On March 19, a career guidance event dedicated to domain investing took place as part of Unlocking the Code educational initiative. The public lecture, Domain investing how to: Domain name as an asset, domain resale market, and domain name evaluation algorithms, was delivered by Svetlana Lobanova, Project Manager at the Coordination Center for TLD .RU/.РФ, and Andrei Savelyev, domain investor, Head of Domeny.rf company.
Svetlana reminded the project participants, schoolchildren and their mentors, about what a domain name is, what purpose it serves, how a domain name is registered, and why it is important to choose the “right” domain name for your project, i.e. one that has an obvious semantic reference and positive history, and is not too long.
“Amid the rapid growth of the online audience, as well as the digital transformation and globalization of the economy, an attractive domain name can give your commercial project an important competitive advantage,” Svetlana Lobanova said. “Your domain name is an important intangible asset.”
After this outset Svetlana went on to talk about the resale market tools such as domain auctions, stores, direct transactions and others, and the proprietary methodology for assessing the market value of .RU and .РФ domain names, developed for the Coordination Center. The methodology is based on mathematical models, which take into account international experience of domain name valuation, Russian market experts’ opinions and many other factors.
After listening to theory, the participants had the opportunity to hear a firsthand account of a domain investor’s journey. Andrei Savelyev explained what skills, knowledge and income level you need to have before you can confidently enter the resale market as an investor. He also spoke about his most successful deals, shared tips on building a domain portfolio, warned about carefully observing the line between a domain investor and a cybersquatter, and explained which domains in which zones are best to invest in.
“I believe domain investing is the most interesting thing there is. It’s not only about business, but also about being creative. You can automate the evaluation process, but not all aspects, as some of them are subjective,” Andrei Savelyev commented.
Unlocking the Code is a program for boarding schools, orphanages, small-class and rural schools aimed at teaching students and their mentors the basics of programming, the internet and digital culture, implemented by the Coordination Center for TLD .RU/.РФ and the Academy of Innovative Education and Development, with the support of Rostelecom. The curriculum features hands-on Python programming sessions, lectures on digital literacy, internet architecture, domain industry operations, and career guidance workshops.
