interviews My 2023 meeting with Swetha Yenugula

[smartwebby]

Hi Everyone,

I decided to write in detail about my 2023 meeting with Swetha (@DNGear) though its been almost 2 years because of the recent upheaval on X immediately following her DomainNameGear account being banned - probably because of being reported by her haters. No one on earth will be able to convince these haters because their only agenda is to hate on someone who is fair game to them. We see these zombies all the time, ever since social media went mainstream. Their credentials don't mean a thing in the face of disgusting repeated bad behaviour. My article is for those who have a brain and a heart and can connect with another human being like me. I've written to the best of my recollection so I hope there aren't any mistakes.

The date was decided as 7th July 2023 as Swetha (who is located in Hyderabad) said she will be in Bengaluru - she had bought some land and was coming to do some inspection of the ongoing construction. Prior to that we had chatted a bit on X and via WhatsApp and had also had a couple of phone calls. She seemed warm though hesitant on the phone, and since the texting was pretty minimal and 'to the point', I really was looking forward to our meeting. I had told some of my domainer friends on the Clubhouse app - Todd Ryan, Paul Singh, and others that I was meeting her. I also had a list of casual and domaining related questions for her. This was not only to appease my curiosity but because I was constantly asked questions on Clubhouse about her that I obviously had no answer to. I thought I could clear up the air of bullying. Boy was I in for a surprise!

The venue I had chosen was 13th Floor, a restaurant atop Barton Centre on MG Road. The time was fixed as 6:30 pm but she arrived only after 7.30 pm as the traffic was really really bad. I had arrived early and had ordered myself a cocktail - interestingly called Madam Butterfly - and some chicken kabab. Time flew as luckily I had brought along my DSLR to take photos of Bengaluru from high up - it being rooftop restaurant with a great view of Bengaluru.

She finally arrived after sunset and we did some small talk about the traffic and our respective families. She told me her husband's name is Kalyan and she has two kids (11 and 14 at that time). And I told her a bit about my two daughters. My first impression about her was that she was as demure and soft spoken as I had envisioned her to be from her voice. Surprise surprise, as soon as the talk turned to a bit about domaining (I think I told her how happy I was years ago to know DNGear was a woman domainer when she said her name was Swetha - right here on NamePros' chat) and then about the ongoing bullying and Reza and Michael. She suddenly reached out and thrust something into my hand and asked "How don't I exist?" - it turned out to be her ID card. I felt goosebumps on my neck and a lump form in my throat (I felt so ashamed of and for our community) when I looked up at her. Seeing pain in her eyes I was quick to mumble some words of comfort. I think I said about how on clubhouse its only a few people who talk nonsense but most really admire her. I then quickly changed the topic and asked her about how she decided to shore up on XYZ when most people were dropping them or selling them for cheap. She then told me about how she made some quick sales, bought more in auctions and how she caught some domains using some specific services. I remember clearly thinking "There she is!" because when the talk turned to domains her talk was filled with passion which only another domainer can recognize and acknowledge. We continued to talk for at least 30 mins more about domains before she told me her brother was waiting in the car with the driver - I was a little taken aback and asked her why she didnt bring him up with her. After that we argued about the bill (I insisted she was my guest in Bengaluru) and we then proceeded to taking several photos. I am glad I have the habit of finding the best lighting to take the best photo and that she was patient because 1 or 2 photos can be said to be Ai but ones like these? (I have more)

And how about the fact that we took photos in the 13th FLOOR restaurant's entrance and the restaurant next to it called ASEAN? Can Ai imagine and cook up that? My God - I could never have imagined the nightmare that followed on X with me also getting bullied after I posted pictures of our meeting. I can never forget that apart from the other losers, the super rich and respected Mike Mann tried to prove I do not exist - on X and on LinkedIn!!!! Anyone sane would go to the archive.org record of SmartWebby.com and see my name on my contact page (2001 first record). And the BS spewed continues right upto recently with me defending myself and her about not having given an interview or made an appearance at a conference. We have two talks scheduled this year - postponed from last year as I am to blame with my lofty aspiration to have my book out before doing the DNTalk.com video interviews. The book is out and I have also made her 'expert contribution' chapter free today (so people can read Swetha's advice and story in her own words) but I honestly am uncomfortable with this arm twisting and will probably delay her video interview more till this madness is ended. She or anyone else doing well in domaining has nothing to prove to others nor do they owe anyone anything. John Berryhill's recent post is spot on about the vast diverse spectrum of people in domaining. We should all be ashamed on behalf of the community for the sickening behaviour of some towards Swetha and others who have been bullied into silence. Me? I become the bully to bullies. The main perpetrators blocked me in 2023 and were ignored for a bit for sanity's sake but not anymore. Swetha is a genuine person and an amazingly successful hardworking domainer we all have watched grow right here on NamePros and she deserves the respect of the entire industry. If not awards and place at the hightest table give her some d*mn peace without crapping on her. When I went back home that night - she had insisted on going out of her way to drop me to my house almost 10 kms away before heading back to her hotel 20-25 kms in the opposite direction - I was happy to have met her and was once again shocked by how she had thrust her ID into my hand (till today I feel it). How much of the sickening bullying would she have internalized to have thought that out?? And who was I to answer that question on behalf of the community?? This is why I will defend her like my own sister - simply because what happened to her was WRONG!!! As simple as that. That one reason is enough for me to go up against anyone and stand in the gap between right and wrong till the wrong is set right.

PS. I am genuinely happy that so many are speaking up against the attacks and bullying especially Darpan (founder of Atom.com) and once again Michael (founder of NameBio.com) who didn't back down like many do when attacked.

warm regards,

Anita Walker

 

[mwzd]

Some people will believe the moon landing pics before they believe these.

I never doubted she was a real person, had spoken to 'dngear' on np or linkedin 2015 or so and actually warned against investing in .xyz, glad she didn't take my advice.

Good share Anita!

 

[johnn]

Did you have permission from her to post the information and did you pay $50 fee for creating this thread?

 

[Mister Funsky]

when the talk turned to domains her talk was filled with passion which only another domainer can recognize and acknowledge

No truer statement has been made!

Just 15 mins ago I was sharing a sale that occured while I was sleeping. The all wise appraisal bots valued it at around 1K but after negotiations and a few tactics, the buyer agreed to a number over 9x its 'value' and bought it at the BIN I put on it before falling asleep.

After excitedly telling my friend the details, all I got was a lethargic 'that's cool'.

Only domainers know and understand the excitement.

Thanks for sharing the details of your meeting.

 

[Skyvisum]

Thank you Anita, for sharing your meeting with Swetha. I remember when I tried my luck on a .xyz and sold it for almost five figures. I messaged her on X to thank her because I wouldn't have thought of investing in a .xyz . She encouraged me to report the sale .

People make outlier sales day by day and hers is not an exception .She believed and put all soul and it stated to pay off. I remember also only few believed in .co,.io,.tv and now .Ai but others have put in their money and risked it all and when it takes off,people with no long term vision will come out with their negative assumptions and accusations.

Thank you once again,Anita for standing up for swetha and going all the way to prove her bullies wrong .

Wishing everyone in the community great sales .

 

[karmaco]

No one has been more maligned than Swetha in this industry. No one.

I knew about this but thanks for sharing your perspective and your photos.

It has to stop. Some on the biggest names in the biz won't let it go and in doing so grifters like Jack Domainer can continue to beat a dead horse for clicks.

 

[Global Headquarters]

In any way I do not believe those .xyz sales.
Even if they are true, I do not believe .xyz is a viable extension long term.

 

[URL Stream]

Strange how the negative threads always blow up, but when there’s a genuinely positive development, it’s crickets. Honestly thought this one would light up the forum.

Tagging @..., @..., @..., @..., @...

See related subject: Should Popular Discussions Be Popular?

 

[MediaCode]

I believe the photos of Anita and Swetha are real and legit but I highly suspect the chicken kabob photo is AI-generated – the shadows make no sense, right??

 

[smartwebby]

I believe the photos of Anita and Swetha are real and legit but I highly suspect the chicken kabob photo is AI-generated – the shadows make no sense, right??

Hi Logan,

Pretty much no one on earth would generate our mugs with Ai so even when I was answering that claim I was thinking "I can't believe I am actually replying to that, seriously!?". But I had to because it is an easy convenient way to confuse and shutup people. Especially since most of us haven't and probably will never meet in real life. Planting seeds of doubt attacking credibility or belittling/dismissing the truth are common tactics employed by many chaos/hate mongers. After my brain settled down from the initial outrage I didn't know whether to take it as an insult or a compliment.

Regarding the kababs pic there were tables in front of me and a canopy that extends almost till the edge of the rooftop (making it a good place to hang out, wind or rain) ... but we can still go stand near the railings and take pics... hope this helps . Finally it's paying to be a shutterbug and to have a decent sized phone memory that allows me to keep most of the photos and preserve memories to help my often information overloaded brain - I have 30K photos in my camera folder alone .

 

[smartwebby]

Strange how the negative threads always blow up, but when there’s a genuinely positive development, it’s crickets. Honestly thought this one would light up the forum.

Tagging @..., @..., @..., @..., @...

See related subject: Should Popular Discussions Be Popular?

Thank you for saying it. I guess truth either silences or makes people turn away bored that there is no drama or things to say to sound clever?? Gone are the days where doing good or going out your way to do something for someone else is celebrated. In my personal experience I don't see a difference between men and women in the b..ching dept. Speculations and controversies are what goes viral and get tongues wagging. Many intelligent but busy professionals shun such negative vibe generators. Over the years so many people have told me that they no longer use NP regularly that it is no joke. I remember advising them to put a stop to the crazy negativity overflowing here years ago and myself stepped aside after it wasn't taken action on. My loss of course but networking happens inspite of it but it's very fragmented in my observation with dozens of pockets on various apps. Making it a very fertile ground for conspiracy theorists and bullies with no real accountability or feelings of a real caring community. Let's see how many look back at their damaging words and apologize. I predict 0

 

[The Durfer]

Bullies are always to be found where there are cowards. Gandhi

 

[The Durfer]

.

 

[smartwebby]

Bullies are always to be found where there are cowards. Gandhi

Wow I never knew this quote by Mahatma Gandhi.

Thank you so much for sharing it . Bullies being cowards (esp internet trolling bullies) was an observation I made over the years with confrontations not just in domaining and I had just written yesterday about it on X in reply to some anonymous handles. I didn't know it was an established fact by none other than the great Mahatma Gandhi. He's probably speaking of those who prop them up or are silent when others are openly attacked. But they themselves are cowards in real life too. I dont know if someone famous said it but the silence of good people is the main reason bad has gone unchecked - in history or the present. I am also guilty of it of course but I try without counting the cost of taking stands because standing on the truth can never backfire. Maybe in the short term yes, but in the long term if you constantly stand on the truth it pays in so many ways especially through the strength you get from being a truth speaker not just a truth seeker.

 

[Paul]

I'm disappointed that I need to taint such a positive thread with a reminder of this nature, but:

If you think it's appropriate or professional to gang up on community members here, throwing around nothing but personal attacks and conspiracy theories about generative AI, you're going to be shown the door.

In particular, let's take a moment to consider what happens when you dismiss someone's photos and claims on the basis that they were generated with AI. What defense do they have to that? There's nothing they can do or say to prove otherwise. You're seeding hatred and potentially ruining someone's life in a manner against which they have no real recourse.

 

[dnk]

Hi Everyone,

I decided to write in detail about my 2023 meeting with Swetha (@DNGear) though its been almost 2 years because of the recent upheaval on X immediately following her DomainNameGear account being banned - probably because of being reported by her haters.

The date was decided as 7th July 2023 as Swetha (who is located in Hyderabad) said she will be in Bengaluru - she had bought some land and was coming to do some inspection of the ongoing construction. Prior to that we had chatted a bit on X and via WhatsApp and had also had a couple of phone calls.

At least married women can sell their domains, though I alone pay all the domain expenses i am subjected to massive financial fraud, criminal defamation, by the cheater Indian internet companies, government agencies who falsely claim that their greedy fraud employees, allegedly ruchika kinger, riddhi, siddhi, sunaina, asmita patel, Naina chandwani, nikhil chandwani, nayanshree, trishala, Deepika/Veena and other frauds who do not pay expenses,own my domains to pay the frauds monthly salaries.
In addition to refusing to purchase domains, these fraud government employees are also blocking domain sales to others causing great losses to me.

 

[HotKey]

What a great share/post, two wonderful females here in the DN industry!

 

[alop]

Strange how the negative threads always blow up, but when there’s a genuinely positive development, it’s crickets. Honestly thought this one would light up the forum.

Tagging @..., @..., @..., @..., @...

See related subject: Should Popular Discussions Be Popular?

Hello

I understand we are some light years away but at the end of the day


What are you talking about

 

[DomainNature]

She can be real but most of us are asking, where she took the funds to invest into more than 20K of XYZ domains, I for example was teaching how to repair smartphones, this how I made more than 150K USD to be able to invest and sustain my 2K portfolio of unique domains.
I can prove anytime what I say, but for later when my beast gets out!

 

[smartwebby]

She can be real but most of us are asking, where she took the funds to invest into more than 20K of XYZ domains, I for example was teaching how to repair smartphones, this how I made more than 150K USD to be able to invest and sustain my 2K portfolio of unique domains.
I can prove anytime what I say, but for later when my beast gets out!

Your question has a jealous, racist and sexist undertone but I will still answer. As far as I know she is from a wealthy family and she made many many sales - almost 700 as per her content in my book. What more does she need to show as proof when NameBio, DAN and Afternic have all confirmed her hundreds of sales?? The more important thing though is why the heck should she explain anything to anyone to get appreciation instead of suspicion from the community? Don't you celebrate others' wins without question? But you won't celebrate others extraordinary wins if they didn't fit your preconceived notions of a successful domainer right? Or is it because she is Indian and indians are poor? We can't afford them big portfolios? You gotta be kidding me. What kind of mentality even brings these questions to your mind? Who is anyone to question her success when they never questioned any of the other men and women in Domaining, who happen to be predominantly from the west?? Did anyone ever ask them where their funds came from?

Note: I would like the moderators to keep this question and answer because this is key to the human behaviour which lead to the mob bullying and witch-hunt of Swetha. Anyone trying to bully or who is bullied in the next 50 or 100 years should have access to such answers because sadly no one is answering the real issue underlying it all: Why was she singled out? What makes humans resort to such utterly disgusting behaviour? From the beginning it has been one crazy speculation after speculation or insensitive question after question which was consumed and supported by hundreds. So like someone said on X, correcting just the perpetrators of the bullying is not enough. Pointing it out and self introspection is required for EVERY person who said anything demeaning!

The answers to the questions above can be found if you start from the fact that every single one of her detractors, men and women, who have doubted an established and respected community member - one who has been active on namepros for 10+ years - has no right to disrespectfully and shockingly question someone's "means" to funding their success or "clothes" or "lack of social appearances"!! Not one. Not you, not me.

The whole of this saga was vindictive and a witch hunt on a person who did absolutely nothing wrong!! Whether anyone wants to admit it or not that is the fact! It was and remains an assault on human dignity and rights. I would not wish what she experienced on you even "when the beast gets out"! It was shameful, humiliating and inhuman how the bullies overran the community and I haven't read even 10% of it. Do you know how many people were disgusted over it? And do you know that most of the sales do not get reported nowadays because of it? It has cost the community to not only lose face but also lose out on immensely valuable sales data. Did any of the other people who made the biggest sales in XYZ even reveal their sales before she once again was targeted? Did you go and ask Nikul, Drew Rosener, Tony, and all the others who revealed their XYZ sales why they didn't reveal the sales till now? Try them! Pretty sure they didn't because of what the twisted community members did to Swetha, who was only trying to share her sales. Why exactly do we share our sales? All of us share it because we want to help each other right? And she was sharing it because of X Y and Z nefarious reasons? Whoever still believes this really needs a reality check!

Sadly people who have the nerve to pile on such insensitive questions even after so many years of proven sales and not an iota of proof of wrongdoing - that they seem to have "rights" to ask - will almost certainly never change. To them I say, remember, Swetha always had the support of the vast majority of the community but they kept quiet because no one wants to enter the pigs pit with illogical hate mongers who are the minority.

If you are someone not yet feeling ashamed of our community go and read about the effects of bullying. People take their own lives over harsh words been spoken to them - often much lesser in volume. Those at the receiving end not only become withdrawn but are affected for the rest of their lives. Do you think one thing anyone can do for her will take back this disaster? I really doubt any of the key perpetrators would sincerely apologize (because of their ideology that what they did is acceptable) , but I hope people who have the capability to speak well among us will put an end to this utter nonsense that till this day is bringing up questions like this. I am pretty sure those who have heartlessly torn her down will continue to celebrate their own "smartness" in making her go quiet for a bit but that is not the end to the story. I promise you. I and many of my friends in domaining will ensure she is respected and the bullies are made to apologize - even if it is pretentious ones. The higher up ones should remember they were celebrated and not torn down when they succeeded before stamping on others different from them. Everyone has to go into the ground in a coffin or as ashes, and if you cant show humility when you are clearly in the wrong, only you will be to blame for the tarnished legacy you leave behind.