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Lumis.com Co-Founders Show the Domain World is Still a Land of Opportunity

The domain industry has always been one of constant change. So much so that opportunities come and go, often it seems, in the blink of an eye. There are booms (thank you  

China - it was definitely fun while it lasted and may heat up yet again) and busts (remember when almost everyone made a lot of money parking domains)? Some think the heyday of the entire business has come and gone but newcomers are continually proving there is still plenty of opportunity out there, but it isn't necessarily located where it used to be. 

For most of our readers the business has been all about 

Image from Bigstock

buying and reselling or monetizing domains from their own portfolio, but that very highly competitive space isn't the only way to fly. Lumis.com, a successful new domain brokerage and digital asset consulting company, is a case in point. 

Lumis was founded just last year by three guys who all entered the domain business less than three years ago. One of them has already helped complete a $2 million domain sale (Freedom.com - the second biggest sale of the year to date).

Lumis Co-Founders (left to right): Hobi Michalec, Slade Michalec and Keith Richter

It all started when Lumis Co-Founder Hobi Michalec crossed paths with Domain Holdings Co-Founder John Ferber (who was profiled in our March 2011 DNJournal Cover Story). "I met John while I was still in college at Florida Atlantic University in Delray Beach," Michalec began. "A professor had John come into her class and enlist students to help with a project he was doing on Restaurants.com. At the time, I had absolutely no idea about the domain industry or even that domains were being bought and sold for substantial sums on the aftermarket. After the class, I reached out to John because I had a lot of ideas for Restaurants.com."

"John eventually asked me to come in for an interview. After talking about Restaurants.com for a bit he looked over my resume which consisted of mostly bar or restaurant experience and said, "Well, we normally only hire people with more experience but if you want to come in as an intern at a reasonable rate, that might be something we can do."

John Ferber
Domain Holdings Co-Founder 

"Six months later, I was introduced to the team," Michalec said. "After my initial meeting with Alan Dunn (their former Managing Director) it took a while to really define my role with Domain Holdings. Given my lack of credentials, and how dynamic this industry is, I can understand why this was indeed an uphill battle. Step one was persistence. I kept showing up at the office to see if a decision had been made regarding hiring me. I really wanted this paid internship. Later, I found out that just before both times I'd shown up they'd spoken internally about needing to contact me and when they opened the door...there I was!"

"Once I received my offer letter I was a bit confused. Why were they going through such formalities for an intern? This doesn't make any sense. It turned out they'd completely forgot I was offered an internship, and instead gave me a full-time job. I kept my mouth shut and didn't say anything. The next year or so I worked to the bone learning as much as I could," Michael recalled.

"After about two years there Keith Richter was introduced as the new Sales Manager at Domain Holdings and soon after that, my brother Slade was hired. This was where a real culture was created. There was a positive synergy and a real work ethic that was pushing us to new heights in everything we were trying to accomplish."

Hobi and Slade Michalec at the 2015 edition of 
THE Domain Conference in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

"Fast forward a few years later to 2016. We launched Lumis and have assembled a dynamite team," Hobi declared. Co-Founders Slade Michalec and Keith Richter have brokered many impressive domains and continue to add value to the domain industry as well."

"Slade got his start in internet marketing, working on the affiliate marketing side of things where focus was on website optimization and user retention/recovery. After hearing of domains for several years from me, Slade became more fascinated with the world of domains. Not by accident, he eventually made the career jump and began brokering premium domain names at Domain Holdings and has not looked back. Most recently, Slade helped close the 7-figure sale of Freedom.com."  

"Slade's done phenomenal work with both the startup community and more traditional organizations. With each day, he aims to provide education and understanding of the world of domains to the entrepreneurial and corporate world."

"Keith brings to the table decades of experience from the corporate sports advertising world. This is apparent in his sales. His understanding of how to break down a corporation and work with the correct chains of command have most recently found him brokering Aerial.com from T-Mobile and Pilot.com from Hearst Communications."

"We're working hard to bridge the gap between investors and end-users. It's too often that we speak with someone who could truly use and benefit from a domain but doesn’t fully understand why. We understand branding and the value of domain names and 

Photo from Lumis.com website

strive to bridge the educational gap of our clients. Whether it's aggressive outbound marketing on your assets or stealth acquisitions, we're more than happy to help!" Hobi concluded.

*****


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