Frank Schilling clarifies his thoughts on latest .xyz promotion

After Konstantinos wrote a very good post on the latest .xyz promotional email from Uniregistry, it seems Frank Schilling took the time to send a follow up email.

I think this was a smart move on Frank’s part as some might have read the first email as a solicitation.

I wonder if it’s wise to raise prices and talk about why that is needed with your own strings, then turn around and promote .88 promotion on a category with little resale potential.

Here is the full text of the email:

A Word To The Wise
About an hour ago we made an announcement about a new category of numeric domains released at low prices today by .XYZ, coined .XYZ’s “1.111B Class”. As a retail registrar, we are delighted to support our registry business partners, and we understand that .XYZ is going to put a significant marketing budget and all of its creative talent to bear to popularize what it sees as a special class of registration.

At the same time, you should know that neither Uniregistry nor I provide investment advice. Uniregistry sells domain names as tools for internet-based business and communications. Nothing in our emails or on our website should be considered a solicitation or offer to buy or sell a domain, TLDs, or domains in general as an asset class, as a security, option, future, or financial instrument.

As many of our customers know, my passion is domain name investing. Over almost two decades actively investing, I’ve experienced significant successes and failures along the way. The losses are always more memorable than the gains, and as I reflect on the current state of the industry and all the exciting new extensions and opportunities that exist today that weren’t available to me when I was just getting started, I feel compelled to share one of the biggest lessons I’ve learned:

Domain name investing is highly speculative. It’s not for everyone. It’s extremely difficult to predict how the value of a domain name or portfolio of names will change over time. There is a certain amount of luck that goes into any investment turning out positive, but because domain names are not traded on an efficient exchange or regulated by governments in the same way securities and other traditional investment vehicles are, there is greater volatility in this form of investing, and results will vary greatly based on timing, markets, and many other unpredictable events.

The names I’ve purchased that have had the biggest positive impact have been the ones that have some real utility in the world. It’s the names that I believed people would find desirable to put in use in commerce or other creative pursuits. That said, nearly every name investment I’ve made (including those which look brilliant today) were largely ridiculed by observers at the time I made the investment.

The launch of the 1.111B Class of domains from .XYZ is a great example of how we can unlock potential for new and creative uses for domain names. No one could have predicted that .XYZ would become the largest New GTLD registry and their large marketing war-chest is being brought to bear again. We don’t know how these names will be used but we know that many will get registered. The real value will be realized when people begin to find creative ways to apply these low cost names in business and other ventures. I’m personally extremely confident in the utility of low-cost, universally resolvable identifiers for emerging technologies, but the ultimate outcome is in the hands of imaginative people like you.

In closing to my last email, I wrote, “invest responsibly, and good luck to you”.

I mean that sincerely.

Frank