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Line 45: − + − − − Ostrofsky and long time friend − Pinky Brand (right) at the 2008 − T.R.A.F.F.I.C. conference in Las Vegas. − − ever paid for a single domain name at that time – just the URL, no website, no income stream, no database - nothing but the URL. The purchase price of $150,000 created a media frenzy - they went nuts with one headline reading “A Fool and his Money were just parted," Ostrofsky smiled. − Of course it was Ostrofsky who would have the last laugh. Fast forward to 1999 when Ostrofsky was planning to launch a magazine about doing business on the Internet on Business.com. "I received a phone call from Jake Winebaum, an executive that had worked at Disney and had left to partner with Sky Dayton, the founder of Earthlink, to form their internet incubator called eCompanies.com in Los Angeles. They were popping out internet firm after internet firm," Ostrofsky said. "I had sold my publishing and trade show firm less than a month before Jake called and the sale of my firm created a tax bill that was more than my income had been for the previous 20 years - combined! I had not started Business.com magazine yet so I had the domain just sitting there." − − "After Winebaum's call I contacted his competitor who I knew and discussed the sale of Business.com to Jake. The competitor said “I’ll give you $2 Million if you’ll sell it to me.” By the end of the week, in one 24 hour period, I sold Business.com to Winebaum for $7.5 Million and sold eBusiness.com to his competitor for $10 Million (a sale we did not tell the media about). Jake on the other hand, wanted to release the info to the media about his purchase of Business.com because he knew it would get him a ton of free PR about his companies." − − − − Ostrosky reflected on the role the purchase and sale of Business.com played in creating a new industry. "I think the purchase of Business.com for $150,000 got the attention of those I will call “leaders” and they started buying up domain names from 1994 -1999. The sale of Business.com for $7.5 Million in 1999 and landing in the Guinness Book of World Records was the real benchmark that got the attention of the rest of the world which realized that there was a real serious industry here. A gold rush for sure! One could buy a domain at that time for $35 a year and sell it for millions?! I told the media the same thing I said five years earlier - that “Domain Names are Internet Real Estate,” Ostrofsky said. − Over the years there has been some debate about how the Business.com sale at $7.5 million was structured - was the deal really worth that much in cash or was it mostly stock that would later deflate when the .com bubble burst? Obviously, Ostrofsky is one person who knows all of the details and he shared them with us. − − "At the time of the sale, I had just sold my other company so I sure didn’t need the cash much less the tax burden. I knew about a business concept known as “put rights”. My tax issues for that − − calendar year were big enough to say the least, so I asked if I could buy into the company as they were going to build a search engine called Business.com. The “put right” allowed me to keep the cash or get stock anytime I wanted to over the next three years," Ostrofsky said. It gave me the luxury to see how the firm would be doing - a kind of "free look" before I Invested. At the end of three years, I decided to hedge my bet and took part cash and part stock - approximately 3% ownership of Business.com. It was a good deal as we sold Business.com in 2007 for $345 Million," Ostrofsky noted about the blockbuster sale of what by then had become a well developed business. − Ostrofsky Re-Invests His Earnings to Build a New Internet Empire − − While I a lot of people would have taken such a windfall and ridden off into to the sunset, perhaps to play golf or buy their own private island, Ostrofsky, whom the Houston Chronicle aptly described as a "technology wildcatter," kept seeking out new opportunities and today he operates a sizeable portfolio of profitable web based businesses. Here's a summary of those with his comments on each: − − SummerCamps.com: "I bought this domain from a doctor in Philadelphia whose son had created a very crude site. It had much more potential than what was on the site. I gave it to the woman who used to help run and operate my publishing firm and we paid for the purchase of the domain in 2.5 years. It is the #1 site on − − − most search engines for the terms "Summer Camps" and is meant for parents to find the right summer camp for their children. It just throws off cash each year but if the right buyer came along, I’d sell it. − eTickets.com and e-Tickets.com: "I own those and simply point the traffic to a third party that runs a ticket site and sends me 10% of the profits each month. I don’t do a thing but get that money each month. − − CuffLinks.com: "Ravi Ratan, my partner, founded and runs the site. I became his partner after I had such a good experience with his firm. I had the money and experience in building firms and he is a great operator. The firm has doubled since I got involved and today we do over $5 Million a year and CuffLinks.com is the largest seller of cuff links on the market today. We sell retail on the site and wholesale to most major department stores in the U.S. As I teach folks, "Online - The Riches are in the Niches." − − Blinds.com: "This is the best of the success stories. The founder and CEO of the firm is Jay Steinfeld. Jay and I partnered up when we met in Houston and decided to raise money to build the firm and buy the Blinds.com domain name. Line 87:
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Line 122: − − Final Words of Wisdom − − Asked for any parting advice he would like to share, Ostrofsky added, "You cannot do it all yourself." If you do, you are limited in how big you or your firm can become. I hire great people and pay them well and learned to try my best to stay out of their way. The internet and technology allow you to automate so much, outsource, dropship, etc. but you need smart people around you to keep you on your toes and take the ball and run with it. So I live by these main points in my business life:
no edit summary
His sister Keri inspired him to join the domain industry. His sister became a professor at University of Texas after completing PhD from Harvard. In 1994, Marc went to speak to his sister's class about business and she showed him the "Internet". He came home and searched domain names. After some search he decided to buy business.com. He consulted his father and bought the domain Business.com for $150K.
His sister Keri inspired him to join the domain industry. His sister became a professor at University of Texas after completing PhD from Harvard. In 1994, Marc went to speak to his sister's class about business and she showed him the "Internet". He came home and searched domain names. After some search he decided to buy business.com. He consulted his father and bought the domain Business.com for $150K. He sold this domain for $7.5million in 1999 and used a lot of money on buying more domains.
iREIT: How an Innovative Idea Went Wrong
iREIT: How an Innovative Idea Went Wrong
The formation of Internet REIT (iREIT) was another important chapter in the Ostrofsky story though that company hit a major pothole along the way. The company was the first to have some real heavyweights from the mainstream business world (including Starbucks founder Howard Schultz and Texas tycoon Ross Perot) backing a major domain project. They got off to a fast start but then came a widely publicized lawsuit filed against iREIT by Verizon.
The formation of Internet REIT (iREIT) was another important chapter in the Ostrofsky story though that company hit a major pothole along the way. The company was the first to have some real heavyweights from the mainstream business world (including Starbucks founder Howard Schultz and Texas tycoon Ross Perot) backing a major domain project. They got off to a fast start but then came a widely publicized lawsuit filed against iREIT by Verizon.
Get Rich Click! How a Five-Year-Old Book Idea Landed Ostrofsky on the New York Times Best Seller List and May Turn Him Into a Multimedia Star
Get Rich Click! How a Five-Year-Old Book Idea Landed Ostrofsky on the New York Times Best Seller List and May Turn Him Into a Multimedia Star
Over five years ago Ostrofsky told me about plans to write a book encapsulating the knowledge he had acquired along the way. He even had the title nailed down – Get Rich Click! As I noted earlier, the book became a reality this year. Ostrofsky told us about the long journey from the original concept, through the execution of the project and finally the realization of the dream in 2011.
Over five years ago Ostrofsky told me about plans to write a book encapsulating the knowledge he had acquired along the way. He even had the title nailed down – Get Rich Click! As I noted earlier, the book became a reality this year. Ostrofsky told us about the long journey from the original concept, through the execution of the project and finally the realization of the dream in 2011.
"My ultimate goal is to write many business books and I wanted to make certain I made a great first impression. After a very long journey, it culminated in Get Rich Click! becoming a New York Times Bestseller which is a tremendous honor and thrill. In addition, it made #1 on other best seller lists including the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Amazon and Barnes & Noble. I’ve also had the privilege of being on ABC-TV's hit talk show The View twice and that was fantastic!," Ostrofsky said.
"My ultimate goal is to write many business books and I wanted to make certain I made a great first impression. After a very long journey, it culminated in Get Rich Click! becoming a New York Times Bestseller which is a tremendous honor and thrill. In addition, it made #1 on other best seller lists including the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Amazon and Barnes & Noble. I’ve also had the privilege of being on ABC-TV's hit talk show The View twice and that was fantastic!," Ostrofsky said.
Get Rich Click! Author Marc Ostrofsky on ABC-TV's The View (June 9, 2011)
Get Rich Click! Author Marc Ostrofsky on ABC-TV's The View (June 9, 2011)
Marc & Bev Ostrofsky with Robin Williams in Houston (March 2009)
Marc & Bev Ostrofsky with Robin Williams in Houston (March 2009)