The first part of this posted was lifted directly from Frank Schilling's blog. A blog all folks trying to make money online should read every day. Frank was answering a reader about something he mentioned in one of his posts.
'What is Rick's 5 year nap theory, if you don't mind
elaborating?'
***Frank Schilling writes*** After the November 2004 announcement
of Marchex's acquisition of the Yun Ye domain portfolio, Rick
Schwartz made a fabled post on his private board that spoke to the fact that
the domain industry was in its infancy.. He surmised that the industry
would go through a great evolution as corporate America learned about the power of
domain names as a tool to drive targeted paid-search leads. He posited that the
Ye transaction was just the glimmer of the beginning and advised all parties
reading that post not to speak to anyone or do anything hasty in the early innings.
The best course of action in his opinion was to 'take a 5 year nap'.
Rick reminds me a
bit of Columbus..
a guy without GPS but with a sextant and a good sense of the sea. His line has
always stuck with me. While I have personally gone with the tide to see if deal
opportunities play themselves out equitably, so far hindsight has shown me that
Rick's advice was spot-on. I would have personally been better off (saved
opportunity cost) to speak to no-one and take a 'five year nap',
letting others find their own way through the education process and value
proposition of domaining ... No offense to my former would-be suitors, who likely
view their experience with me through a similar but reversed optic ;)
The preceding post was lifted directly off of Frank
Schilling’s Blog. He did a great job
describing what I do. My exact quote was 'The Marchex deal created a FLOOR not a ceiling and the best thing any of us can do is take a 5 year nap and do nothing.' Point is, sometimes you can earn more doing nothing than doing something. This was one of those times.
After reading Frank's post I
discovered something that could possibly illustrate why GUT INSTINCT is key to
whatever you do. Gut instinct is something that you may have on one thing and
completely not there on another. But when you have that “GUT”, you have a tool
that all other tools together can’t trump. Here’s why: Imagine you are at McDonald’s. You give them a $50
bill and the person behind the counter
gives change for $500. That person input the wrong amount, and they are
dependent on the cash register to provide the answer because they have no way to
determine if the answer is right. They only know what the cash register says.
They have no “Gut instinct” that says it is wrong to give him change for $500
instead of change from $50. The “Machine” said so. But if you don’t know how to
add, subtract, multiply and divide on your own, the long way, the logical way, you
will never be able to catch your mistakes. Means you will get wrong answers for
a LIFETIME! Means you will never exercise or develop that muscle. Means that logic and reason based on numbers
may be missing. The KEY is knowing you have tools, knowing you have matches to
make a fire, but also have the knowledge and patience to rub two sticks
together until you CREATE that fire. For those that buy domains strictly based
on stats, I would suggest that may work sometimes, but without knowing the nuts
and bolts BEYOND the stats, I am sure there is opportunity passing them by just
because so many have yet to develop that 6th sense. That sense that
knows the difference between a $50 bottle of wine and a $500 bottle. That TINY
SLIVER of difference is what makes ALL the difference. Reading between the lines. Seeing the domain
in a future tense at a future stage at a future level of development. In a future that includes growth and changes
in the net as well as changes in human behavior.
What is interesting is I wrote this several weeks ago before
the flap about “Gut instinct” in
politics. It’s okay to follow someone to the end of a cliff. It is not ok to
follow them off the cliff. When we get to the stage that “Gut instinct” is
looked at with disdain, then we are all in trouble. If we have no “Gut instinct”
we may as well be robots. The one thing that truly separates us from machines
is having instinct. Knowing right from wrong, having a sense of what to do in
any given situation. If the goal is to
eliminate “Gut instinct” then I say that is a goal that is going off the cliff.
Gut instinct is a gift we all have and few hone. I have learned there are two
places where gut instinct will get you nowhere. Corporate
Politics. No room there for the most valuable of all tools. Believe me, I understand why many won’t agree
with my post. If you have no “Gut instinct” how could you possibly agree? I
would not expect you to agree with something you can’t see and may not believe
even exists. So I understand 100% and maybe now others will as well.
Have a GREAT day!
Rick Schwartz
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