The Man Who Owns the Internet
How the Master of Web Domains built his $300 million Empire
Fame is a bee. It has a song—
It has a sting— Ah, too, it has a wing.
Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)
Just a Cover Story
How do you stand out amongst so many?
Kevin Ham (1970-)
I was in Hawaii on a spring family vacation. One of my favourite places. My childhood memory ingrained in me that Hawaii was paradise. We have a family ritual to spend loving time there. Eventually I wish to be a ‘snowbird’ and live in Hawaii for 3 months of the year.
I was about to write to Paul Sloan, the reporter of Business 2.0, that I don’t want to be part of the article he wished to write.
Just then, a new message came in from Paul. He told me he was excited and had just booked his flight to Vancouver.
I paused my email and then decided to delete it and replied to Paul that I would love to host him.
In the ensuing meeting, he asked me so many great questions. I asked him not to write about certain topics like our Cameroon venture, that he was so curious about. I thought it was a great experience and looked forward to a nice article in Business 2.0, my favourite magazine back then. It had inspired me a lot in my early days, hearing how entrepreneurs overcame adversity and came up with novel solutions to obstacles they faced..
Weeks later, Paul called me and asked me to sit down as he had some big news. The chief editor wanted to make our story the cover story. I said, “No, I don’t want to be famous. I just want to have credibility in an inside article.”
Paul said he had more news and to brace myself.
Just Half My Face
The face is the mirror of the mind, and eyes without speaking confess the secrets of the heart.
St. Jerome (347-420)
He said that my face would be on the cover.
Me: What? No!
Paul: I had the team only do half your face and in black and white, out of respect of your desire to not be fully seen.
Me: Really? Oh no!
I asked Paul Sloan if he had written anything bad about me. His response: “Nobody knows you so we introduced the most interesting aspects of you and what you’ve done. Now that people know you, this is where they either lift you up or tear you down.”
I resigned myself to the fact that I would be recognized. I was both happy but also disappointed. Reflective and mind racing. What would this mean for me? For my family? For my future? A turn of events unexpected yet not unanticipated.
Did you ever have the feeling that you would one day matter? That you were destined to do more than what you were doing? That feeling deep in your heart, however buried it might be?
We call that a DREAM. Seemingly like fantasy, just a cloud seen briefly, that fades into the heavens when not acted up, when not believed, when not realized.
Dream and believe. Believe in your dreams. Believe in yourself. Believe in that higher power that brings it all together.
Read the full article here
Fame. I want to live forever in Books.
TV Interviews. Dragon’s Den. Autographs. Oh no.
A celebrity is a person who works hard all his life to become well known,
then wears dark glasses to avoid being recognized.
Fred Allen (1894-1956)
Once the magazine came out, the barrage of emails, letters, requests came fast and furious. My response. Ignore them all. My friend even bought many copies of the magazine and asked me to sign them. What? That seemed so odd but in retrospect, makes a lot of sense. Starstruck were the people around me.
TV interviews, major newspapers worldwide including our local newspapers, The Vancouver Sun, The Province, major magazines were all requesting interviews. No replies from me. They printed front page stories based on the cover story anyways.
I received copies of newspapers around the globe that had me on the front page.
But the best part is almost a decade later when I heard the impact my story had on young students and entrepreneurs in India and China. They were inspired to become entrepreneurs. I met them at a domain conference and they had a staff of 50 people.
He said my story had filled most of the front page of India Times and part of the second page. Wow.
The Fear of Success is greater than the Fear of Failure
Fear defeats more people than any other one thing in the world.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)
But why did I neglect all this media attention when most people and companies tried sometimes desperately to attain this moment?
Later on, someone told me about the fear of success is just as real as the fear of failure.
Fear of Success is really a fear of change at the extreme when success changes the people around you. Who are your real friends? Who loves you for who you are versus what you have or the status you have obtained? Who are you really vs who the world thinks you are. It gives rise to the feeling of the Imposter Syndrome. Embrace you. You know who you are. Everyone else will have a varied view of you.
Define yourself, don’t let others define you.
Success brings you over the threshold into a different world where people see the superficial aspects of you and neglect the deeper character that brought you there.
You fear this and so you go into a shell and hide, like I did. Classic fear of success.
Don’t Forget Me When You’re Famous
Fame means millions of people have the wrong idea of who you are.
Erica Jong (1942-)
Frank Schilling, my domain competitor and friend, asked me for one thing. Don’t forget me when you become a celebrity in the business world. I said, “Of course not, I won’t change.” He was much more street smart than me. I’m pretty naive. I’m just me.
The struggle to please others vs living my dreams was constantly on my mind in the past. Now that I’ve reach the pinnacle of success, I wondered what my next steps were.
I thought, one more thing for my father and my mother, who had just passed away in 2006. It would be something my father would love. I would apply to be Entrepreneur of the Year. I would also go to Harvard at the suggestion of my good friend and mentor, Dr. Christopher Hartnett, who had attained billionaire status with Voiceover IP during the dotcom boom.
My Life Questions:
Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.
Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
1. What is the success that you wish to attain?
Ponder and write out what success is to you and put it on your phone screensaver where you can always see it.
2. How will you overcome fear of failure and fear of success?
Fear is wetting your pants and overcoming fear, courage and faith, is doing what you believe in with wet pants.
Once you have tasted success, then fear of failure becomes larger because you don’t want to fail despite your success. Without success, you can continue to fail, but with success now you have a ‘reputation’ to hold. Keep on failing for success arises from the learnings of many failures.
3. How will your world change with success?
Your world will change, whether success is a job, a business, losing weight, overcoming obstacles. Like a Clark Kent who turns into superman. Different worlds that have different egos and expectations. Learn to live in the new world and hold onto what’s important in your former world.
My Life Lessons Then (from my 29 year old self):
To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream;
not only plan, but also believe.
Anatole France (1844-1924)
1. Really think about what you really want.
Your thoughts are powerful. Your dreams are very powerful. When you start to speak and act according to your thoughts and dreams, they start to become real in your world. You will attract those who are inspired by your thoughts and dreams. It leads you down a road that opens new paths. Make sure you want to walk down this road.
2. Success is a big peak of accomplishment that shines.
Your results speak louder than any aphorisms or inspiring words. People look for signs and not just prophecies. Focus on results, the manifestation of your thoughts, your ideas, your dreams.
3. Believe in yourself
This is one of the most powerful things you can do in your life: Believe in yourself. If you don’t believe in yourself, who will? A mentor. Mentors and leaders believe in you more than you believe in yourself until you believe in yourself more than they believe in you.
I wished I had a mentor like this. Well, it was my parents, my family and my team and my faith in God.
Life Advice Now (from my present 53 year old self):
Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed of an equal or greater benefit.
Napoleon Hill (1883-1970)
1. Do not run away once you attain success.
God set you on a journey to attain the highest peak of success but you squandered it by not opening the gift and the blessing. The gift remains unopened. How much good you could have done, but you weren’t prepared to sacrifice and give up some of your old ways to help and benefit so many others.
But it’s okay. The gift remains for you to open even now, if you so choose. Embrace your gifts and blessings and give them away to bless others.
2. Remain humble.
Don’t let the fame, the praise get to your head. Balance ego, the mind, with your heart, full of generosity and love. Keep counselors in your life who will tell you when you stray off the good path. Have people who say No and not only Yes.
3. Be grateful in good times and bad
The law is that once you get to the summit, you need to come down. Be grateful on the descent, the fall from grace. Life consists of peaks and valleys. The valleys build strength and resilience for higher peaks. Don’t remain in the valleys too long though. Climb your way out through hope, faith and love.
Next week:
Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men.
Raise $300 million and roll up the industry.
Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.
Mike Tyson (1966-)
See you next Thursday!
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