James Iles

Domain Investor Community Manager @GoDaddy
Domains since 2008 / product / AI
Former publisher | DNW, NamePros, MediaOptions

[James Iles @jamesiles]

Congrats to @BillSweetman on brokering the deal back in the day.

[James Iles @jamesiles]

Notion's infrastructure move away from .so to Notion․com is the last piece in a long branding effort.

The company has owned Notion․com since late 2019/early 2020, between Series A and B funding rounds.

It has been used for marketing (like social presence, or podcast ads) for several years, and very effectively! Congrats on the switch.

[Akshay Kothari @akothari]

We're finally shedding the .so (thank you Somalia!), and using the .com for @NotionHQ. And for this beautiful moment, I want to share a fun story:

Back in 2018, I had just joined Notion, and one of the first things @ivan asked me to do was figure out how we could own https://t.co/BxoFvc83VG. I had never done a big domain purchase before, so I reached out to a few domain brokers to understand the landscape. We tried different brokers, kept things anonymous, and attempted to surface a price the seller might consider.

A year went by… nothing. Meanwhile, it was pretty clear this was only going to get more expensive as we grew. We needed a different approach. A fellow founder connected me to a broker who took a very different tack. Less transactional, more long-term relationship builder. He spent months getting to know the domain owner. Turns out owner was a fellow entrepreneur in the west coast… and a huge Grateful Dead fan.

So we figured, why not get creative? Something beyond just price. So I called up our investor Ronny Conway and asked if there was any way he could help set up a private meeting between the domain owner and the Grateful Dead. Ronny is one of those people who somehow makes impossible things possible. A week later he calls me back: “New York City. Halloween. 15 minutes after the concert. Done.”

The broker went back to the owner with an offer: some cash, some equity, and a private meeting with the Grateful Dead. That got his attention. He didn’t take the band meeting in the end, but he did lean into the equity (great call, in hindsight). We shook hands, and a few weeks later, the deal was done.

I’ve been waiting years for the day we move our product to https://t.co/BxoFvc83VG. Looks like 2026 is finally the year. Safe to say I’m unreasonably excited about this update!

[James Iles @jamesiles]

This feels like an incremental improvement that you would likely only notice over long coding sessions.

Is that fair, or am I missing anything?

[Claude @claudeai]

Introducing Claude Opus 4.8: it builds on Opus 4.7 with sharper judgment, more honesty about its own progress, and the ability to work independently for longer than its predecessors.

Available today at the same price.

[Mr. Premium @MrPremiumDotCom]

#NordicDomainDays
traditions continue.

A wonderful evening with friends.
Smiles | Laughter | #Domains

Photo (left to right)
• James Iles
• Alan Shiflett
• Monte Cahn
• Braden Pollock
• Mark Ghoriafi

[James Iles @jamesiles]

Wonderful to catch up with @DomainNameWire today. Fun fact — I used to write for DNW!

[James Iles @jamesiles]

The domain investing track at Nordic Domain Days is under way.

@GGRGcom, @AlanShiflett and @BradenPollock chatting outbound.

[James Iles @jamesiles]

ICA NYC was a lot of fun. Grateful to @squarespace for hosting, and for reconnecting with so many people at the event.

The best part? Hearing Larry & Jeff Fischer talk about the AI•com deal, which the buyer and seller chose to close with no escrow! 🤯

On to @nordicdomain

[GoDaddy Auctions @godaddyauctions]

📅 Mark your calendar.

GoDaddy's Premium Auction Event returns June 3.

2,600+ no-reserve domains, headlined by:

👉Unemployment․com
👉DUIAttorney․com
👉Bracelet․com

Closes June 9-10

Download the full list! https://t.co/a6NBXDoEV4

[James Iles @jamesiles]

@andrewrosener @elonmusk @X There was one on the X app a while back, but I haven't checked recently: https://t.co/3rmyZr5vZL

[James Iles @jamesiles]

Love this perspective on Claude Code… and, anyone else listening to articles just like podcasts now?! 🙋🏻‍♂️

[James Iles @jamesiles]

@MichaelCyger @AGreatDomain 👀

[James Iles @jamesiles]

@AGreatDomain It does. Please dm me your account number I will have that investigated asap

[James Iles @jamesiles]

@DomainSherpa @andrewrosener @J10enbaum @amiller325gd @hypernames @namejet Nikul!! Great addition 🎧

[James Iles @jamesiles]

@DomainDanHQ NoProblem․horse

[James Iles @jamesiles]

If you want to mention a domain name in a post, but you don't want to link to it, use a fake dot:

․

It's technically the one dot leader (U+2024) which isn't the same Unicode as the full stop.

The outcome is domains with no links: example․com

[James Iles @jamesiles]

@domainicate @GoDaddy @mikegaffney @jjstyler @jstenn13 @leoaus @tessdiazaz ❤️

[James Iles @jamesiles]

GoDaddy has some of the best people in the business.

And I'm so glad that many investors came to GoDaddy's HQ for the meetup, talking Afternic, Auctions, and DomainNames•com among other things.

Congrats @jjstyler. Where should we host a meetup next?

[Anthony @ Domainicate @domainicate]

It was great seeing friends at the @GoDaddy Domainer Meetup.

Kudos to @mikegaffney for coming all the way from Texas!

Had an AMAZING session on how to dig deep in GD Auctions and how to use AI to find gems.

Thanks to @jjstyler for putting this together!

[James Iles @jamesiles]

Happy "it's happening" day for LTO sellers.

[James Iles @jamesiles]

@DInvesting I’m sorry about that, Elliot. Your account should not be receiving those errors. I have asked our engineers to investigate.

[Elliot Silver @DInvesting]

For more than ten years, I tried to buy a domain name.

The domain name changed hands multiple times following corporate acquisitions. A couple of my offers were rejected, but my emails were usually not returned.

I engaged @GoDaddy DBS broker Jordan Cavanaugh to negotiate on my behalf. I was able to reach a deal, and the transaction closed yesterday.

I am very happy to now own https://t.co/259HqiIjp7.

Thanks to Jordan for his insight and advice throughout.

[James Iles @jamesiles]

@cultra @Gemini 💯

[James Iles @jamesiles]

Gemini․com is so prominent in Gemini (the crypto company's) branding.

But it makes sense. With Google Gemini's strong AI market presence (750 million MAUs), @Gemini is leveraging Gemini․com as a differentiator here.

[Gemini @Gemini]

DAY 1 @ THE SUPER BOOTH