crew.com) 51
Thomas Kundel 128
Tim Cole 89
Tim Nye (GeoSign CEO) 182
Tim Schumacher (Co-Founder of Sedo) 180
TRAFFIC 145-146
TrafficZ 137, 144
Vern Jurovich 102
Vincent Schiavone (4 Anything) 53
Vint Cerf (Pioneer of the Internet) 189
WLS 84
Yun Ye (Mystery Man, UltSearch) 62-67, 79, 91, 105-106, 110, 174
Zooknic 136