On day one of the T.R.A.F.F.I.C. conference held in Brooklyn New York last week, I had the pleasure of spending some time with Michael and David Castello. Let me just tell you, in all sincerity, these guys are two of the nicest people I have ever met. I had a great time speaking with them and am happy I had the chance to do so.
For the few of you that have never heard of the Castello brothers, their collection of domain names speaks for itself. Their portfolio include names like PalmSprings.com, Nashville.com, Whisky.com, Cost.com, Daycare.com and many many more. Visit their about page on CCIN.com to read more.
They were kind enough to do an interview with me. Now, just to prepare you for the video, I asked one somewhat edgy question. The question was; did you guys luck into the domain industry? Let me explain myself, because this is in no way shape or form how I feel at all. I have heard the following statement too many times, “I wasn’t lucky enough to have registered domain names ten years ago.” I love what David says in the video, “most people will not do something unless other people are already doing it.” I know the vision and courage it takes to be first, because I’ve done it in my prior real estate businesses.
I apologize ahead of time for the video sound quality. Unfortunately there were not many private areas for us to do the interview. As you’ll hear in the background, the hotel staff was setting up for the welcoming party sponsored by DomainAdvertising.com.
On a non-domain related subject, Michael and David were gracious enough to donate a piece of history to The National September 11 Memorial and Museum. This took place only hours before my meeting with them.
From left to right:
Michael Castello, Jenny Pachucki (9/11 Museum), Alexandra Drakakis (9/11 Museum), David Castello
I didn’t know he wrote. That is awesome.
Great interview. Great guys. What’s funny to me is that they talk about how they got their domains back when no one else wanted them. Scoffed at them because they were “worthless” and yet they don’t see the irony in their own attitude towards anything other than .com… I don’t mind, personally, as I see it as opportunity, but they are very narrowly focused on the .com “brand” and haven’t really seen the potential of alternatives. It certainly worked for them.
Great interview!
Are you sure that’s Michael? He has a sport coat on!?!!
“”..they are very narrowly focused on the .com “brand” and haven’t really seen the potential of alternatives.”"
They haven’t/don’t need to!!
Great interview Patrick, thanks for sharing !
Their city-brands are US-focused. Even if someone is searching for Palm Springs in Japan or Germany, .com is by far the most obvious tld. And in the US .com is pretty much all that matters; more so today than 5 or 10 years ago. So I’d say they are right about .com, as it relates to what they are doing.
Great interview, congratulations Patrick! Thank you Michael and David for sharing your story with us!
Hi mate,
Great interview with the Castello brothers & welcome to the Traffic Club! Sounds like you had a good time and met some great people in New York.
As you know I did a podcast interview with the Castello brothers about a year and a half ago which goes for about 1 hour where they go into great detail about their past and what they are working on at the moment so it may be of value to your readers.
Here is the link http://www.ozdomainer.com/domain-names-podcast-episode-8-with-michael-david-castello/
Keep up the great work my friend!
Kind regards
Ed Keay-Smith
OzDomainer.com
Thanks for the great interview Chef Patrick!
My pleasure guys, glad you enjoyed the interview.
Patrick, I am amazed at your passion for the domain industry. Enjoyed hearing Michael and David. Very nice interview.
You remind me of Ron Jackson in terms of your persistence and work ethic. Ron’s writings and domain sales lists actually gave the domain industry a focal point when there really was none to speak of.
You are providing some great content for domainers. Thanks, and congrats.
WOW…honestly, even mentioning my name next to Ron Jackson’s is the biggest compliment I can think of. Thank you very much!