Subscribe
Thought Convergence Acquires Name Intelligence
May 6th, 2008 by 
Jay Westerdal
Acquisition is a major milestone in Thought Convergence’s strategy of developing a self-sustaining, symbiotic Domain Ecosystem that services the global domain community.
Los Angeles, CA and Seattle, WA, May 6, 2008 — Thought Convergence, the industry-leading provider of domain management, monetization and development tools and technologies for premium domain owners and aggregators of high-quality domain portfolios, announced today that it has completed its acquisition of Name Intelligence, the company behind the highly-acclaimed DomainTools service and the Domain Roundtable conference. The acquisition expands Thought Convergence’s already extensive suite of industry-leading domain tools, services and technologies, and paves the path for management’s vision of a unified Domain Ecosystem.
“We are proud to welcome Jay, Ray and the entire Name Intelligence team into the Thought Convergence family”, said Kevin Vo, Thought Convergence Founder and Chief Executive Officer. “The addition of Name Intelligence further strengthens our industry-leading technology platform and lays the groundwork for the continuing expansion of our comprehensive suite of tools and services for domain professionals. Further commenting on the acquisition, Thought Convergence Director and Chief Operating Officer, Ammar Kubba, added that “Name Intelligence shares our passion and drive to create technology-driven solutions and innovation within the domain industry. By combining our award-winning monetization and development platform, deep industry relationships and extensive resources with Name Intelligence’s unparalleled research, analysis and data aggregation tools, we are putting into place a robust and scalable framework for the creation of a symbiotic Domain Ecosystem.”
In commenting on the close of the transaction, Jay Westerdal, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Name Intelligence, said, “We are incredibly excited to join forces with Thought Convergence and to leverage our core competencies and proprietary technology in order to create the next generation of DomainTools, our auction and marketplace platform, intellectual property protection services, and semantic suggestion technology.” Name Intelligence operations will remain in Seattle, Washington, and will continue to be led by Jay Westerdal and Ray Bero. In addition to their responsibilities at Name Intelligence, both Westerdal and Bero will collaborate with senior management at Thought Convergence to develop and execute on the Company’s long-term strategy.
About Thought Convergence
Founded in 2001, Thought Convergence is an industry-leading service provider of domain information, management, monetization and development tools and technologies for the domain name industry. Widely regarded as a pioneer in the domain industry, Thought Convergence provides its award-winning services and technologies under several brands, including TrafficZ, DomainTools and Idea.Net. By leveraging its comprehensive suite of fully-integrated domain services, tools and technologies, Thought Convergence is pioneering the industry’s first symbiotic Domain Ecosystem and is working to promote the continued evolution, success and sustainability of the domain industry. Thought Convergence is a privately-held company, growing profitably since inception, and headquartered in Los Angeles, California, with offices in Seattle, Washington. For more information, please visit http://www.ThoughtConvergence.com.
Thought Convergence Media Contact:
Ammar Kubba
310.909.7900
PR@ThoughtConvergence.com
Update by Jay: This is the official announcement. However, I thought I would personally comment as well, I know there have been a lot of rumors about this deal and lot of incorrect speculation. I wanted to set the record correct and say, I am extremely proud of the team we are putting together with this deal, the entire Thought Convergence team will number at around 100 strong after the acquisition. We are going to have more resources at our disposal now to focus on bigger projects, the synergies in this deal were awesome. I would not have signed onto the deal unless it allowed DomainTools to better serve the entire Domain Ecosystem. I will be joining the board of Though Convergence and look forward to working with the entire team in both LA and Seattle. The integrity of our DomainTools data is not in jeopardy with this deal and DomainTools website will remain as a trusted third party to everyone regardless of their affiliations.
« Newer Post Older Post »
Posted in Domain Tools Updates, Name Intelligence, TrafficZ |
May 6th, 2008 at 5:44 am
Congratulations, Jay. The TrafficZ team are good folks to work with.
May 6th, 2008 at 6:13 am
Congrats to all.
May 6th, 2008 at 6:15 am
Congratulation to all DT and good luck!
May 6th, 2008 at 6:19 am
Congrats to all the actors.
May 6th, 2008 at 6:34 am
Congratulations Jay!
All the best of luck.
May 6th, 2008 at 6:46 am
Congratulations all around!
May 6th, 2008 at 6:47 am
Congrats Jay,
Since DomainTools has such a very loyal and dedicated fan base how about releasing the sale fig
UPDATE BY JAY: The amount is undisclosed.
May 6th, 2008 at 12:27 pm
congrats Jay and TC.
May 6th, 2008 at 12:55 pm
Congratulations to Jay and his new partners! This strategic acquisition will help to ensure a bright future for the domain industry.
= TiKi =
May 6th, 2008 at 1:45 pm
Congratulations, Jay. Your site is one of few I visit everyday.
Regards,
Nuno Oliveira
Webmaster7.com
May 6th, 2008 at 3:19 pm
Congrats, Jay ! Way to go.
May we know the value of this acquisition ?
I just put a thread on harmony.com about business potential which determines value of particular domain purchases.
contact@hypersubsonic.com
May 6th, 2008 at 6:21 pm
An excellent fit; this is a prescient and wise decision.
Congratulations and best wishes to all involved.
May 6th, 2008 at 9:59 pm
I think I hear the Imperial March…
May 7th, 2008 at 8:43 pm
Congrats, Jay..
Good Luck Thnaks for ur service
May 8th, 2008 at 4:35 pm
Congratulations Jay.
I also have a question. Will the Domain Tools parking system continue or will that merge into something the other company already has? Or have you not decided that one yet?
As a one person operation I need parking/monetization solutions for domains until I can get them developed.
May 9th, 2008 at 8:52 am
Congratulations to both of you, and now you can co-sponsor TRAFFIC!
May 10th, 2008 at 8:36 am
A Fable For Small Principality
Once upon a time, there was a small principality whose arms man where highly skilled at defending their Prince from all manner of evil doer. So successful where these arms man that Prince was soon able to hire out their services to Princes and Kings of other lands at a hansom profit. In all the realms defended by the Prince’s arms man, the good citizens rejoiced, and gave thanks to their wise Princes and Kings, for their long nightmare was over. Now they were safe from purveyor’s plague and pestilence; no longer were itinerant merchants of questionable repute knocking at their doors at all times of the day and night. The evil doers, who had been deprived of their nefarious enterprises, were unhappy and launched attack after attack upon the Prince’s arms men to no avail.
One day, the King of one of very largest kingdoms in the land, renowned for the scope and depth of its Library Of All Knowledge, offered the Prince incredible riches if the Prince would join his principality to the kingdom of the Library Of All Knowledge. The Prince accepted the offer and at first things went well because the Prince was allowed to manage his arms men as he had in the past. But this happy state did not continue.
The King of the Library Of All Knowledge derived much of his income from special messenger services which he provided to anyone, both great and small, who wished to communicate with citizens of other lands. So large was the income which the King derived from these services that the King sometimes ignored his imperil motto of “Primoris Operor Haud Vulnero” and formed alliances with some of questionable character. One day the King decided that the Prince’s arms men were being too vigilant in the discharge of their duties and request that the Prince instruct his arms men to be more sympathetic to others, particularly if their were business associates of the King. The Prince did as his liege lord commanded and soon his arms men were spending more and more of their time speculating as to who was or was not a friend of their new King and not defending their client’s realms.
Very soon the citizens and rulers of the realms which were clients of the Prince began to notice that they had returned to the Bad Old Days and began to look for a new Prince to protect them. Appeals to the King and Prince were ignored. In fact the King of the kingdom of the Library Of All Knowledge was quite pleased with himself, because his incomes were even higher than before. Obviously he had made a wise decision.
Moral
Small but successful Princes should select a new King with care.
May 10th, 2008 at 10:19 am
Jay,
Seriously, good luck and please don’t loose your way. Until two months ago Domain Tools was my second most favored software company, now you have moved up to the number one slot. I am getting much too old to find new favored software companies.
Any similarity between the previous fable and real corporations is purely intentional. The motto is in Latin and can be translated into English if you know how to search for the correct tool.
Mike