15 months ago, I wrote a post comparing GoDaddy's $250 million valuation (according to MarketWatch) relative to Facebook's $550 million. MarketWatch said social networks could be great environments for conducting business in. At the time, I didn't think Facebook delivered on this promise, and I suggested GoDaddy could step up to the plate:
"I'm envisioning a Linkedin-like service where GoDaddy's many million customers could create business profiles which might include photos/descriptions of products/services, links to investors/vendors/partners, memberships in industry associations and networking groups..."
I exchanged a couple of emails with GoDaddy VP Technology Mike Chadwick, who ultimately shrugged off the idea.
Since then, Facebook has evolved first towards - then far beyond - Linkedin. Although GoDaddy has grown by leaps and bounds, its business model remains unchanged. Which is why Facebook director Peter Thiel gets to call $3 billion a "low ball offer" for his $7-10 billion company, while GoDaddy's Bob Parsons doesn't. Just think: where would Facebook be today if it squandered its resources on Superbowl advertising instead of innovating??
Also since then, Demand Media has become GoDaddy's closest competitor. Led by former MySpace chairman Richard Rosenblatt, the company is currently the second largest domain registration provider. During his HostingCon keynote, Richard hinted that the social networking tools behind ChannelMe.tv aren't just for the consumer market. As of late 2006, Demand Media already had a $580 million valuation...
Doesn't it seem like GoDaddy should reconsider the value of social media? I really, truly think the most important benefit that GoDaddy (as well as 1&1, Hostway, Endurance International and its other traditional web hosting/domain registration competitors) fails to deliver is facilitating connections among its customers.
Isabel
Great post. I found your blog post through a google alert I have on one of the companies you mentioned.
Regards
Clay
Posted by: Clay Cook | July 31, 2007 at 05:58 PM