.tv I think we need our own .TV strategy.

[WineGuy]

In the past several months those of us interested in the .TV tld have had our way regging some nice .TV domains, developing and generally behaving like kids in a candy store with .TV. Now it looks like the world understands and might want in on our private playground. LOL! :hehe:

Agreed, additional attention to .TV is nothing but positive with the massive support and promotion Demand Media seems to be able to offer. However, it seems that many quality .TV domains that we would have previously been able to reg may now be listed as premiums and will not be available for registration til first quarter 2007. Those of us who had the foresight to reg the domains in our niche or those domains that may prove to be good investments can only do well but I don't think any of us were done regging in our given niche or in other areas we had our eye on.

So we have a little time before the gates are opened to the world again on premium .TV regs and there will no doubt be additional pressure on registration of quality domains.

What would be our best strategies to leverage this opportunity in the next 60 days? Raise capital, gather investors, sell our current quality regs during the premium drought, or just stay ahead with quality development and offer ourselves as consultants to the new blood entering this market?

Opinions, ideas?

Cheers!

WG

 

[*AllThings.tv*]

Edit: forgive any mistakes, its late here, my wireless keyboard is piece of junk and some letters only work some of the times...I have been meaning to replace it:

I just commented to another domainer who inquired about a site I have:

I have already entertained discussions with other dot tv goers on name pros.... In fact, we exchanged phone calls and started to embark on a business together. Unfortunately, it was short lived because the expectations were not clear and our schedules became too impacted to figure it out, and the dot tv landscape had changed in a very short period of time. None of us felt that the return we perceived would be generated by our investment was worth it.

As a result, we agreed to cease our pursuit of business together and reconsider if ever another prime opportunity presented itself to us in the future.... Of course, we would always be open to considering each other for future ventures if we saw something the other individuals could offer, like experience, skills, capital, labor, etc.

A lot has happened since then and all of us have continued on our separate paths. While we irregularly check in at convenient times with one another, it is clear that the chances of us starting another opportunity is minimal considering we are all focused on developing our own portfolios at this time.

I personally believe if any one person comes up with a strategy that clearly lays down a plan of action, what contributions are required of the contributes, and what they receive in return, then that would clearly set expectations. When expectations are clear, everyone goes in with their eyes wide open. The problem for a lot of people (and mostly those I have considered partnering with) is that they already have full time jobs, other potential partners may have no Internet experience or they have limited experience (as a result they may not fully understand what it takes to develop an Internet business; the strategy, the marketing, and many other business functions can be completely different from a bricks and mortar business), and/or no single person takes on the full responsibility to march the business forward.

Do not get me wrong and let me clearly state for the record, I would be very interested in entertaining something like this so much that I would be willing to fly to some location and have some sort of meeting.

Before I can entertain the idea of plunking down that kind of research money, I would need to know what the business is. Right now, to me, it seems like something can seriously get off the ground if the right people get together, a group of entrepreneurs who understand what needs to be done, can objectively value their contribution and accept a fair return, and see the long term potential.

I fear a lot of people do not fit within that group. They may be risk takers, but they have yet to fully learn how real deals are made. I do not mean to sound ridiculous, but if you ever done a deal and have been anything but lucky, then you will understand what I am saying.

My roommate recently got interested in dot tv and immediately understood the opportunity. He saw the money potential. However, he does not fully comprehend what developing and maintaining an Internet business entails. As a result, he thinks that because he has the domain, then he should be entitled to more than 50% of any deal he does with anyone who offers capital or labor. Quite frankly, I don't know if we have more people like my roommate on these forums or we have people that understand the opportunity, people that understand the value of a each crucial contribution to the business, and understand that this is not something that can always be fully developed in a night.

It can take quite a few years.

Nevertheless, I am open to it, but if I do not see the type of language from people that suggests a real opportunity is on the horizon, then I would not invest the research money to fly out, meet people, and discuss the opportunity more in person.

But don't let that overshadow my message that I am very interested in seeing this topic developed further in a serious manner.

 

[WineGuy]

SiliconFinance,

I guess what I was really refering to in my post was not a partnership but more of an "open source" strategy to help everyone here to maximize any possible returns on their .TV investment. Personally I am sort of a loan wolf and find it difficult to partner up with others.

The fact is the .TV landscape has changed rapidly and I for one will be finishing my one key development in time for the New Year as a showcase as to what others that use my skills can expect from consultations.

Cheers!

 

[*AllThings.tv*]

Well, I believe the dot tv forum is a great place to craft such a strategy!

I am still looking to incubate... =)

 

[equity78]

Silicon you bring up a lot of good points and most are like your roommate I have the domain I want more than 50% of the venture. I toohave found most on domain forums have no idea what doing a real deal and building a real business entails .

Chris IMO I have found domainers to be cheap maybe a small minority is not but if you are looking for people to pay you to consult them I think that is out there I have seen people offer to place a site on a directory and they just wanted a $1 and no one take it. Plus I think you need to havre a very successful .tv site before anyone going to pay for advice. By successful I mean Income genrating not that it looks nice and theories on how it can be successful. IMO


Silicon I think you can find a partner but when you look for a bunch of people to get involved with full time jobs , all over the place It becomes hard. We tried a coop and good came from it as Westblock and I formed an LLC for our tv ideas and also apparel ideas because that was both a separate interest we found we both had but that still takes time becuase neither of us are web developers or programmers. Now that partnership I am interested in working with someone that can build online tv channel type sites and I am a realist in what needs to be given in such a deal the programmer needs to be aware too. IMO

I think Most here have bought all the .tvs they were going to buy Imean IMO Millers should spend every second he has away from his day job on Education.tv it could be a huge success, some of the other guys here have put together a great portfolio that they probably should develop a few. I think regging just about done it time to build businesses on those premium domains.

 

[antonis12]

I think Most here have bought all the .tvs they were going to buy Imean IMO Millers should spend every second he has away from his day job on Education.tv it could be a huge success, some of the other guys here have put together a great portfolio that they probably should develop a few. I think regging just about done it time to build businesses on those premium domains.

this is the quote of the day

 

[WineGuy]

Ditto on development!

WG

 

[*AllThings.tv*]

THis is a good thread.

 

[WineGuy]

Strategy note:

So there are tons of great single word dictionary names at available at reg fee. $40 for 2 years. Based on Demand Media's definite rebranding of the extension:

"Why .tv? Online video is growing at lightning speed, and so are the ways that users find online videos. A .tv domain tells users that your website is a rich media website. And by using a .tv Web address, you are offering users an easily recognizable way to find rich media and video content on the Web."

those that acquire a .TV will do so with rich media, i.e. video, in mind. To date many companies migrating online or starting up an on line media venture that have chosen a .TV seemed to have gone after single syllable words. Again, many are a premium but many are not and would make sense to a niche genre site.

Bud.TV
Code.TV
Howard.TV
List any others you find here.

I was astounded that Stampede.TV was not a premium reg and was available, the strategy will be to find more of these.

Here are some that I think should be premium but aren't and the niche they can serve:

Screams.TV - Horror movies
Screamer.TV and Screamers.TV- Stream Horror or Jazz or Tire Burners
Peaks.com- Mountain sports/outdoors
Ropes.TV- Climbing or???
SkyDivers.TV - Sky Diving
Riffs.TV - Music videos, Guitar solos, lessons, etc.
Slalom.TV - competition skiing
Gentlemens.TV - ???

I only found these three plus Stampede out of 43 I searched/ 39 were tagged Premiums.

Add to this list if you have single word domains you feel are close to a premium with the niche and if you aren't going to reg them yourselves and you don't mind others getting them.

Cheers!

WG

 

[namewaiter]

you guys are inspiring me ... i think i'll seriously look into developing one or two in the near future.

 

[linker]

Development Strategy

Those who have developed thier .TVs could share a development strategy. I have a few that I would love to develop, however, I need to have video content, at least I am convinced that is the way to go with .TV...

Where do we get the video content?

Should we use YouTube?

Is that a good strategy?

etc...

I am sure there are lots of other questions but I know if I had some good video content I would have at least 2-3 of my .TVs developed already...

 

[WineGuy]

After checking out about 150 .tv names,most unavailable or marked premium, it occurs to me how truly valuable and amazing this forum's collection of .TV domains really is and hope lucky we have been to find and coach each other.

Way ahead of the eight ball!

Cheers!

WG

 

[RPK]

i have used some youtube and google videos and even some metacafe for www.drunks.tv

I like it and it is a cheap way of trying it out, but I havent had time to put into it.

 

[StoneRoses]

After checking out about 150 .tv names,most unavailable or marked premium, it occurs to me how truly valuable and amazing this forum's collection of .TV domains really is and hope lucky we have been to find and coach each other.

Way ahead of the eight ball!

Cheers!

WG

Agreed, i have learnt so much from the knowledge other .tv heads have been good enough to share in this forum, great advice and the .tv section is always my 1st stop when i am online,big thanks to everyone for the advice throughout the year.it could be a very good 2007 for us all and prove we were ahead of the game (hopefully)

 

[antonis12]

My roommate recently got interested in dot tv and immediately understood the opportunity. He saw the money potential. However, he does not fully comprehend what developing and maintaining an Internet business entails. As a result, he thinks that because he has the domain, then he should be entitled to more than 50% of any deal he does with anyone who offers capital or labor. Quite frankly, I don't know if we have more people like my roommate on these forums or we have people that understand the opportunity, people that understand the value of a each crucial contribution to the business, and understand that this is not something that can always be fully developed in a night.

It can take quite a few years.

The issue is that "development" means far different things to different people.

1/ At one end of spectrum is what you are doing at HSPN.tv. that is not a "developed site". That is a whole business with multiple people working there. Something like this can't be done part-time.

2/ In the middle, is something like what we are doing at election.tv. this is multiple people, part-time (development, basic filming, etc).

3/ At the other end, is something like mini-sites or blogs etc where the goal is to generate enough revenue to cover reg fees and perhaps ultimately resell the domain.

So how does this relate to deal-making?

#1 can't be done by people who have other jobs - like pretty much everyone on this board

#2 I don't see how it can be in with a distributed group of people across dozens of names. maybe if there was a way that everyone could work on 1 or 2, that would be feasible but then ownership, revenue sharing will be a brutal exercise

#3 is doable in mass quantities or partnership (e.g. share templates, links, etc), but the transaction costs of doing a deal (lawyers, travel meetings, etc) will outweigh the value of the deal unless there is a clear platform and model that is developed once, not on a site by site basis

What additionally complicates things is that there is still no good data of what a .tv name is worth which slows down the ability to partner on purely financial tems (e.g. my name is worth $50K, you contribute $50K in cash, we can go 50:50, is hard to do when reasonable people, at this stage, might disagree within a factor of 10 of what a .tv name is worth).

I think most people on this board think the names are worth quite a lot but the market has not caught up yet nor given us enough good pricing data. if it did the way we have pricing data in .com (within say a factor of 2, instead of 10), then you would see the whole array of .com models (name leasing, name sales, etc).

At national.tv, we are looking carefully at what models could exist around #3 to kickstart our own portfolio and then move up the chain from there because we face the same issue internally that most people here face. i am actually putting this effort on pause until we see what Demand Media rolls out as their development platform for .tv. I suspect for most small holders of .tv names without dedicated development resources, that will end up being the most cost-effective model for them to develop their names.

Maybe I am not creative enough to see other options, but that is my 2 cents.

I would highly welcome other comments. it is a important topic. i have been reading this board for over a year now and I hear "develop, develop, develop" but have seen very few names actually go into development. When this puzzle is unlocked, will be when the extension takes off.

Users do not like parked pages, they like great content, that is how .tv will become great...

 

[gamehouse]

Great thread. Great posts. For development at lower level, certainly one does not need a big group or different people bringing different contributions to the table.

I believe that one man/woman can do the whole thing. Start slowly. Learn what that has to be learnt. That would help a lot in the long run for sure. There is every tool out there that is available to help in any venture.

Antonis is so right, development is difined differently to different people. Also concepts of internet business and tricks and tactics are quite different from real world and mean differently to to different people. So it would never turn fruitful unless a group does it full time.

So take one name and at the worst one can even put some embeded videos from youtube and there you have a start.

I learnt a bit with my time online and still learning. I love to do things my way so good or bad, is only for me.

I know I am not adding much with this post, but those are my thoughts.

One way is to look at a developed site that you are sure would be good for you .tv name. Now you can get a site done or do it yourself and then learn to market it.

The site could be as simple as business.tv right now, is that design very tough to do?, I do not think so.

GH

 

[equity78]

Well Antonis I think you are very right you cannot do a deal half way. You have to say these are the domains Pick one and do an ownership agreement and work on it. ITs hard to do especially if you don't have design/programming talent IMO Like I have plenty of ideas and can do the business dev, marketing, promotion but I have no idea how to build the site, no programming talent and I think if I can't make whatever happen the way I envision it then it is frustrating. I think the real partnerships come from people with DISTINCTIVELY different SKILL SETS.

I have found in a lot of partnerships to use a Baseball ANalogy, everyone wants to pitch. And its like look someone has to play right field, so everyone go to the mound lets see who can throw the best and then move on thats the pitcher every position needed. But you get I have a marketing idea, well me any my wife thought about this, really my son goes to Harvard and he thought this and its like nothing gets done. Everyone needs to know their role most of the time people do not know their role and are bothered if you tell them to know their role. Either you want to work together or not. Its like I know I know nothing about design/programming SO I want to be able to say this is what I envision can you do that? ANd I don't want to hear the programmers Promotion idea just focus on the programming if you were an idea guy you would not have partnered because there would have been no need to partner you can do everything by yourself.

 

[*AllThings.tv*]

I will not get into it here because my opinions are different from a lot of other people, but the starting point for most deals is that you have a 50% partner who is the capital partner. He funds the business. The other 50% partner represents the labor of the business. He manages the business, hires people, fires people, and makes sure the business grows to meet its performance targets. The capital partner is passive in that he/she is not involved in the day to day.

When you throw something unique into the equation such as a domain name, then it might have huge potential. However, without capital and labor its not worth much. If we accept that as true, then perhaps someone who supplies the name is entitled to some % of revenues or profits. Each have there advantages and disadvantages, but someone who provides just the name is not doing a whole lot to really get the business to generate income. He/She might have provided the real estate, but that is it. YOu still need to build a structure and make sure customers walk through the door.

Keep in mind, the percentage mentioned would be very small if it were based on gross revenues. In that case, you do not need to worry about auditing the business. Or you can opt for a higher % of net profit. Then you worry about what expenses are legitimate, how things are accounted for, and are you getting truly what you deserve. Basically, you inherit a headache for the latter while the former can be keyed off certain tax forms.

One other option is to lease the domain to someone that wants to start a business exploiting that domain. In such an instance, you may want some fixed amount or some amount tied to revenues of the business. These are just a few examples, they are not comprehensive, and you should always consult an attorney when doing a deal.

 

[antonis12]

I will not get into it here because my opinions are different from a lot of other people, but the starting point for most deals is that you have a 50% partner who is the capital partner. He funds the business. The other 50% partner represents the labor of the business. He manages the business, hires people, fires people, and makes sure the business grows to meet its performance targets. The capital partner is passive in that he/she is not involved in the day to day.

That is right, but it can depend on how large the capital investment is and to what degree labor is taking full salaries. In larger-scale, institutional round startups, management team share of the company is often around 20% (think X,XXX,XXX invested) In angel rounds (think XXX,XXX invested) mgmt can easily be in the 40-60% range, in friend&family (think XX,XXX to XXX,XXX invested) maybe you could be talking about up to 80% for labor

In most cases, the domain holder should be a passive partner too or just sell the domain to the company. Revenue royalty models can work, but profit royalties are very very difficult to implement. Again, I believe the issue that is holding this back is that there is not enough good pricing data and that .tv values have not yet caught up with where people want to sell them.

Take Education.tv - today, MILLERS could probably get XX,XXX for it but he certainly would not be irrational to hold out for at least XXX,XXX. He would also not be irrational to sell at XX,XXX and, therein lies the problem!

Well, if Millers contributes Education.tv to a partnership, then effectively he is selling it to the partnership and you have to figure out a value

so, if Capital Provider puts in $200,000 he gets a certain %, if Millers contributes a name that everyone can agree on is worth $100,000 then Millers should get 1/2 the Capital Provider's percentage and then the labor piece will depend on who/how much.

Alternatively, the capital provider could put in $300,000 and use $100,000 of that money to buy Millers' name.

so, imho, it is not the deal structure that is the issue, it is unclear valuations that are holding partnerships back.

 

[*AllThings.tv*]

I agree unclear valuations are responsible for holding partnerships back in the sense that domain holders have unrealistic expectations about what their domain may be worth. However, those who are inflexible when it comes to putting a reasonable deal together may lose out on the early streams of income they could be enjoying while a valuable business is being built atop their domain.