About Mike Mann

Mike is Chairman and Founder of WashingtonVC, a private equity group whose portfolio of companies share resources, talent and technologies to deliver innovative digital products and services. http://washingtonvc.com/

In ‘94 he founded Internet Interstate, which he sold to Verio in ‘97. In ‘98, he founded BuyDomains.com, the world’s largest secondary market for domain names, and sold majority interest to Highland Capital and Summit Partners in 2005, along with the “Seeq.com” search engine portal. http://buydomains.com/

Between ‘98 and ‘01, he served as the founding Chairman of ByteBack.org (501c3), which operates free computer training centers serving inner-city communities.

Mike is the Founder and Chairman of Grassroots.org (501c3), a global network providing free services to nonprofits and promoting social action. He also manages Make Change! Trust, a charitable fund that supports select 501c3 organizations. See http://grassroots.org/ and http://makechangetrust.org/

Mike’s book can be found online at http://www.knowledgeispower.org/

Contact: mikemann at mikemann dot com

The Interview

<DroptheMike> In your own words, how do you explain domain monetization and its benefits. How has the industry evolved since the early days?

<Mike Mann> The Internet offers businesspeople a permanent channel to provide goods and services. One of the most valuable things you can do with your online investments is to brand them professionally and properly, and make sure they are part of a natural online search optimization and conversion system which is really fundamental to any good online pursuit. Your name must be unforgettable and easy to spell, and I think should exactly directly relate to your work, like software.com for a software company and phone.com for a phone company, and SEO.com for an SEO company. It is efficient to leverage these contextual names and commerce channels permanently as there are ever more PCs, high speed connections, and new communications devices coming on line. If the name has no alternatives like singulars, plurals, alternate language spellings, is short, is a dotcom, has traffic, hot market… then it has more value and is more useful to a company in commerce.

<DroptheMike> Domain monetization, how does one get started? Is it just about registering domain names and parking them with a company like Sedo?

What is really involved in successfully monetizing?

<Mike Mann> I find it hard to believe an amateur would make much money in a parking business, but they could invest in premium domains and build permanent well-branded commercial activities online.

<DroptheMike> Speaking of making money. You have a track record of investing in companies and selling. When you first got started, were you always planning to get involved in the building and selling of companies?

<Mike Mann> Actually the selling of our first one was a little of a surprise along with the Internet revolution itself, a couple million and suddenly I was hooked.

<DroptheMike> When you are looking to invest in a company do you have particular things you are looking for, “warning signs”?

<Mike Mann> Typos. Rude people. Broken code or web sites. Poor organizational habits. Incomplete org chart. Lack of contracts or documentation or business plans or professional financial records.

<DroptheMike> What is the best way to get Mike Mann’s investment attention?

<Mike Mann> Be the best in the areas in which we want to invest. Know us.

<DroptheMike> What is the worst?

<Mike Mann> Be the worst or fail to be in the areas in which we want to invest. Don’t know us.

<DroptheMike> Any real examples you feel you can share?

<Mike Mann> I usually read any business plan sent to me by a respected source, if it matches our broad interests we may study it a bit more and consider formal due diligence. Only the very best stuff makes it to the top of the list, and then completes the whole process, those are the companies we currently own.

<DroptheMike> “Make Millions and Make Change - Strategies for Success”. Can you tell us a little about this?

<Mike Mann> I have taken everything I know from business and tried to explain it in simple language with emphasis on modern marketing and technology. The premise is you can get rich and channel the excess resources you create in to the social actions you cherish.

<DroptheMike> How did the idea for this come about?

<Mike Mann> I wanted to communicate a large amount of important information to the masses for free, and this seems like the best vehicle.

<DroptheMike> Who should read this?

<Mike Mann> Everyone in business or who does some charity work

<DroptheMike> Anything new in the pipe we should keep our eyes out for? What is in store for Mike Mann in 2008?

<Mike Mann>Well mostly we want to continue to build out the world’s best domain names in to sustainable corporations that are their best natural matches. And also Voice Over Internet Protocol. Geek services, new age telecommunications services, search engine optimization. RFID, Smart Cards, Biometrics.