Web startup opens up its doors during conference in Prague.
Elephant Orchestra has been a relatively quiet company in the domain name space. Sure, it released Elephant Traffic and presented at DOMAINfest in January. But it used DOMAINfest Prague, where the company is located, to really unveil itself.
I checked out the company’s offices this week. The company started in a small apartment, moved into a small office, and then started breaking down the walls to expand their office space. They might need more office space soon — they’ve quickly grown to 45 employees.
The coolest part of the office is the roof, which has a panoramic view of Prague. The photo below really doesn’t do it justice, but it gives you an idea:
Company founder Jan Barta held a party at his apartment Tuesday night and he lent one of his cars as an official conference vehicle:
I expect you’ll be hearing a lot more about this company in the future.
Jim Holleran says
The guys never answered there e-mails after I met them at DomainFest in January. Actions mean everything, words mean nothing!
Josh says
Easy come….
Deke says
Never answered my emails either.
Deke says
But…..then again neither did PPX.com, Octane360 (after I gave them a list of 500 nice geos to look at, at their request, not mine!), Skenzo, TrafficZ (even though I have had an account since, like, 2002) and DDC.
I’ve been domaining since 95′ and have one of the nicer portfolios around, but I’m not going out of my way to convince anyone. I’d rather see how they treat ordinary folks first before I show any real cards.
Truth is, for parking, nobody touches Parked.com and Fabulous.com for customer service.
I think many of these companies are more worried about their big buck arbitrage feeds/clients than making money in the parking biz quite honestly.
Jim Holleran says
I been in this business since 1997 and do it full time. I been to over 15 domain conferences. This is for the “newbies” reading this blog: Don’t ever believe
what you hear and read until you test it yourself. Andrew, you got a great blog, one of the best, but had to call out the hype behind Elephant Traffic. I rather them be in a garage and answers e-mails. They are very unprofessional. Parked.com is the best I have dealt with. Like I said before, ignore everything people say, and follow there actions. Therefore, you won’t waste your time.
DomainManagement.net says
Listen i`d wish to meet the perfect company
or person they just dont exist .i was there at
at the elephant party even though i did kinda
gate crash with a few others is was a great time , elephant even though a competitor should be given some leeway , they seem to have a lot more staff now so give them a try ,dont bad mouth a company for a email not answered i am sure we have all been guilty of that before if were being honest . also i would like to say a big thanks to domainfest for providing a great conference and networking opportunities the last day especially group b in the morning shooting
thanks best regards steve
Jim Holleran says
Try about 10 un-answered e-mails. Bad customer service ` All talk and no action from them. Once they get there shit together, maybe I will look at them. However, people should go with proven companies such as Parked.com, Fabulous, that have there shit together. I will tell you Elephant Traffic did give good massages at Domain Fest Booth. I will give them that. I say it how it is, and I am in the top 1% in this industry.
DomainManagement.net says
ok jim maybe i should not comment i would like to tell you the amount of run in`s i have had with various supposed industry experts etc etc
all i can say is that there seemed to have quite a few staff around and maybe it would be
good to give them feed back on the phone
to be honest i did this regarding the domainfest auction @new york it was dire
really bad
they seemed to have listen and it was lots better this time around ok the domains were not that great but the auction was performed a lot better .
in my other company i love it if a customer rings up and ask`s to speak to the owner regarding a compliant it means i get to know
what really going on and not just what my staff are telling me so give jan a call
ps i will offer to develop you a site free
of charge just so you can suck it and see as they say, as i think most people now are realising that a developed domain is a better proposition and more digestible for a end
user than a domain name
best regards steve
Moriel says
They are not the first and definitely not the last.
The truth is that people are busy and dont have time to answer people they dont really know, or dont see immediate value out of them. The domain industry is a very clicky industry(no pun intended). So you win some and you lose some and so do they.
For instance even Oversee who seems so professional, and have Monte and Jeff who know there stuff – still miss a lot of opportunities out there. They also don’t respond to emails at times – but that’s ok.
We are all human and we all make our choices for the better or for the worse.
As one says: The graveyard is filled with those who thought they are irreplaceable.”
If you cant do business with Elephant then move on to the next one”.
Deke says
Companies should have their sh*t together before they start out of the gate….not ignore 10 emails. That is how you get a bad rep.
A company that ignores 10 emails should not get a second chance, and quite frankly, there are not many REAL players in the domain space. They lose one they lose big.
Now, if you are saying it takes a phone call, and not an email to get things done, then they really are living in the pre-Internet era.
Please, give me a break. They can read emails and they can also read this post also.
I do know Jim, and he is in the top 1%. Like I said there are not many REAL players in the industry. Elephant Traffic has lost Jim and they have lost me. How many others have they lost?
There are only about 200-300 REAL players in the domain space. Knowing this, no email should go ignored.
That said, I will repeat what I said previously: They don’t give a sh*t about domainers…..just their arbitrage deals. That is where the real money is, but they have to be “sactioned” to do parking, or they can’t do arbitrage. They go hand in hand.
Think about it for a moment, there is not much money taking 10% to 50% of domainer’s income, at least not BIG money.
How do you think they go to all the conferences, sponsor them also, keep growing, and never make a single improvement to the parking interfaces?
Why make improvements to the interface? The money is in arbitrage. Both Fabulous and Parked, the two biggest and best have not done anything noteworthy to the interface in years and years.
It’s the same old tired templates and images.
Hint, hint!! The money is not in satisfying domainers.
Jim Holleran says
You know what would be great, it they had a rating system of companies in the domain industry. I think ParkQuick.com did this but I don’t think it’s up to date.
@Steve, I understand what you are saying but I am a stay at home dad with twin 2 year old daughters and I work this business 2-3 hours a day and they need to be 100% productive. From 1997-2007, prior to kids it was 12-16 hours a day.
I can’t chase companies around, making phone calls, etc. I am all willing to give new companies a chance but when I read how great they are, how they throw great parties, how big and fancy there offices are, I need to call them out by saying my experience of 10 un-answered e-mails. BTW, I met them at DomainFest in LA in January. Maybe, they they are time-tested and in 1 year from now, I might take a look but they lost my interest.
@Deke, who has been around since 1995, is 100% correct. You can’t teach experience, and he does know what he is talking about.
Thanks, Jim
DomainManagement.net says
Okay Okay i take your points and also Deke
thanks for the info.
i was only trying to point out i had a nice time and they had improved staffing.
So Domainers dont get left out in the cold
can i ask a question , okay so if parking is now so bad why the hell do it ,yes you guys
your right , and so why do you not develop
i am not trying to start a argument or even
want to win a argument i just want to try and understand what is it the American market wants i really want to know and dont say anything to do with parking , because your all saying it stinks
@jim i envy you as some of the nicest memory`s i can remember was when my daughter at that age there just so cute when they dont answer back lol
and yes you would be a little pissed if you sent 10 emails in and got 0 back
So Please dont shout me let me try and understand
Thanks Steve
Jim Holleran says
Steve,
I just don’t have time to develop. When the girls start school next year, I will look more into it.
I am lucky to have; ForclosedHomes.com which pays my bills through affiliate program. And I have sold some names for a good ROI. Regarding Parking, even though it down 50-80% depending on who you ask, it still provides a decent ROI for 0 time spent on it and I do get some sales through the sites that offer a for sale link.
What I don’t have is time. I chose to spend all my daughters waking hours with them. Steve, you seem like a great guy and a great father as well. I am rooting for Elephant Traffic. Maybe, I came down to hard. Don’t want to sound to much like Rick Swartz (lol):). I respect Rick a lot though.
Andrew Allemann says
I wasn’t trying to review Elephant Traffic’s services, since I’ve never used them ๐
I agree that companies should respond to inquiries. It’s the professional thing to do, even if it’s “we don’t have time right now.”
I also think that “we” as domainers are some times too hard on companies that are in beta. I blame Google, which has held onto beta tags too long. Now we all expect things to be perfect even though they are labeled ‘beta’
Deke says
Yeah….I probably got too riled up also…. but I was just venting from the lack of progress in the domain space for domainers. ๐
DomainManagement.net says
Do you know something i think your all a bit like me in a way sometimes i get a little pissed and regret it . and @Andrew made a very good point some times small companies on start up have all the passion then circumstances come into play its happened to me i would not like to start with my last year ๐ . But i am really determined person and i solider on and on as does my belief in this industry .@jim thank you for your kind words i dont get chance to be a parent long story bitter divorce etc but it was nice you mentioned your daughters it made me smile and brought back good memories ๐
@ deke i share your frustration and to this end at the moment i am trying to wrestle with different finding different levels of development for different levels of domains
as i think the one size fit all programmes
dont do us domainers any favours . i have just opened a development office of 8 to try
get better leverage on my domains yes i become hooked lol and have 3,500 babies
to nurture and love so if you could give any suggestions etc on what you guys would like to see then i would love to hear from you
with any ideas . it was really nice to see that people can change there opinions and in my view show`s that you all have strong character`s ๐