Kevin Ham -- one of a handful of major-league "domainers" in the world and arguably the shrewdest and most ambitious of the lot. Even in a field filled with unusual career paths, Ham's stands out.
Trained as a family doctor, he put off medicine after discovering the riches of the Web. Since 2000 he has quietly cobbled together a portfolio of some 300,000 domains that, combined with several other ventures, generate an estimated $70 million a year in revenue. (Like all his financial details, Ham would neither confirm nor deny this figure.)
And what few people know is that he's also the man behind the domain world's latest scheme: profiting from traffic generated by the millions of people who mistakenly type ".cm" instead of ".com" at the end of a domain name.
Try it with almost any name you can think of -- Beer.cm, Newyorktimes.cm, even Anyname.cm -- and you'll land on a page called Agoga.com, a site filled with ads served up by Yahoo (Charts, Fortune 500).
Ham makes money every time someone clicks on an ad -- as does his partner in this venture, the West African country of Cameroon. Why Cameroon? It has the unforeseen good fortune of owning .cm as its country code -- just as Germany runs all names that end with .de.
The difference is that hardly any .cm names are registered, and the letters are just one keyboard slip away from .com, the mother lode of all domains. Ham landed connections to the Cameroon government and flew in his people to reroute the traffic. And if he gets his way, Colombia (.co), Oman (.om), Niger (.ne), and Ethiopia (.et) will be his as well.
"It's in the works," Ham says over lunch in his hometown of Vancouver, British Columbia. "That's why I can't talk about it." He's nearly as reluctant to share details about his newest company, called Reinvent Technology, into which he's investing tens of millions of dollars to build a powerhouse of Internet businesses around his most valuable properties.
New ways to strike it rich on the Web
Given Ham's reach on the Web -- his sites receive 30 million unique visitors a month -- it's remarkable that so few people know about him. Even in the clubby world of domainers, he's a mystery man. Until now Ham has never talked publicly about his business. You won't find his name on any domain registration, nor will you see it on the patent application for the Cameroon trick.
There are practical reasons for the low profile: For one, Ham's success has drawn enemies, many of them rivals. He once used a Vancouver post office box for domain-related mail -- until the day he opened a package that contained a note reading "You are a piece of s**t," accompanied by an actual piece of it.
Bitter domainers are one thing, lawyers another. And at the moment, Ham's biggest concern is that corporate counsels will come after him claiming that the Cameroon typo scheme is an abuse of their trademarks. He may be right, since this is the first time he's been identified as the orchestrator.
When asked about the .cm play, John Berryhill, a top domain attorney who doesn't work for Ham, practically screams into the phone, "You know who did that? Do you have any idea how many people want to know who's behind that?"
Spreading the word
Kevin Ham is a boyish-looking 37-year-old, trim from a passion for judo and a commitment to clean living. His drink of choice: grapefruit juice, no ice. His mild demeanor belies the aggressive, work-around-the-clock type that he is. Ham frequently steers conversations about business back to the Bible. Not in a preachy way; it's just who he is.
The son of Korean-born immigrants, Ham grew up on the east side of Vancouver with his three brothers. His father ran dry-cleaning stores; his mother worked graveyard shifts as a nurse. A debilitating illness at the age of 14 led Ham to dream of becoming a doctor. He cruised through high school and then undergraduate work and medical school at the University of British Columbia.
Christianity had long been a mainstay with his family, but as an undergrad, he made the Bible a focal point of his life; he joined the Evangelical Layman's Church and attended regular Bible meetings. Ham recalls that it was about this time -- 1992 or 1993 -- that he was introduced to the Web. A church friend told him about a powerful new medium that could be used to spread the gospel.
"Those words really struck me," Ham says. "It's the reason I'm still working."
More at:http://money.cnn.com/magazines/business2/business2_archive/2007/04/01/8403365/index.htm
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Verticlans are online marketplaces that are run by you
Craigslist is undoubtedly one of the best inventions on the web. However, there is always an element of anxiety over who is going to respond to your ads or what kind of house you are visiting to pick up that new dresser, since people are..well, weird. This site eliminates that unknown factor by allowing you to post a classified ad to people you know, or at least buy/sell in a more closed universe of neighbors and friends of friends in your town. From there, the service is just like Craigslist, and free. Write in the title and description, insert the price, and add a few images. Others can subscribe to newly listed items via email. A limitation mentioned by others is the inability to link to another social networking or website.
Verticlans are online marketplaces that are run by you. When you create your Verticlan, you connect the people in your group to each other so that they can buy and sell stuff from each other. You can create a Verticlan for any group of people to sell anything.
More at:http://www.verticlans.com/
Verticlans are online marketplaces that are run by you. When you create your Verticlan, you connect the people in your group to each other so that they can buy and sell stuff from each other. You can create a Verticlan for any group of people to sell anything.
More at:http://www.verticlans.com/
www.orgpluslive.com
If you thought that organizational charts would be forever consigned to the depths of the useful yet boring apps pile, then you’d be wrong. OrgPlusLive has made web based charting that’s easy; so you can chart out your company’s organizational structure, build project teams, keep track of roles and tasks, and you can even organize sports teams. There’s no software to install and all charts are available offline. You can easily export your existing data, for example from Excel or Visio. OrgPlus uses a drag and drop interface; there are templates; and it’s all quite secure. As it’s flashed based OrgPlus works with any platform. Of course there are plenty of collaborative features, and the price starts at $9.95 a month.
“OrgPlus Live is a web-based organizational charting service designed to make it easier to create, maintain and share organizational charts. If you've ever struggled to keep track of different versions of org charts sent over email, OrgPlus Live is for you.”
More at:http://www.orgpluslive.com/
“OrgPlus Live is a web-based organizational charting service designed to make it easier to create, maintain and share organizational charts. If you've ever struggled to keep track of different versions of org charts sent over email, OrgPlus Live is for you.”
More at:http://www.orgpluslive.com/
Mogulus makes TV broadcasting available to anyone
Mogulus makes TV broadcasting available to anyone with a camera and a broadband connection. They provide tools to allow you to make your station look professional, such as with tickers, bumpers, logos, and your own personalized channel colors. Mixing various video clips is easy, and you can even have multiple people reporting live at the same time. Video clips can come from your webcam, YouTube, and your own original shots, mixing them together into your own personal TV show. If you want to share your channel to add content and collaborate with friends from all over, you can all contribute to your station. If you are having a live show, Mogulus even allows you to receive calls and broadcast them to the rest of the users, screening to select only the ones you trust, to make your station more interactive and more like the real deal.
They say:
“We're giving Mogulus users the power to create live, original television programming, all done on their own global broadcasting channel.
More at:http://mogulus.com/
They say:
“We're giving Mogulus users the power to create live, original television programming, all done on their own global broadcasting channel.
More at:http://mogulus.com/
Get Paid For Receiving Ads On Your Mobile
Have you ever thought about the amount of time you have spent reading advertisements? Now think about all the time you have spent reading advertisements about products, or services that you have no interest in buying. mGinger’s aim is to eliminate advertisements that do not appeal to the consumer, while at the same time paying the user for there reception of the ad. mGinger.com makes it possible for anyone with a mobile phone to be paid to receive advertisements in the form of SMS on your cell phone.
The user can sign up via their website, fill out a detailed profile full of interests, enlist their mobile phone number, and right a way begin receiving ads and payment. The user can choose the number of ads, and the time of day to receive ads. Depending on your profile description, advertisements will be targeted specifically to you. The user gets paid per reception of ad, as well as getting paid for the reception of ads of the friends they recommended. The payment is in the form of Rupees, and can reach up to the equivalent of 45 US dollars per month.
In their own words:
“mGinger works by sending you advertisements in the form of SMS to your mobile phone. The adverts will consist of offers, vouchers, news and more. These adverts will be related to areas of your interest that you specify during sign-up. Also, you will receive these only in the timings that you specify. You can refer your friends to become a part of your network. You will get paid for the adverts that you and your friends receive.”
More at:http://www.mginger.com/
The user can sign up via their website, fill out a detailed profile full of interests, enlist their mobile phone number, and right a way begin receiving ads and payment. The user can choose the number of ads, and the time of day to receive ads. Depending on your profile description, advertisements will be targeted specifically to you. The user gets paid per reception of ad, as well as getting paid for the reception of ads of the friends they recommended. The payment is in the form of Rupees, and can reach up to the equivalent of 45 US dollars per month.
In their own words:
“mGinger works by sending you advertisements in the form of SMS to your mobile phone. The adverts will consist of offers, vouchers, news and more. These adverts will be related to areas of your interest that you specify during sign-up. Also, you will receive these only in the timings that you specify. You can refer your friends to become a part of your network. You will get paid for the adverts that you and your friends receive.”
More at:http://www.mginger.com/
Second Brain
Second Brain is a fascinating startup now in testing and accessible by invitation only. The service is a personal library where people aggregate all their creations, services and favorites - and then share and/or publish them online. Second Brain was founded by Lars G. Teigen who also co-founded Making Waves, one of Norway and Poland's leading design and technology services. The project completed its prototype and alpha stages back in November 2006 and the private beta was released in early February of this year. Second Brain's vision is to be the central service for collecting and sharing knowledge in 2008.
The Second Brain site organizes the chaos people feel from utilizing content across a wide variety of services, like YouTube, del.icio.us, Flickr and others. Ultimately Second Brain is trying to fill the niche between people's need to organize and use data, and the need for services to attract and retain users. Second Brain looks at Web 2.0 and beyond as a network of mostly small independent applications serving the needs of the market. Essentially, they see the Internet as a widely distributed desktop, albeit a huge one.
More at:http://www.secondbrain.com/
The Second Brain site organizes the chaos people feel from utilizing content across a wide variety of services, like YouTube, del.icio.us, Flickr and others. Ultimately Second Brain is trying to fill the niche between people's need to organize and use data, and the need for services to attract and retain users. Second Brain looks at Web 2.0 and beyond as a network of mostly small independent applications serving the needs of the market. Essentially, they see the Internet as a widely distributed desktop, albeit a huge one.
More at:http://www.secondbrain.com/
Where Fom This word 'Entpreneurship' came
Frankfullard Says:
What is not so well known is that [the word 'Entpreneurship'] acquired its modern economic meaning from an Irishman, the French-based banker Richard Cantillon. In Cantillon’s view the entrepreneur was someone who identified the possibility to gain from the market by buying products (at that time, agricultural products) at a certain price, and selling at a price to be determined later; the difference between these two being profit or loss. Cantillon considered the entrepreneur, therefore, to be primarily a bearer of risk."
Frank's blog is a terrific addition to the business blogging scene in Ireland and Keith Bohanna has news that he's now been joined by another County Enterprise Board CEO - Sean McKeown in Kilkenny. Sean is off to a flying start with posts explaining what CEBs actually do, tips for trading into Northern Ireland, news of the National Centre for Creativity in Kilkenny and an introduction to the Tech Check initiative -
"Tech Check is basically a mentoring service that provides small businesses with the services of a professional practitioner/adviser, who will undertake an audit of their current utilisation of information and computing technologies (ICT), and present them with a report on areas for improvement."
More at:http://www.frankfullard.com/wordpress/?p=10
What is not so well known is that [the word 'Entpreneurship'] acquired its modern economic meaning from an Irishman, the French-based banker Richard Cantillon. In Cantillon’s view the entrepreneur was someone who identified the possibility to gain from the market by buying products (at that time, agricultural products) at a certain price, and selling at a price to be determined later; the difference between these two being profit or loss. Cantillon considered the entrepreneur, therefore, to be primarily a bearer of risk."
Frank's blog is a terrific addition to the business blogging scene in Ireland and Keith Bohanna has news that he's now been joined by another County Enterprise Board CEO - Sean McKeown in Kilkenny. Sean is off to a flying start with posts explaining what CEBs actually do, tips for trading into Northern Ireland, news of the National Centre for Creativity in Kilkenny and an introduction to the Tech Check initiative -
"Tech Check is basically a mentoring service that provides small businesses with the services of a professional practitioner/adviser, who will undertake an audit of their current utilisation of information and computing technologies (ICT), and present them with a report on areas for improvement."
More at:http://www.frankfullard.com/wordpress/?p=10
Real equity investment opportunities.
Equity funding worth £5m is up for grabs for high growth and technology start-ups in the Midlands.
The reserve pot for this year's Connect Investment Challenge, this is twice the amount on offer in last year’s inaugural event.
The competition is run by Connect Midlands, the not-for-profit network for investors, and high growth and technology businesses in the region.
"The fact that we have been able to more than double the equity funding this year is testament to the success of the inaugural competition,” says Isabell Majewsky, Director of Connect Midlands.
“This year's challenge will reach out across the Midlands and showcase entrepreneurial activity in the region's business community at its very best.
"Its primary objectives are to identify and highlight entrepreneurial activity, to provide a range of benefits and assistance to those companies, and ultimately lead to real equity investment opportunities."
Applications for the Connect Investment Challenge close 4 July. Click here for more details.
http://www.connectchallenge.org/web/million/index.cfm
The reserve pot for this year's Connect Investment Challenge, this is twice the amount on offer in last year’s inaugural event.
The competition is run by Connect Midlands, the not-for-profit network for investors, and high growth and technology businesses in the region.
"The fact that we have been able to more than double the equity funding this year is testament to the success of the inaugural competition,” says Isabell Majewsky, Director of Connect Midlands.
“This year's challenge will reach out across the Midlands and showcase entrepreneurial activity in the region's business community at its very best.
"Its primary objectives are to identify and highlight entrepreneurial activity, to provide a range of benefits and assistance to those companies, and ultimately lead to real equity investment opportunities."
Applications for the Connect Investment Challenge close 4 July. Click here for more details.
http://www.connectchallenge.org/web/million/index.cfm
TomboyTools
Dugger just celebrated her first year as a sales consultant for Tomboy Tools, which sells ergonomically designed tools marketed to women. Tomboy Tools was started in 2000 by three friends in Denver, Colo. The company has grown to more than 1,000 sales consultants across the United States and Canada.
The tools, made for a woman’s hands, are smaller than the standard varieties, Dugger said. The idea is to get tools in women’s hands that they will actually use and that make sense to them. Some of the company’s tools feature a tape measure with measurements of every one-eighth inch labeled, a lightweight compressor that can be picked up with one hand, and a utility knife with an easy-turning adjuster, so no screwdriver is needed to change the blade.
Tomboy Tools is based around home party sales that Dugger said allow her to not only get the tools into women’s hands, but also to teach some basic home repair lessons.
More at:http://www.tomboytools.com/
The tools, made for a woman’s hands, are smaller than the standard varieties, Dugger said. The idea is to get tools in women’s hands that they will actually use and that make sense to them. Some of the company’s tools feature a tape measure with measurements of every one-eighth inch labeled, a lightweight compressor that can be picked up with one hand, and a utility knife with an easy-turning adjuster, so no screwdriver is needed to change the blade.
Tomboy Tools is based around home party sales that Dugger said allow her to not only get the tools into women’s hands, but also to teach some basic home repair lessons.
More at:http://www.tomboytools.com/
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