Owning Your Name: Mike Mann’s Early Insight into the Gold Rush of the Internet
Before the world fully realized the value of digital real estate, Mike Mann was already staking his claim.
Appearing on CNNfn’s Entrepreneurs Only, Mann, founder of RareDomains.com, explained his vision for internet branding long before it became mainstream. At a time when most people were still grappling with dial-up, Mann was betting big on the power of a good name—specifically, a good domain name.
His pitch was simple but powerful: the internet would become crowded, and high-quality, keyword-rich domain names would grow scarcer and more valuable over time. Turns out, he was spot on.
RareDomains.com owned one of the largest collections of domains, ranging from affordable $500 listings to high-end names like government.net or resume.net, valued in the tens of thousands. Mann likened domain names to prime real estate—limited, location-specific, and increasingly in demand.
“If you’re a banker,” he explained in the interview, “you can type in ‘finance’ or ‘money’ on our site and instantly find domain names that match your field.” That simplicity and strategy made it easy for entrepreneurs to discover names that weren’t just catchy but also optimized for search engines and branding.
But Mann’s advice didn’t stop at just picking a name. He urged businesses to avoid using third-party URLs or emails like [email protected]. Instead, own the whole brand experience: your domain, your email, your digital identity.
“Would you rather be www.raredomains.com or yahoo.com/raredomains?” he asked. The answer, of course, is obvious to anyone who wants to look professional and own their space on the web.
Perhaps most forward-thinking was Mann’s belief that domain names could be valuable investments—even if you never used them. With startups sprouting up daily, demand for clean, relevant domains would only increase, driving up their market value.
In hindsight, Mann’s vision was prescient. He wasn’t just selling domains—he was selling digital futures. And many who took his advice early on likely saw a serious return on their small initial investment.
