I’m joining Directi’s media businesses, but Domain Name Wire isn’t changing.
Over the past several years I’ve been asked to join a number of established companies and startups. I’ve turned down these offers for various reasons. Until now.
Today I’m announcing that in the very near future, I am going to start working with the following businesses – Media.Net, Skenzo & BigJumbo. All three businesses are owned by the Directi Group (no introduction required) along with the Ashmore Group (a large UK based investment firm that manages $35+ Billion in funds).
What I’ll be Doing
I’ll be doing business development for Media.Net – this is a new contextual advertising business from Directi – where the product delivers the most relevant and engaging ads related to a web page (This is a non-domain business). The technology is able to uniquely blend contextual analysis with behavior data, audience profiling and past performance cues to substantially enhance value for both web publishers and advertisers. The Media.Net platform enables web publishers to generate higher eCPMs in a sustainable manner by ensuring high advertiser relevance.
I’ll also be doing business development for the domain parking companies – Skenzo and BigJumbo.
Why Directi?
Directi is one of the biggest success stories in the industry. Led by charismatic founders Divyank and Bhavin Turakhia, it has grown to over 600 employees across several continents. But numbers aside, Directi has a few characteristics that make it ideal for me:
1. Despite growing into a large company, it still has an entrepreneurial spirit – the company is always searching for the next great idea.
2. It is global with clients in every continent – and offices in India, China, UAE, and Australia – the company is truly global. There are challenges to working with people on the other side of the world, but it’s also an important part of business. Those that can’t thrive while working across cultures will have limited opportunities in the business world.
3. The company is a partner to many in the industry – Despite being a competitor; Directi also has a number of partnership deals with major companies in the industry. More so than any other industry I’ve been involved with, the domain industry is full of competitors that are also partners.
That Directi is able to simultaneously compete and partner with so many in the industry, and recognize the bounds that this imposes, gives me hope that I will be able to continue running Domain Name Wire as it is today…
Domain Name Wire Will Not Change
My new role will not affect Domain Name Wire in any way. I will continue to own 100% of the Domain Name Wire websites and brands. I will continue to blog on the site as usual with no editorial oversight from any of Directi’s businesses.
I’m a realist, and I understand that DNW may face some challenges.
Some companies may understandably not wish to share as much advance information with me as they used to because of my new role. Yet for over five years I’ve been writing Domain Name Wire and handling ad sales for the site. Never during this time have I let dollar signs affect my writing. I trust that I’ve built up enough goodwill to manage this transition. My hope is that I’ll be able to continue my style and breadth of blogging in the future. There will be some challenges for sure, and I won’t be able to write about anything that I know about because of my role at the company. There will also be days that my blogging time is limited.
Domain Name Wire’s disclosure statement has been updated to reflect my role in Directi’s media businesses. Furthermore, any story I write that mentions a Directi product or company will include a disclosure.
Going Forward
Please email me if you have any questions. I’ll also be at TRAFFIC in Miami next week and welcome the opportunity to sit down with anyone and talk about this new role.
Congrats!
Congrats, Andrew!
They are lucky to have you! Congratulations!
Congrats Andrew. Sounds like a win/win for both parties.
Well done Andrew!
Exciting news, Andrew. Bravo!
Congrats!
Congratulations are in order. Keep up the good work.
Henry.
Congrats Andrew
A great company to work for and they are lucky to have you.
Congrats and good luck.
Congratulations Andrew. Directi is a great company and I know you will be a huge asset to their team while continuing to be a key source of news and information for the industry at large with your ongoing good work at DNW.
Congratulations, Andrew! Looking forward to your new ideas.
Felicidades! Looking forward to chatting with you at Domainer Weekend in November.
Congrats, Andrew!
Congrats Divyank and Bhavin for the smart acquisition.
Andrew, I think like when Chef Patrick started to work with Moniker and promised nothing will change regarding his blog, you should quickly start blogging less.
Normal, days ony have 24H and family and friends also count on you!
I am really happy for you and wish you the best, the company you join is TOP!
Friendly
Congratulations Andrew! Keep up the good work and have fun with your new adventure.
Congrats Andrew. A fine choice by them, and a great move for you. Wish you all the best!
Congratz, Directi! 😀
Best wishes with your new adventure Andrew.
Congratulations to Andrew and Divyank.
It is a great move for both parties.
Thanks everyone for your kind words.
Congrats.
You mentioned
“I will continue to own 100% of the Domain Name Wire websites and brands.”
Is DNWStats included in your websites & brands?
Ravi – no changes with DNW Stats as well.
Fantastic! Seem like a great company to work for.
Big Congrats Andrew! i’m sure they made a smart move hiring you
congrats !
Congrats man! Best of luck with them.
Congrats Andrew!
congrats !
Congratulations!
A great opportunity for you!
Congrats are in order to both Andrew and DirectI. Wishing you folks the best.
Congrats Andrew!
Congrats Andrew!
Mucho congratulations, Andrew.
Congratulations Andrew and best of success to you. Directi is lucky to have you.
Personal Congratulations.
The fact that you will still remain at the helm is welcome news for all.
I am sure your stellar reputation and this informative DomainNameWire website,
with its “Insider Industry Services” will continue to grow and prosper and remain viable even more everyday in this coming decade.
Congratulations and Good Luck at Media.net, Andrew. Directi is a great company to work for.
Congrats Andrew – I hope they are making it worth your while!
Congrats. I hope you will be making domainers easy to try with skenzo & bigjumbo since they don’t even respond for new applications for a long time.
@ Bala – that will be changing soon.
Thanks for your quick response. Will wait
Congrats. Don’t forget about us 🙂
Congratulations indeed, Andrew. Best of luck with the new gig.
Great! I’m working for Chinese Traffic. Seems Skenzo also offer chinese parking.
Congratulations! This was a very smart move on Directi’s part as I know you will be a huge asset to their team.
Congrats Andrew! This is exciting news for you, Directi and domainers. Have fun in Miami, wish I could stay for TRAFFIC to meet you.
It will be an interesting experience to check if a new contextual ad network with a supposed better fit with ads but a much lower advertiser competition will lead to a better eCPM.
Good luck for this very hard work!