Acro.net – Technology Rants & Raves by Acroplex®

Less than a week ago, I emphasized the importance of having an exit strategy as part of a business plan. Foreseeing the future is not easy; predicting the impact of changing course is easier.

The news about the demise of the Bido service arrived in ‘shock and awe’ waves yesterday; most domainers are not prepared to see enterprises vanish without much of a warning.

And yet, it all comes down to that exit strategy I referenced, the triggering of a process that calls for one’s attention with a large, flashing ‘Game Over’ sign.

From the very beginning, Bido took on a unique role in the domaining market, as the only auction start-up created by domainers for domainers from the ground up. Technologically speaking, the bidding platform utilized many mechanisms of promoting, reviewing, discussing, buying and selling domains. If you think of domains as a product, Bido created a platform that encompassed a generous set of playgrounds to encourage a transaction.

Was the Bido business model right or wrong?

There is truly no direct answer to that; as the platform evolved tremendously in the two years since its launch. It changed and grew according to feedback and according to the ever-changing conditions of the domain market.

To outright state that Bido failed, one needs to have experienced the dot com boom and bust era first hand. Trust me, I was there and despite closing shop Bido did a whole lot better than many start-ups of the late 90′s; it actually created the technology and the processes that will be further utilized in future ventures.

As Philip II of Macedonia told his son Alexander the Great, “…seek thyself another kingdom, for this which I leave is too small for thee.” Domaining is a small, niche market. Bido created an application and a platform slated for bigger things.

Experience is not gained from success, it’s attained by failing and discovering what went wrong during the course. This is exactly what the Bido guys will be doing right now, after their exit strategy alarms kicked in.

A big thank you to Sahar Sarid, Jarred Cohen and all of those who worked at Bido.

While some of us count down the time until tropical storm Fay leaves Florida behind, there are only about 12 hours left until FixedLoans.com goes on sale on Bido. Not to let this intro go without citing my home state again, the Real Estate market in Florida has been hit particularly bad; homeowners that were lured into ARM type loans have been struggling since the market bubble burst, as interest rates ballooned.

On with the domain auction.

Fixed (rate) loans are the most straightforward home loans: for the entire lending period – be it, 15 years or 30 years – the interest rate is locked at a number fixed at the time of signing the loan papers. Currently, these rates float below the 7% mark.

FixedLoans.com was apparently owned in the past by a famous Greek domain entrepreneur, Michael Bahlitzanakis. If you cannot pronounce his name easily, just take a look at a couple of domains in his portfolio: Mall.com, City.com. Apparently, Michael obtained FixedLoans.com in 2006 for a mere $10,000 – at a time when most lenders scorned the fixed loan option and offered lucrative deals on 3 and 5 year ARM loans.

Today, these types of loans are the least favorite: the fixed loans are more common, especially since lenders have cut down on handing unsecured loans left and right to people with less than stellar credit history.

So, FixedLoans.com goes on sale on Bido – that’s going to be a single day event, much like every other sale that occurs on the newly established domain auction venue. Bido has tapped into the niche market of “one domain per day” auctioning and they seem to be doing pretty well. There are no bidding minimums; everything starts at $1 with no reserve price.

In theory, you can grab FixedLoans.com for one buck – or will it end substantially higher than what Michael Bahlitzanakis paid for it, just two years ago?

Go to Bido.com to find out!