By Bruce Jaffe, Donuts CEO
Yesterday, we completed our merger with Rightside. When first announced, my good friend (and Donuts co-founder and executive chairman) Paul Stahura posted on Facebook: “Shared values, shared vision, shared history. So fantastic when two longtime good friends get married.”
True words, indeed. As anyone who’s entered into matrimony will agree, compatibility and complementarity are key to a successful match. Both companies have terrific portfolios of new TLDs. Both companies place top priority on customer satisfaction. And, not coincidentally, there’s a lot of shared DNA in the employee bases.
In addition, Rightside brings to the union a world-class technology platform, a well-oiled support team and a highly regarded registrar, Name.com. Donuts has strong financial backing, is profitable, and has a proven team with a track record of driving innovation and growth – within and beyond our industry.
Together, the combined company has the scale and scope to get to an even higher level. We have 238 TLDs – the largest portfolio in the industry. We have nearly three million domains under management. We are robust contributors and participants in ICANN. We’re focusing on internal and external innovation, including investments in Netki and GeoFrenzy – exciting ventures that have the potential to dramatically affect our industry. And we’re taking the patient, long-term view when it comes to our strategy and commitment to this category. We view it as a global opportunity, with many exciting and still-to-be-discovered avenues for expansion.
What’s not to love?
On the other hand, even perfect unions will face their fair share of challenges. We get it. We know that integrating the two companies will take hard work, collaboration, resilience and grit. It won’t always be easy. And it won’t happen overnight. But we’re excited to get hitched and get going.
Thanks to all of you who have supported us along the way
