The dotcom boom was in full swing, hot URLs were all the rage. We had just paid I believe $800k to acquire the rights to Evolve.com from a web developer (lucky guy!). The PSA (Professional Services Automation) market was in high growth mode. Niku, Portera, Novient and others were flooding the place with not only enterprise software offerings (hosted in the case of Portera) but also due to the popularity of “marketplace type” concepts like Ariba and others (who had gone public with massive valuations),
Portera, Leading Business Portal Vendor, Announces Support for Sun ServiceProvider.com Initiative Leverages New Sun Technology, Programs to Build Solid Infrastructure for Service Providers – New York, NY – May 5, 1999
Given this, the concept of a “Services marketplace” seemed a natural extension to our marketing and positioning strategy. But what URL to choose and get?
My idea was to get the best URL possible at the lowest cost (certainly not $800k that we had spent on Evolve.com) so I set about the task of researching the ownership of the coveted single word that described the whole market in a nutshell, “services.com”.
What I discovered was that it was not owned by a corporation but an individual who resided in Bermuda (or at least that was what the registration indicated). His name was Richard, but unlike today, there was no indication that the URL was for sale. In fact, there was not even a holding/placeholder page.
So from my personal e-mail account I negotiated with Richard, never mentioning that Evolve was the final intended buyer. The ultimate price we agreed to was … drum roll…. $25,000! An unbelieveable bargin. I immediately got CEO and Finance approval and began the payment and transfer process. Unfortunately I don’t have my personal e-mails from back then, but there were a few hairy moments and eventually we did have to reveal that Evolve was the transfering entity and my name was used as the registrar (Sigh for a few years while I was at Evolve, my name was the registrant for a multi-million dollar URL). Anyhow, some of the last minute e-mail thread is below. Last check the services.com URL is now owned by Oracle Corporation through their Primavera Software who got it when they bought Evolve. More on the services.com concept later and how it really made a huge difference in the eyes of investment bankers as well as customers and prospects for Evolve’s long term vision.
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From: Chen, Ramon
Sent: Thursday, May 13, 1999 12:01 PM
To: ‘xxxxx@hotmail.com’
Cc: Bantleman, John; DeLeon, Russ
Subject: URGENT: Need corrected RCNA for SERVICES.COM
Importance: High
Richard,
How are you, I left you voice mail as well about this glitch we have encountered with the transfer of the domain name through Network Solutions.
They are saying that because the noterised Registrant Name Change Agreement you filled out listed Global Media Limited instead of just Global Media (which is what is in their whois database records) they will not complete the transfer. Given this, please can you send us another noterized form with the corrected inclusion of just Global Media in the appropriate places. (Also could you make sure that the e-mail in your contact is correct, the version that was submitted had an “i” missing in hotmail.
Please can you get back to me as soon as possible so that we can sort this out.
Many thanks
Ramon
—–Original Message—–
From: Chen, Ramon
Sent: Thursday, May 13, 1999 11:36 AM
To: ‘transfer@internic.net’
Cc: Bantleman, John; ‘xxxx@hotmail.com’
Subject: RE: SERVICES.COM
Importance: High
Dear Sir/Madam,
The name of the RCNA that we submitted does match your records:
The owner is Global Media as indicated in the whois record as well as the RCNA we submitted.
Our NIC Tracking number is NIC-990428.ea21
The contact for Global Media is Richard xxxx and his e-mail address is xxxx@hotmail.com
The e-mail address on the RCNA was slightly incorrect as an “i” appears to have been omitted by Richard when he filled in the RNCA. Otherwise all information appears to be accurate.
I am following up with a phone call but have been on hold for a long time.
Please can you contact me at 415/305-6544 to expedite this matter.
Many thanks
Ramon Chen
—–Original Message—–
From: Domain Registration Role Account [SMTP:domreg@internic.net]Sent: Wednesday, May 12, 1999 10:45 AM
To: john@evolvesoftware.com
Subject: Domain Name SERVICES.COM;
Registrant Name Change Agreement
Network Solutions, Inc. is in receipt of your Registrant Name Change
Agreement (“RNCA”). Unfortunately, we cannot process the RNCA because of the following reason(s):
1. The current Registrant/Organization you listed on the RNCA is different than our WHOIS database record. The current Registrant’s name or address can be found through our Web site at
www.networksolutions.com
If the parties still wish for the Registrant Name Change Agreement to be processed, please remedy the situation(s) described above, and submit a corrected RNCA to the Registrant Change Group at Network Solutions, Inc. Please note that Registrant Name Change Agreements may be submitted via fax to (703) 742-6950. Alternatively, they may be sent via postal mail or courier to:
Network Solutions, Inc.
505 Huntmar Park Drive
Herndon, VA 20170
ATTN: Registrant Name Change Group
If you have any questions regarding this message, you may reach a staff member of the Registrant Change Group by email at transfer@internic.net.