Company News•
on January 19th, 2011•
- NEWS RELEASE -
Domain Evangelist to Help “Drive the Bus” for New, Premium Domain Name Service
VANCOUVER, BC, JANUARY 19, 2011 – Left of the Dot is pleased to announce that Frank Michlick has joined the company’s executive team to help build and grow the technology behind the new domain name monetization service that enhances premium, multi-million dollar domain names.
Left of the Dot has developed a platform to enable premium domain name holders to lease sub-domain inventory to small businesses, creating significant new, recurring, revenue streams for the domain holder. The monetization service leases these “Marketing Names” along with a fully-equipped, ecommerce-ready website to small businesses giving them a highly-brandable web presence. An early example of such an implementation is the generic domain name www.Villa.com that is presently under development by the company. At this website, villa owners and agents can lease premium sub-domains, such as Tuscany.Villa.com, Bali.Villa.com, or Luxury.Villa.com. For many of its domains under management, Left of the Dot builds out the entire website for the generic domain name, converting the once parked page into a real and sustainable web business.
Said Left of the Dot co-founder, Chris Jensen: “I am delighted that Frank has agreed to become our CTO. We were looking for someone to drive our technology hand in hand with our rapidly growing business; Frank brings a skill set and business understanding that few people in the world can match. Not only does he possess a great technology mind, strong character, and immense passion, but his knowledge of Domaining, domain registrars, and the entire domain ecosystem is second to none.”
Frank Michlick, best known within the domain name industry as one of the founders and lead contributors for Domain Name News, began to work with Internet technology in 1993 and registered his first domain name in 1995. His company, CyberTeam, helped many big European brands build their first internet presence. From 1997 to 2000 he worked to shape one of the biggest German Internet Service/eBusiness providers. During his 5 years at the largest wholesale registrar (Tucows/OpenSRS) he enabled many domain name portfolio owners, registrars, hosting companies and resellers to better manage, monetize and grow their domain names. Most recently, Frank’s entrepreneurial pursuits led him to found DomainCocoon, which provides services in the areas of domain name management, custom registrar creation, and ICANN & ccTLD accreditation consulting.
“Like many Domainers, I learned about Left of the Dot when the company was pitched successfully during the Test Track event at the June 2010 T.R.A.F.F.I.C. conference in Vancouver. When I learned that the company was seeking a CTO and technology evangelist and spoke in detail with them, I knew that the company was the right fit. Together, we have an opportunity to create something special and unique for the domain industry while building something of lasting value. I look forward to the adventure and journey ahead.”
**About Left of the Dot **
Left of the Dot is combining successful website building technology with advanced SEO practices and high-profile multimillion dollar domain names to change the rules for businesses that need to be online. The Left of the Dot platform appeals to owners of generic domain names, seeking recurring revenue for selected assets. To learn more visit: www.leftofthedot.com.
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Media Contact
John Lyotier
Email: john [at] leftofthedot.com
Phone: +1.604.454.7935
Company News, Ramblings•
on January 15th, 2011•
Tickets were booked today for our leadership team to head to DOMAINFest. We will be in the Los Angeles area for the entire week (Jan 31 – Feb 4). So if you are planning on attending the conference (or live nearby), chase one of us down and we would love the opportunity to share what we have been up to.
Careers•
on October 15th, 2010•
Wanted: One geek with a penchant for web development, entrepreneurism, and network infrastructure.
We’re a Vancouver-area, angel-backed startup who needs a lead technologist to join our early stage venture. Still in closed Beta, we are launching a new domain monetization program for high-quality, generic domain names. Learn more about us at www.LeftOfTheDot.com.
If you want to join a company in the early days while we try to build something spectacular, then keep on reading. If this does not sound like you, then best of luck in your drab, gray cubicle and somewhat boring existence. With us, you won’t have a cubicle. While we have an office that we use occasionally (Gastown), you will have the flexibility of telecommuting from your home as long as we see you once or twice or as circumstances dictate.
While we feel the opportunity and upside is enormous, your day-to-day responsibility will be:
- Planning our technology roadmap and future products
- Coding in PHP, Java, or other languages (hey you tell us… you’re the technologist!)
- Managing offshore resources who complement your skills and take on some of the “busy” work
- Automating tasks and workflows to help us build a repeatable, scalable business model
- Building out our web application and client dashboard
- Working within our network infrastructure, DNS configurations, and data center to ensure that we are up and running at all times
- Living and breathing internet technologies and business operations. You will be the guy/gal that we turn to when things go wrong or when an opinion on what to do next is required. You should be a Jack /Jill of all trades
- Provide overall technical guidance, leadership, and insights
- Help build really cool stuff that you will be proud to show off to your friends and family
Personality
- You must want to work in a startup. Previous startup experience is desired
- You must be a risk taker who has a passion for entrepreneurism
- You must love to code and execute on a project
- You must be a self starter and able to manage yourself and your projects
- You should be someone who gets carried away simply by building something really cool, only to emerge in a couple of years and say, “Wow! Look what we’ve built together”
- You must be able to laugh at yourself and roll with the punches
Essential Skills
- Senior-level PHP 5.2+
- Able to make WordPress sing and dance by programming custom templates, widgets, and data bases
- JavaScript + jQuery; Ajax
- XHTML, CSS
- MySQL
- XML, APIs, DNS, SEO, JKLMNOP
- [Note: We would have inserted another cool acronym here if we already had a Lead Technologist to tell us what we needed]
- Strong familiarity in Object Oriented Programming / Software Engineering
- Able to communicate technical requirements to programmers around the world in ways that they can understand
- Fluency in best practices for web-based architecture and design
Useful Things
- Knowledge of Domain Names and Internet Marketing
- Knowledge of Website Design (not essential as we currently outsource this)
- Knowledge of content management systems and web development frameworks
- Knowledge (and willingness) that sometimes it requires we work around the clock — not because someone is poking you with a sharp stick, but because you want to.
- Knowledge that you don’t know everything and that we don’t know everything, but if we put our heads together, we can probably figure it out.
Compensation & Next Steps
- See first paragraph where we mentioned the words “early stage”, “start-up”, and “beta” more often than necessary. However, we also mentioned “angel-backed”, which means that we have some funds, though not a lot. As we build this out together, we can all share in the upside and increase compensation as revenues increase. If you are on EI and FutureWorks eligible, then this may be a perfect fit
If you are interested in charting the unknown, then please send us a recent resume (online is fine) along with your salary expectations to careers@leftofthedot.com
Thanks in advance for considering us, and while we thank all those who apply, only those who are being considered may be contacted.
Company News•
on August 16th, 2010•
Left of the Dot Media introduced at TRAFFIC Test Track Vancouver receives funding
Vancouver, BC and Atlanta, GA– August 16th, 2010 – Left of the Dot Media has closed a funding round successfully as a result of participating in the Test Track program at TRAFFIC Vancouver. Test Track gives entrepreneurs the opportunity to present their business idea to a panel of high net worth investors in front of a live audience of experienced Domainers.
At TRAFFIC Vancouver in June 2010, co-founders John Lyotier and Chris Jensen introduced the Left of the Dot domain monetization concept and answered questions from the panellists and audience. At the end of the session 3 of the 4 panellists expressed an interest in finding out more about the company. During the course of the 2-day TRAFFIC event several delegates approached the company for further details. By the end of the show a handshake deal had been reached with a private investor, for the full investment amount. After a period of intense due diligence the deal has now completed.
TRAFFIC organiser and industry leader Rick Latona: “We are delighted to see Left of the Dot funded as a result of TRAFFIC. Our mandate is to improve the domain industry, and by facilitating great companies like this we create new opportunities for all portfolio owners.” The next TRAFFIC Conference takes place in Dublin, Ireland on August 23/24th 2010 and some places are still available for people to pitch in the Test Track program. Entrepreneurs can submit here: http://targetedtraffic.com/test-track.php
John Lyotier explained the importance of Test Track, “It was important for us to launch Left of the Dot in a location where everyone understands this industry. The panellists asked great questions which helped us to improve our business plan and many delegates expressed interest. We were able to do a deal with a great investor who we see as a full partner in our business. I cannot imagine a better place to launch a domain name based business than Test Track at TRAFFIC”.
The Left of the Dot platform, currently operating in closed Beta, allows domain name owners to create a regular, sustainable income via monetizing sub-domains, while substantially increasing the traffic, SEO and inherent value of the root domain name. The first generic name on the platform – www.Beef.com, targeting the beef and ranching industries – was launched in early August and several other names are due for release in the next few weeks.
About TRAFFIC
T.R.A.F.F.I.C. is the domain industry’s premier domainer conference. With more than 500 attendees, including the leading executives and experts, T.R.A.F.F.I.C. is the largest and most successful domain conference in the world. The purpose of T.R.A.F.F.I.C. is to bring domain owners and aggressive, forward-thinking sponsors together along with investors, so that each can maximize their effort. Collectively, the core attendees control over 20 million domain names and over 50 million DAILY unique visitors. The attendees comprise a small but immensely powerful and forward thinking business group that has finally been recognized for the power they wield and the knowledge they possess. Learn more at: www.targetedtraffic.com
About Left of the Dot Media Inc.
Left of the Dot Media is combining successful website building technology with advanced SEO practices and high-profile multimillion dollar domain names to change the rules for businesses that need to be online. The Left of the Dot platform appeals to owners of generic domain names, seeking recurring revenue for selected assets. Each domain managed by Left of the Dot creates a topic specific center of excellence while providing great experience for customers and suppliers alike. Learn more at: www.LeftoftheDot.com
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For more information please contact:
Rick Latona
TRAFFIC
Rick@RickLatona.com
John Lyotier,
Left of the Dot Media
888.633.4596
John@LeftoftheDot.com
Earlier this month, we had an opportunity to pitch at the Test Track event for TRAFFIC Vancouver. This was our first public ‘hello world’ as we start down a process that is sure to be a wild ride. As part of this, we built a website for our brand and slapped up a “Beta” next to the logo, after all… we were truly in Beta.
This gave us a chance to reminisce to four years ago when a few of our principles were involved in another startup and we labeled the initial release as”First Draft”, arguing that “Beta” in the world of Web 2.0 software often implied a product that was, “entirely workable, defect free, and a good option for all that ails them.”
Here is an excerpt from the blog post that was writte for that launch, as come to think of it, a lot of what we have done so far definitely falls into the whole concept of “first draft” as well.
Unfortunately, people (thanks in large part to Google and the whole Web 2.0 phenomenon/bubble) expect that when you see Beta next to a product, it is entirely workable, defect free, and a good option for all that ails them. Heck, even Microsoft is charging for their Beta.
Our justification for naming is just this. Think back to writing those college/university papers when you first put all your thoughts down on paper. Sometimes you get it right the very first time and your prose are perfect, and with a few edits here and there … whammo – you submit an A+ paper. But the reality for most of us isn’t like that. You put your first draft together with an underlying genesis of an idea at the core, cobbled together with bits and pieces of stories you read, the odd plagiarized copy here and there [legal note: this is a reference to using Google's API, not an Apple/Creative thing], and paragraphs that sound good, but you know they are not in the final order. If it is a thesis, you may even have a committee who reviews your first draft and offers you feedback on how to improve, change, modify, etc. You may even get steered down an entirely different path by the feedback you receive. And that is why it is Calgoo First Draft.
And like the term paper, we gave ourselves a deadline. Otherwise, products are never released, and they will never be more than 90% done. So if you want to label it, you can call it version 1.0 if you must. But we ask this of you, don’t grade us yet. This is just the beginning.
So like then as is now… this is just the beginning.
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