It wasn’t always bright and cheery for GoDaddy.com, the world’s largest domain registrar that has 4.5 million customers and generated $186 million in revenue in 2005.
Not
too long ago, Founder and CEO of GoDaddy.com, Bob Parsons, almost went
broke and lost his business. With losses of $2 million per month, this
web entrepreneur was faced with the difficult decision of whether to
forge ahead or hang up his “closed for business” sign. While standing
at this fork in the road, Bob had a revelation. Inspired by the
Chinese proverb – “The temptation to quit will be greatest just before you are about to succeed” – Bob stayed the course, and what awaited him just around the corner was mind-boggling success.
We
step back in time with Bob as he shares the fears he faced, the battles
he fought to save his business, and the strategies that turned Go Daddy
into a multi-million dollar company. For this victory story you’ll
have to listen to the show!
Bob’s Keys to Success:
- Vision fueled by passion for what you’re doing
- Persistence
- Quick decision making skills
- Flexibility: willingness to change direction and try new methods
- Controversial advertising during the Super Bowl
About Bob Parsons
A serial entrepreneur, Bob’s first endeavor was Parsons Technology, a
software company which he started in his basement in 1984, after
teaching himself how to write computer programs. In 1994, Parsons
Technology was sold to Intuit, Inc. for $64 million. In 1997, Parsons
started Jomax® Technologies, using funds from the sale of Parsons
Technology. He renamed the company Go Daddy® in 1999, and in 2000, Go
Daddy became an ICANN-accredited domain name registrar. Under Parsons’
leadership in 2005, Go Daddy’s gross revenue exceeded $180 million, an
increase of approximately 80% over the prior year. Go Daddy was named
the fastest growing privately held technology company (ranked # 8
overall) on the Inc. 500 List of America’s Fastest Growing Privately
Held Companies in 2004.