NameMedia gets an positive profile in the NY Times. Domains are becoming mainstream... Some quotes:
THINK you have a good handle on the Internet economy? Try this one.
What Internet business has raised $120 million in financing in the last year, owns 725,000 Web sites, and has as its chief executive the former head of Primedia and International Data Group?
If you guessed NameMedia, a privately held owner and developer of Web sites based in Waltham, Mass., you take the prize. Otherwise, consider reading on.
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NameMedia, which began in 1999 as YesDirect, was reintroduced in May 2006 with an undisclosed amount of equity financing from Highland Capital Partners and Summit Partners, two Boston venture capital groups, and more than $100 million in debt financing from Goldman Sachs. The company used part of that money to buy the portfolios of dozens of domain-name consolidators.
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Youssef Squali, an analyst with the investment firm Jefferies & Company, said NameMedia faces stiff competition, “but I see these guys as the front-runner.†Among other things, Mr. Squali said the profit margin at NameMedia was 40 percent — a number that other industry executives said fairly represents the category over all.