What's the take on FUSU.com?

[newdomainer.mobi]

I've signed up for an account at FUSU dotcom & at present it's in beta testing...

A stock exchange for domains... this could be the way to go?

Anyone involved in the live testing?

fusu.com


Be nice to release some equity... you're happy to sell a good % of your house to the bank so why not domains too?

Gary

 

[filter]

I've put just low $xxx on the line in the "live beta" over the past 2 months or so since it opened. There are some signs of life there, and the few support tickets I've put in have always been responded to quickly. The core of the system seems solid enough at this point - I would imagine that there are going to be quite a few important details to be worked out carefully before the market is ready for mass consumption. Right now, I would recommend that anyone considering entering the beta do so only with a small amount of money that you won't miss too much if you don't see it again for a long time, if ever - it's a high risk, high reward project still in its early stages with a long way yet to go - really better suited for people with lots of patience and a good understanding of the risks involved. (Otherwise, you will be a nervous wreck waiting to see more activity once you've sunk your $$$ into a market that is not yet very liquid or proven. Do yourself and fusu a favor if you're looking to do a few quick trades and cash out - don't do that! Better to wait another 6 months or whatever for the site and other market participants to be ready for that sort of activity - in the meantime, can stick with trading LLLL.com or whatever in the forums ...)

One of the principals (Tobias) is a member here on NP, so you might get a better sense of his approach and general wherewithal by searching for his posts. I've enjoyed my brief correspondence with him regarding the fusu beta and some related ideas, but I try not to bug him too much unless I can offer something to help move the project forward.

I'm comfortable with the risk (VERY HIGH RISK - NO JOKE!) but really, at this point, would not be comfortable recommending anyone else to jump in without first doing their own research, maybe a lot more thoroughly than I have ...

 

[nicholas]

This is a first, so they will either have the benefit of the early (first!) mover, or be the one who maks all the mistakes that others who follow learn from (the pioneers getting the arrows in the arse).

For me though, it appears to be solid so far, and short only of the concerns in the other thread about enforcement and practical viability and feasibility, it's about time something like it came around for domains.

 

[cache]

can fusu style comply USA SEC/banking rule?
what is the legal implication?

 

[duceman]

This is a first, so they will either have the benefit of the early (first!) mover, or be the one who maks all the mistakes that others who follow learn from (the pioneers getting the arrows in the arse).

For me though, it appears to be solid so far, and short only of the concerns in the other thread about enforcement and practical viability and feasibility, it's about time something like it came around for domains.

Did they have more names available in the private testing?? Right now there is only a few, and they aren't great quality.

 

[filter]

not a huge selection of high-value names to choose from last time I checked ... It is a beta test, after all. I have one of my decent "corporate grade" LLLL.com names listed there (market cap $300) and there is also a mid-grade LLL.com with current market cap around $5000 which I own a bit over 1% of now ... The fact that the LLL.com has not been bid up to the 6K "LLL.com floor" yet indicates that people are not jumping to risk much actual money in the beta test.

But other than that, pretty slim pickings there at the moment, IMO.

I've been thinking about offering a few more LLLL.com for listing now that I've got some more obviously higher-value ones that I'm going to be holding onto for the long run anyway ... But at the moment really more inclined to just hang back and watch to see how things develop over the next few months. There were over 100 participants in the "live beta" so seems to me that there should have been potentially quite a few more good names offered for listing. On the other hand, without a huge amount of money to go around in the little test market, maybe better that there were just a few decent ones with realistic pricing available for testing purposes.

Looking forward to seeing what's next though - I was excited to see this idea come together - and, given the amount of work that needs to go into putting together a solid, secure trading system, would expect it to take some time to go live in a big way. Managing expectations with this sort of project is important - right now, I think people are now pleasantly surprised to see it moving toward the next phase after a bit of a lull in visible activity last month.

 

[newdomainer.mobi]

I'm waiting for the results with baited breath......... if it works (or others that follow work) then I'm all for listing my domains rather than selling them outright; it will offer fantastic gearing for hand regging.... reg for $7.... list at $100... retain $55 in shares
reg 6 more hand reg's & get $55 in equity plus $3 cash back (once the 45% you've listed are taken up).

Then you have 6 more listings...........

The cumulative / compound affect could be enormous.... you don't even need a good ratio of hits to misses to make good money because the other share holders have removed your risk entirely!

Keep us posted Filter, good luck!

Gary

 

[jido]

Need to read about this... It does address a need in the domain name market (liquidities and risk sharing) and I had some thoughts along these lines... The big problem is ownership of a domain once it is on the share market.

 

[filter]

yeah, once the domain has been "shared" then you're locked into keeping it "public" - unless you (or someone else) does a buyout to get all the shares back in one basket.

so you give up a bit of flexibility in the long run in return for the quick cash from the "IDO" (Initial Domain Offering) ... It's analagous to what private companies give up when they "go public" I guess. No such thing as a free lunch, but it seems like a decent way to get some cash out of your domain for other investments while still retaining partial ownership (at least 55%) for the long haul ...

 

[newdomainer.mobi]

Filter, Do you know when it goes live to the public?...........

 

[JimmyRich]

so the stock market sucks, well never fear domain marketing is here!

 

[Broker]

Personally, I think this is doomed for failure.

 

[filter]

Filter, Do you know when it goes live to the public?...........

no idea, would expect it may still take at least a few months, maybe quite a bit longer than that. Better not to rush these things when there is serious money on the line. Might try sending an PM or email to Tobias for more details - I'm just a beta tester (with a vested interest in having some more folks come into the market to bid up my shares!)

Fusu still has a long way to go to become a serious bigtime online market as far as I can tell - really don't want to give anyone the wrong idea about just jumping into this as an "investment" without taking a serious look at the potential show-stoppers that may come up. A lot of unknowns still to be reckoned with - I will really be pleasantly surprised if it does take off in a bigger way over the 12 months or so - but I won't be holding my breath. Without knowing much else about the project, would just wager it's about a 50/50 chance that it will all work out in a good way sooner or later (maybe that's optimistic, just saying either it will or it won't - as much as I hope it does!)

 

[tobiasr]

Hi all,

thanks for being interested in Fusu!

We plan to launch the non-beta version at the Traffic conference in Las Vegas in February.

-Tobias

 

[newdomainer.mobi]

Hi Tobias

I'm glad you found this thread; I think a lot of folks are talking about FUSU... can you answer a question for me that I know others have mentioned too;

How did you come to be based on Slovakia? A lot of guys have commented that there could be a psychological barrier to overcome with you not being in New York or London.

Obviously, you're in Europe & that should be ok but I suppose its only natural to have in the back of the mind that Slovakia isn't the 1st place you'd think of when it comes to investment markets..

Apart from that I'm well impressed with the site; can you tell us a bit more about your background & if I may be so rude; who is behind FUSU as far as financially backing the project?

Good luck for February by the way... I hope I can be a part of it.

Kind Regards

Gary

 

[tobiasr]

Hi Gary,

thanks for the kind words! We are based in Bratislava, Slovakia (one hour off Vienna) mostly out of chance... I happened to move here three years ago because of my (Polish) wife.

We do realize that we will need an office in the US as soon as we see the first substantial success; in Europe, our partner EuroDNS is based in Luxembourg, which is one of the financial hubs...

I would love to meet you at Traffic and I am also planning to go to Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York right afterwards - anyone who'd like to hear the Fusu story in person just drop me a PM.

Also have a look at the press release when we announced EuroDNS as strategic partner and investor:
http://www.fusu.com/blog/fusu/fusu-...e---announces-public-beta-and-key-partnership

-Tobias

 

[newdomainer.mobi]

Tobias

PM sent

 

[dax44]

hi I like the idea a lot - I have signed up

but I have one or 2 thoughts ...

isn't the stock market driven by investment growth + dividends?

since we are now treating the 'domain' as a 'company' - a permanent fixed entity , there is no requirement for it ever to be sold - therefore although the paper value may increase without a dividend it is a high risk investment not unlike penny stocks. Of course if there is also little fluidity then the investment is almost dead money?

then again I never was good with money so lets wait and see

:sold: