dotMobi CFO gone

[kiwi]

http://www.bfnnews.com/display/?id=3...d=standardNews
"...CryptoLogic has appointed Huw Spiers as chief financial officer with effect from 15 August…. Before joining CryptoLogic, he was CFO at dotMobi"

[Andres Kello]

http://www.bfnnews.com/display/?id=3...d=standardNews
"...CryptoLogic has appointed Huw Spiers as chief financial officer with effect from 15 August…. Before joining CryptoLogic, he was CFO at dotMobi"Thanks for sharing, kiwi. This is unfortunately more ominous news and I can't say it is surprising. It's interesting that mTLD haven't even updated their management team (http://mtld.mobi/content/dotmobi-senior-management) on their website to exclude Mr. Spiers. Makes you wonder if they've even got a replacement.

In case others were not aware, Catrina Sheridan - VP Products & Marketing at dotMobi (http://www.linkedin.com/companies/dotmobi) - is also gone (http://ie.linkedin.com/pub/catrina-sheridan/7/291/266).

These two departures together with these 5-6 other departures (http://mobility.mobi/showthread.php?38087-Will-dotMobi-shut-down&p=136137&viewfull=1#post136137) continues to be quite revealing. This is no coincidence.

IMO, the entire management team at dotMobi needs to be replaced - starting from the top - as they've shown themselves to be incompetent, so maybe this is good news after all. Although, to be honest, it's probably too late to make any significant difference now as they've burned too many opportunities beyond recognition.

mTLD have been the biggest corporate disappointment I have ever witnessed and this is yet another example of why.

[Scandiman]

http://www.bfnnews.com/display/?id=3...d=standardNews
"...CryptoLogic has appointed Huw Spiers as chief financial officer with effect from 15 August…. Before joining CryptoLogic, he was CFO at dotMobi"

Somebody please correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't Huw a recent replacement for Norbert Grey?



In case others were not aware, Catrina Sheridan - VP Products & Marketing at dotMobi (http://www.linkedin.com/companies/dotmobi) - is also gone (http://ie.linkedin.com/pub/catrina-sheridan/7/291/266).

That was quick. I don't think I heard anything from Catrina during her short tenure at mTLD.

[Vance Hedderel]

<<It's interesting that mTLD haven't even updated their management team on their website to exclude Mr. Spiers. Makes you wonder if they've even got a replacement.>>

As you will have noticed from the CryptoLogic press release, Huw Spiers will not begin his tenure there until 15 August 2010. Until that time, he is continuing his current role with dotMobi, so deleting him from the dotMobi Web site at this time is premature. (And why did CryptoLogic issue a press release three months prior to Huw Spiers' start? I do not know.)

<<Somebody please correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't Huw a recent replacement for Norbert Grey?>>

Huw came aboard at the beginning of 2009 to take on CFO responsibilities -- including the search for and transition to new dotMobi owners -- given the growth in competition in the mobile space and resulting issues in the then-existing ownership structure. This transition has now been accomplished, and changes in management after such a transition are a common part of the integration process during and after any merger or acquisition (which may also answer the question in regards to Catrina Sheridan.)

Other questions?

[Scandiman]

<<It's interesting that mTLD haven't even updated their management team on their website to exclude Mr. Spiers. Makes you wonder if they've even got a replacement.>>

As you will have noticed from the CryptoLogic press release, Huw Spiers will not begin his tenure there until 15 August 2010. Until that time, he is continuing his current role with dotMobi, so deleting him from the dotMobi Web site at this time is premature. (And why did CryptoLogic issue a press release three months prior to Huw Spiers' start? I do not know.)

<<Somebody please correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't Huw a recent replacement for Norbert Grey?>>

Huw came aboard at the beginning of 2009 to take on CFO responsibilities -- including the search for and transition to new dotMobi owners -- given the growth in competition in the mobile space and resulting issues in the then-existing ownership structure. This transition has now been accomplished, and changes in management after such a transition are a common part of the integration process during and after any merger or acquisition (which may also answer the question in regards to Catrina Sheridan.)

Other questions?

Thanks for chiming in Vance, much appreciated. Is there anything you can share that will help us understand the new corporate structure for mTLD that you're alluding to? I understand it may be somewhat redundant to have bean counters at mTLD as well as the parent organization, consolidation there makes sense, but the marketing needs for .mobi are so distinct from other tld's in their portfolio that it doesn't quite make sense to consolidate the marketing efforts under one umbrella unless .mobi is simply another tld in their perspective. From our perspective we really don't see any difference following the transition.

[gogo]

[/URL]
If you go to cro.ie you get the Irish Company Records Office you can search for a company and see all their latest public records
http://www.cro.ie/search/CompanySearch.aspx (http://www.cro.ie/search/ListSubDocs.aspx?id=398040&type=C)

[URL]http://www.cro.ie/search/ListSubDocs.aspx?id=398040&type=C

Here are the MTLD docs filed in 2010.

You can see they amended their governing document, called the Memorandum and Articles, changed the location of the company office, and changed seven pages worth of Directors (members of the Board of Directors).

They haven't filed their earnings statement for 2009-2010. Will they match the big losses of the last 2-3 years?

The simplest thing for Afilias to do is no marketing or expenditure. As long as their operating costs per domain are below renewal or registration fees, they make money. They just need to leave the Dotmobi website alive and retain one or two MTLD staff for PR purposes.


ub NumDoc NumDoc TypeStatusReceivedEffective/ Accounts To DateScannedPagesSelect69692101B10 CHANGE IN DIRS/SECREGISTERED09/03/201010/02/2010Yes269492271B2 CHANGE IN SITUATION OF REG OFFICE.REGISTERED23/02/201010/02/2010Yes169438741M1 NOTICE OF CHG. TO SINGLE MEMBERS COMPANY REG 5REGISTERED18/02/201010/02/2010Yes169438691G1 SPECIAL RESOLUTIONREGISTERED18/02/201010/02/2010Yes169438692AMENDED MEMORANDUM AND ARTICLES.REGISTERED18/02/201010/02/2010Yes1869438751B10 CHANGE IN DIRS/SECREGISTERED18/02/201010/02/2010Yes769343142ACCOUNT DETAILSRECEIVED10/02/201030/04/2009Yes2669343141B1 ANNUAL RETURNRECEIVED10/02/201030/01/2010Yes23

[Andres Kello]

Other questions?Yes, why did so many high-ranking employees leave the company in such a short period of time? Also, why were their tenures so short? Specifically, I'm talking about these:


David Ryder, Chief Marketing Officer
Amy Mischler, Vice President, Mobile Marketing Evangelism
Catrina Sheridan, Vice President, Products & Marketing
James Pearce, Chief Technology Officer
Jo Rabin, Chief Technology Officer
Andrea Trasatti, Director, Technology Strategy
Paul Nerger, Vice President, Advanced Services and Applications
Norbert Grey, Vice President, Finance
Huw Spiers - Chief Financial Officer


Thanks.

[Vance Hedderel]

In this instance, I'm referring to the move from a board of 14 directors to a direct ownership scenario with Afilias. Afilias and dotMobi have been working on the best ways to integrate the two entities for what we would have called "synergies" in the 1990s.

[Vance Hedderel]

<<David Ryder, Chief Marketing Officer>> David Ryder was not CMO, although I think that title may have appeared in some outside-of-dotMobi documentation. His role evolved into running world.mobi, which became a separate company (see http://www.worldmobi.co.uk/company). (BTW, they're about to do some very high-profile work at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. I'll have some more information to share about that in the coming two weeks.)

The remainder were due to either family or location issues (or combined family and location reasons). Amy, Andrea and James still work with dotMobi. Nothing reflective of either dotMobi or of the employees (well, other than having babies or international emigrations or family illness -- all of which are out of dotMobi's control.) (I hope you weren't imaging non-stop firings or constant turnover from untenable positions; that couldn't be further from reality.)

Just for counterbalance and internal continuity: Caroline Greer and Ronan Cremin (and others in the finance and engineering areas) have been in the company since day one and continue going strong. Pinky Brand had been there since day two or so.

[noonoo1]

Hi Vance, i look forward to the fifa info. :biggrin:

Will .mobi be attending the TRAFFIC conference in Dublin this August ?

[gogo]

(I hope you weren't imaging non-stop firings or constant turnover from untenable positions; that couldn't be further from reality.)


Statements from Dotmobi that are far from reality have been a regular feature here. Remember when Caroline Greer promised us an imminent initiative that would hugely boost the value of Dotmobi? So tell us, what was the initiative and what effect did it have?

So how much money did Dotmobi lose in 2009-2010 and how long does Trey Harvin's contract have to run?

[Vance Hedderel]

To answer the questions above ...

1. dotMobi has the TRAFFIC conference in Dublin this August on our schedule for planned events.

2. <<Remember when Caroline Greer promised us an imminent initiative that would hugely boost the value of dotMobi? So tell us, what was the initiative and what effect did it have?>>

The initiative you're referencing was victim to the market issues that felled many companies in the past year; this was something that an outside company was planning; all contracts has been signed and -- as Caroline noted at that time -- it was a big initiative. Because the initiative involved an outside company and there are non-disclosure elements in the contracts, I am not allowed to post details. And however disappointed you might be, I promise the dotMobi team was more disappointed.

3. <<So how much money did Dotmobi lose in 2009-2010 and how long does Trey Harvin's contract have to run?>>

That comment is one that looks at dotMobi solely as a domain company. The .mobi domain is one part of a bigger mission to make the web mobile -- and for dotMobi to supply the tools which make that happen. To that end, the company is equivalent to any software concern that is ramping for growth. Losses were projected and planned for early on (and were in public financials I reviewed before I joined the company in 2006 ... and I'm sure someone has posted those on this forum sometime along the way).

And let me say one thing: I worked for both Bernie Ebbers and Carl Icahn. I know where CEOs can go wrong; I've seen it up close. Trey Harvin is working hard -- and is working well -- to ensure the long-term success of the dotMobi company and the .mobi domain. At the risk of making a statement that might be perceived as "far from reality," you will be seeing some interesting evidence of that work this coming summer.

[coast]

Interesting. I'm glad to see that Amy, James and Andrea are still in touch. I've seen good things from them and am glad they continue to be part of the mix.

[keithmt]

IMO the chance for mobi to amount to anything substantial is long gone. I'm dumping the majority of my cargo before the mobi ship goes under. Mtld refuses to do the simplest of things that would help the extension. For example, I contacted them this week and made an offer on 2 premium names. They said no and didn't even bother to counter offer. It makes no sense from a business standpoint to sit on tons of inventory as it loses value...especially when offers are on the table!

I've said this before and I'll say it again...mtld should take a hard look at what .tv just did. Release the premiums and charge an initial higher reg fee which is in line with the name. It makes perfect sense at this point.

[Scandiman]

Mtld refuses to do the simplest of things that would help the extension. For example, I contacted them this week and made an offer on 2 premium names. They said no and didn't even bother to counter offer. It makes no sense from a business standpoint to sit on tons of inventory as it loses value...especially when offers are on the table!

Not to sound like the mTLD defender I'm often accused of being, but what value is there for the extension as a whole for any Premium names to transfer hands to domain speculators? Did you invest the time to prepare and submit a complete proposal for the development and promotion of said Premiums?

[keithmt]

Not to sound like the mTLD defender I'm often accused of being, but what value is there for the extension as a whole for any Premium names to transfer hands to domain speculators? Did you invest the time to prepare and submit a complete proposal for the development and promotion of said Premiums?

It's the fact that those premiums should have been sold years ago which may have gave a boost to .mobi. Who's to say if the buyers would have been speculators or endusers?...we'll never know now. I cannot understand the logic of rejecting offers on prime inventory when the value continues to plummet. The names I inquired about were actually one in the same. I'm not going to say what they were and no I did not submit a development plan, nor should I have to. Did anyone submit development plans before they purchased premium mobis at auction? I also know for a fact that a member here at Mobility approached Mtld with an offer to buy a premium name and the sale went through. I'm sure it has happened on more occasions than I am aware of. Bottom line here is that a radical move has to be made in order to give mobi any kind of a shot in the marketplace. Releasing those 5k withheld premiums for registration would probably spark interest in this extension and actually help the situation. Or Mtld could continue doing business as usual and watch the extension dive further and further into the abyss!

[gogo]

IMO the chance for mobi to amount to anything substantial is long gone. I'm dumping the majority of my cargo before the mobi ship goes under. Mtld refuses to do the simplest of things that would help the extension. For example, I contacted them this week and made an offer on 2 premium names. They said no and didn't even bother to counter offer. It makes no sense from a business standpoint to sit on tons of inventory as it loses value...especially when offers are on the table!

I've said this before and I'll say it again...mtld should take a hard look at what .tv just did. Release the premiums and charge an initial higher reg fee which is in line with the name. It makes perfect sense at this point.

The last auction in November 2008 got very low prices and some names did not sell. Reserves on many names were dropped at the last minute, that is, during the last day of a seven day auction.

It's up to Afilias now - you could try contacting them directly. Don't assume any of the Dotmobi staff will be there six months from now.

[keithmt]

The last auction in November 2008 got very low prices and some names did not sell. Reserves on many names were dropped at the last minute, that is, during the last day of a seven day auction.

It's up to Afilias now - you could try contacting them directly. Don't assume any of the Dotmobi staff will be there six months from now.

Already reached the right contacts which apparently does'nt matter.

[Scandiman]

It's the fact that those premiums should have been sold years ago which may have gave a boost to .mobi.

And if it didn't then the opportunity to do something of substance with the Premiums would be permanently lost.


Who's to say if the buyers would have been speculators or endusers?

The track record clearly favors the speculators.


no I did not submit a development plan, nor should I have to.

That's for the owner of the domain to decide, not the buyer. You presented yourself as a speculator and if they don't want to simply feed domain speculation with their limited supply of Premiums then they had an appropriate response.

What .mobi needs more than anything right now is not another round of domain speculation hype (I know domainers wanting to sell don't agree) but rather quality content and site promotion. If you were serious about both of those and demonstrated this to mTLD with a substantive proposal for the Premium name of interest then I would hope for a more favorable response.


Did anyone submit development plans before they purchased premium mobis at auction?

You're not participating in an auction so this question is irrelevant.


Bottom line here is that a radical move has to be made in order to give mobi any kind of a shot in the marketplace. Releasing those 5k withheld premiums for registration would probably spark interest in this extension and actually help the situation.

It would definitely spark interest among speculators, beyond that I doubt it. I completely agree a radical change of approach would be a benefit to .mobi, but supplying the domainer venues with more high quality .mobi domains isn't change, it's returning to a failed policy instead of nurturing the things that matter, that being quality content and site promotion.

[coast]

I clearly remember Our mobility webinar where we were told in no uncertain terms that dotMobi's marketing focus is B2B. The one and two digit names would go to "strong brands."

Two years ago, MediaAdvantages, who owns a brick and mortar advertising agency, was told there was no room in the marketing budget to appeal to end users.

Corporations are the focus, and so are their actual,legal clients, the registars.

Don't mean to burst anyone's bubble, but those facts have been unchanged since 2008.

[gogo]

I clearly remember Our mobility webinar where we were told in no uncertain terms that dotMobi's marketing focus is B2B. The one and two digit names would go to "strong brands."

Two years ago, MediaAdvantages, who owns a brick and mortar advertising agency, was told there was no room in the marketing budget to appeal to end users.

Corporations are the focus, and so are their actual,legal clients, the registars.

Don't mean to burst anyone's bubble, but those facts have been unchanged since 2008.

This is a very important piece of info, thanks for the reminder Coast.

The obvious focus for Afilias as the new owner is to stop losing over €2,000,000 per year. So there has to be huge costcutting.

I would expect nothing at all from MLTD / Dotmobi, based on that, and on past performance. Well, possibly around renewals time, say August this year, whoever is then handling Dotmobi publicity will have some prepared bit of tasty news to serve to domainers to get them to renew names they want to believe might be worth something someday.

I don't think Aflias bought, or were given, the failed Dotmobi company to continue donating to a charity set up to promote the mobile web. Maybe they'd like to broaden that to a charity to help promote the internet? How do you get people to donate? Ah yes, hype your product to the sky and sell it to speculators.

Seriously, I don't feel its worth it discussing their strategy or lack of it, we've been there and done that. I doubt the B2B think worked or will work - even Nokia, who initiated .mobi, sold - or gave away - their entire shareholding in Dotmobi. Who is going to listen to a sales pitch from a failed, abandoned company?

[keithmt]

Scandi, auctioning a few hundred names out of thousands hardly establishes a track record. If we remember correctly, all auctioned premiums had development requirments (which mtld never followed through with). So based on that I would assume that most of the initial buyers(endusers) bought with intentions of development.

Mtld never required a dev plan for auctioned premiums. Maybe they should have! However, changing the rules in the middle if the game is wrong IMO. To buy a mobi today with plans of speculation equates to a certain loss of monies. The premiums are no longer precious inventory and should be released to whom ever puts forth a fair offer based on today's marketplace.

Mtld have clearly shown a major lack of business sense. That is where the real track record lies. There b2b approach has amounted to zero. If they were making sound decisions maybe their employees would stick around. They took a great product which was released at the perfect time and drove it straight into the ground!

The only positive to mobi now is the fact that top keywords can be had for a few bucks. But honestly even at a few bucks, endusers and speculators pass.

[Accent]

... The .mobi domain is one part of a bigger mission to make the web mobile -- and for dotMobi to supply the tools which make that happen. To that end, the company is equivalent to any software concern that is ramping for growth. ...
Vance you use the present tense - does DotMobi still put a lot of it's effort into the promotion of the mobile web beyond the Mobi domain?

[coast]

Keith, you said, "The track record favors the speculators." While that may have been their strategy during the auction, it doesn't seem to be the case now. I look at it as a test balloon for them. The premiums had development requirements, and a member here showed me his emails of the final days to deadline that he would lose his name if it wasn't turned into a decent site that week.

dotMobi wants development, and they are saying it with their actions. They also want site owners to market and that's why they have mobiforge, device atlas, mobithinking, instant mobilizer, and plugins for wordpress and drupal.

Does that sound like a company that is built for domain name speculation, or a company that intends to see content on the mobile web instead of parked pages?

I feel for people who haven't seen ROI on their premium names. In my opinion, mobile is not mainstream yet compared to how big it will get, and ecommerce solutions aren't yet commodities. There are resources out there to learn to build and market sites, and social media is free. I recommend to put out good content on your sites, do social media, get traffic and scan the horizon for ecommerce tools as they emerge.

Hope that helps.

[Scandiman]

Keith, you said, "The track record favors the speculators."

Actually coast, I said that in post 19

[keithmt]

Yes scandi said it was more speculation. I'm saying the opposite should have been true for buyers of premium names.

[Scandiman]

Scandi, auctioning a few hundred names out of thousands hardly establishes a track record. If we remember correctly, all auctioned premiums had development requirments (which mtld never followed through with). So based on that I would assume that most of the initial buyers(endusers) bought with intentions of development.

When domains are auctioned via domainer venues, logic suggests the primary audience and buyers of domains are domainers. Sure the occasional end user will venture there but it is clear from what has happened in the past that as a majority domain speculators hold the premiums, with goals of profiting from the resale of the domain rather than building compelling mobile content and businesses on the domains.


Mtld never required a dev plan for auctioned premiums. Maybe they should have!

Some people advocated this, a pre-qualified bidder pool.


However, changing the rules in the middle if the game is wrong IMO.

As the current owner of the domains, mTLD is free to change their approach. You have no rights per se regarding the ownership of their Premium inventory.


To buy a mobi today with plans of speculation equates to a certain loss of monies.

I'm sure there are plenty of opportunities even still in .mobi for speculation. It's about buying at the right price and selling Premiums in a depressed market would only fuel that.


The premiums are no longer precious inventory and should be released to whom ever puts forth a fair offer based on today's marketplace.

You'll have to justify this statement further, it really defies logic. If they are not precious then why are you interested in any of them? And why should the current owner sell them at the bottom of the market? Is there some rule book or investment manual you have that I'm not aware of?


Mtld have clearly shown a major lack of business sense. That is where the real track record lies. There b2b approach has amounted to zero. If they were making sound decisions maybe their employees would stick around. They took a great product which was released at the perfect time and drove it straight into the ground!

The only positive to mobi now is the fact that top keywords can be had for a few bucks. But honestly even at a few bucks, endusers and speculators pass.

Aren't the Premiums nothing more than top keywords owned by mTLD? If end users and speculators pass then why are you asking them to sell you one?

I get it, you are really disappointed that mTLD didn't sell you a Premium. But this rant isn't accomplishing anything to further your chances.

[keithmt]

If people were making significant offers for the premiums then names would be sold and sales such as casino.mobi would be reported. The fact remains that the premiums sit with virtually no interest.

My offer to buy 2 names, which were basically the same, was merely because I could use them. It doesn't make them a precious commodity because I offered to buy them. They are not available in another ext and that's the ONLY reason I made an offer for the mobis.

My rant is not because I didn't get the names. It is because mtld, as a whole, has proven they don't know what's best for them or their investors.

As to the question of them selling at the bottom of the market. They haven't had an auction in years. What are they waiting for? It not the market it's bad business!

[Scandiman]

My offer to buy 2 names, which were basically the same, was merely because I could use them. It doesn't make them a precious commodity because I offered to buy them. They are not available in another ext and that's the ONLY reason I made an offer for the mobis.

The .mobi Premiums aren't 'available' per se to be regarded like a hand reg, they are currently owned by mTLD. So perhaps you can purchase your keyword domains in one of the other extensions from the owners of those domains since it apparently doesn't matter to you that it is a .mobi.

[keithmt]

Unfortunately for me, keywords in other extensions are much more valuable. If I was running mobi I would thank my lucky stars whenever an offer came in. At the very least I would counter offer. It's the lack of basic business sense, like not countering an offer, that scares me about mtld. Their top employees don't want to go down with a sinking ship and that's why they continuosly leave the company!