Minds + Machines Share Discussion Threads

[dylanl2] 08/4/2016 08:42

Back to being a registry...good in my mind, think of all that wasted dev' money though

[cpap man] 05/4/2016 08:19

Notice of Analyst Briefing



Further to the announcement of 22 February 2016, the directors of Minds + Machines Group Limited (LSE:MMX) announce that an analyst briefing will be held at 10.30am on 27 April 2016 at the offices of N+1 Singer, 1 Bartholomew Lane, London EC2N 2AX. Analysts who wish to attend should email [e-mail] to register. As previously announced the Group's annual report and accounts for the 12 months ended 31 December 2015 will be released on 27 April 2016.



Further Information:



Minds + Machines Group Limited

Toby Hall Tel: [phone]

[e-mail]

[treble in 1999] 12/3/2016 14:39

.vip now in sunrise. Goes on general release May 2016.
Already receiving orders at premium prices.

[davemake] 11/3/2016 17:20

Minds + Machines Group Ltd chief sees “great value” in .club and .bar deal

[treble in 1999] 11/3/2016 10:19

First new partnership.
Bundling usually works, and benefits come through when your building a recurring income.
Some good names still to launch,exciting year ahead.

[davemake] 04/3/2016 17:31

Minds + Machines is evolving as a business – new CEO
14:53 04 Mar 2016

[hjb1] 23/2/2016 01:17

sour grapes all around it seems!! been standing still for too long with AVC going nowhere...at least there seems some urgency with Toby Hall!

[glasshalfull] 22/2/2016 22:08

As a holder of CNIC I keep an eye on MMX.

Found the undernoted blog this evening from AVC, departing CEO, that I felt should be highlighted to MMX holders, alongside one of the comments from a former Director.

I've no position & no comment to make on the company. Posting as a courtesy.


Kind regards,
GHF

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Home / Blogs

I Got Fired

Feb 22, 2016 12:00
By Antony Van Couvering

It's a story told a thousand times: founder of a company ousted by investors. It's a story so common you can find it any day of the week as a minor headline in a tech blog. Not much of a story at all really, until it happened to me.
Minds + Machines, the company I founded in 2009, informed me last week that I was no longer wanted as CEO. Without going into details, which I can't, there were differences and disagreements. Still, it was a surprise. All the plans, the hopes — pfhhht! into thin air. It sucked.

Now what? New gTLDs are barely birthed. The industry is very young. Twelve million new gTLD names have been sold in just about two years. That's nearly 5% of all domain names out there. What reasonable person doesn't expect that to rise to 20% or more within the next few years? There's a lot of opportunity in the field.
And yet there are some signs of desperation out there. Demand for new gTLDs hasn't been what anyone expected. Many single-TLD registries, though not all, are hurting. Many registrars still do not fully support new gTLDs that aren't plain-vanilla .com clones. ICANN continues to treat registries and registrars as unpleasant necessities despite the fact that its sky-rocketing budget is underwritten by domain name sales. No breakout awareness of new gTLDs has yet occurred and until it does marketing new gTLDs may feel as useless as pushing a piece of string.

Even so, the larger players in our industry continue to be very bullish: .shop went for more than $40M, .app went for $25M and a secondary market in new gTLDs is heating up fast. Existing registries, and companies outside the space, are on the prowl. Despite the perceived lack of demand, some people are clearly seeing a lot of value in new gTLDs.

Why the disconnect? It's a matter of perspective, and cash. Owning a registry, or even better a portfolio of them, is a fantastic long-term business. Those who can't think long term (no cash) or won't (no vision), will not be well served by what's to come.

What kind of registries are out there, and how will they fare? Below I've listed some of the major types of commercial models (non-brand) that exist today, and what their prospects are; there are also hybrids of these models.

Registry as a technical function, concerned with infrastructure and service levels; this is what ICANN would prefer, but it's a commodity function with little on-going value. Increasingly, this will be an outsourced service with lower and lower prices.

Registry as a domainer play: the registry is essentially an unlimited portfolio of names, and like a domainer you can price your inventory, park it, and wait for the right buyer to walk through the door. This model is concerned with understanding the value of each name and pricing it for maximum return. It also requires staying power and self-sufficiency; impatient investors are going to have a hard time with this model.

Registry as supermarket. Sell it super-cheap or give it away and try to win on large volumes with low margins. Because low prices disproportionately attract fraudsters, this approach is problematic but in the short term at least it seems to be profitable. In terms of resale, however, it may be a poisoned well.
Registry as small business. Make some nice signs, tell some friends, try to get good shelf space at the local store, take out some stands at trade shows, get some testimonials, keep the costs down, and build the business over time. This can work if there are no investors, or if they are angel investors looking for a nice ongoing income in the future. Having a single TLD instead of a portfolio is actually an advantage here.

Registry as part of a bigger plan. Naming is part of a vaster ecosystem that includes the branding, positioning, marketing, selling and licensing of companies, goods, and services on the Internet. And, importantly, it includes Internet governance. It takes no great power of observation to see that being a big registry, essential to commerce and communication on the Internet, contributing substantial amounts to ICANN, gets you a privileged seat at ICANN, at the center of things when it comes to deciding what the Internet will look like in 10 years. That's actually worth a lot, but it's only available, or useful, to the biggest players.

2016, I predict, will be filled with new gTLD acquisitions. Buyers of new gTLDs see bigger players coming to gobble them up down the road, paying a premium for size, diversity of portfolio, and market leadership. They think TLDs are still a bargain, even in the aftermarket, and they are out there trying to make deals. If a registry, of any size, is not a buyer, then pretty soon they will either be a seller or a small player.

Existing portfolio registries have basically two ways to go. One option is to build up the TLDs in the existing portfolio, treating them as a collection of small businesses, and hope that they become self-sustaining and will fetch a decent multiple of profits in an eventual sale. A better option would be to treat today's highly fragmented ownership of new gTLDs as an opportunity to continue the portfolio-building that began with the first applications, acquiring good TLDs that are selling cheap now, keeping focused on the long-term value.
Back to me getting fired. It still sucks, but I'm seeing some silver linings already. I'm going to take a break, re-connect with friends, and consider what's next. If you have condolences, thoughts, ideas, or just want to reach out, my new email address is [e-mail].

By Antony Van Couvering

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Keith Teare – Feb 22, 2016 7:45 AM PST

I like this article-a lot.
Like Antony I too am an ex-MMX board member. Perhaps I am a little less diplomatic. The investors who have conspired (that is the right word) own over 50% of the public company.

They have forced stock buy-backs, fake share price support, inclusion of non-qualified board members, exits of highly experienced domain experts (Elliot and myself and now Antony).

Their actions are probably illegal under AIM rules about conspiracy of investors, which is deemed to be a back-door takeover.

And now they have hired a PR guy (I love you Toby but good as you are at investor relations you are no MMX CEO).

Its a disgrace that no journalist has dug into this....and that no lawyer or regulatory body has seen fit to expose these highly illegal maneuvers.
And all that aside, they are highly unlikely to be able to sell the asset or grow it.

This is activist investors in toy town playing at being in control, but with no knowledge of the market they seek to prosper in. It makes me ashamed to be British!

[hjb1] 22/2/2016 14:29

"fast tracking" sounds good to me...looks like the markets like the news too atm.

[ftangftang] 22/2/2016 14:14

Toby Hall interview



cheers
ft ft

[someuwin] 22/2/2016 07:21

22 February 2016

Minds + Machines Group Limited

("MMX", the "Company" or "Group")

Directorate Change and Notice of Results Update

Minds + Machines Group Limited (LSE:MMX), the publicly quoted owner and operator of Internet top-level domains, announces that Antony Van Couvering is no longer the Chief Executive Officer of the Company. Mr Van Couvering was removed from office with immediate effect by means of a unanimous resolution of directors passed at a meeting of directors held on 19 February 2016. The Group is currently making the transition from asset gatherer to monetisation of its leading portfolio of top-level domains; the Board believes a change of leadership will assist in this process. As such, the Board is delighted that the Company's Chief Marketing Officer, Toby Hall, has, subject to regulatory approvals, accepted the Company's offer to take on the role of Chief Executive and lead the Group during this important period. Toby will join the Board in that capacity at the first Board meeting post completion of the requisite regulatory approvals at which point a further announcement will be made.

Guy Elliott, co-founder and non-executive Chairman, commented:

"The Board wishes to thank Antony for the tremendous domain industry insight he has brought to the business in its formative years. Whilst he has contributed greatly to the business's development, the Board felt that a fresh approach is required in order to fully exploit the revenue potential of our leading portfolio of TLDs. As such, the Board is delighted that our Chief Marketing Officer has accepted the role of CEO to work alongside our Chief Operating Officer, Michael Salazar. Toby brings a vision, dynamism, business acumen and commercialism, together with a deep understanding of the industry, having been an adviser to the Group since its inception."

Toby Hall, the newly appointed CEO, said:

"We are operating in a sector of significant growth and opportunity. As a portfolio registry player, we are exceptionally well placed to reach into markets - both geographic and vertical - through a strategy of partnership. It is a strategy that will allow us to drive growth while maintaining a tight control on costs."

Separately, further to the announcement of 2 February 2016, the Board confirms the Group's annual report and accounts for the 12 months ended 31 December 2015 will be announced on 27 April 2016.

[ftangftang] 16/2/2016 15:42

iv'e never understood what these trolls get out of it ... ?
best to hit the filter button especially if the 'inadequate one' is still haunting the board , very strange character . lost its money buying at the top and selling at the bottom , then spent 4-5 years whinging about MMX , just can't let it go

oh well
cheers
ft ft

[hjb1] 16/2/2016 14:37

oooh look,just like clockwork it appears, share price must be down eh! lol

[smarm] 16/2/2016 14:16

See, if they had waited they could have bought cheaper.

S

[smarm] 08/2/2016 17:31

Since you are all clearly awaiting my post....my apologies, have only just caught up with the exciting news that Michael Salazar, COO and CFO of the Company, acquired 50 ordinary shares at a price of 8.50p per ordinary share. Guy at least bought a few more but I am able to contain my excitement.

I have a note of those who call me swarm...all the same person I presume. Oh well, whatever.

S

[bonko2096] 05/2/2016 13:19

Yeah you're right ewads, fist pump to you too.

[ewads] 05/2/2016 13:16

"Strange you never see swarm posting when there's positive news."
Strange how AimShares is always pumping.

Takes all sorts to make a blog

[bakky] 05/2/2016 12:08

ha ha ! maybe his short has gone wrong..lol disaster disaster darling!!
Hopefully get more press exposure over the weekend.

[bonko2096] 05/2/2016 11:46

Gents, what we need is a comment from swarm. Just so we don't get too giddy. Strange you never see swarm posting when there's positive news.

[davemake] 05/2/2016 10:20

ftft - LOL !!! (re spob)

[aimshares] 05/2/2016 10:10

The potential here is mind boggling ,a blue sky stock not on the radar . Doing a bit more research today but will be defo dipping my toes before end of day .

[ftangftang] 05/2/2016 08:24

spob

i notice that you posted an article from the FT on the BG thread yesterday
but don't worry i won't report you , iv'e got a life

good to know that we have someone of your caliber to keep us all in check though
keep up the good work
would you by any chance be a traffic warden ?

cheers
ft ft

[spob] 05/2/2016 07:42

That's paid subscriber content

You will be reported