- Impact
- 3,028
An inspiring story I came across today about the foudner of FinancialAid.com. He started out as a domain speculator like many of us.
Also of note is that he had originally registered Financialaide.com. Once his company started taking off, he spent $1 Million bucks getting "FinancialAid.Com" (without the 'e'). What a difference one letter can make!
Entrepreneur Michael O'Brien was buying domain names for $15 and reselling them when he found one that would change his life.
Inspired by a television commercial for United Negro College Fund, O'Brien typed the words "Financialaide.com" into his computer early one morning in 1998. That led the California State University, Fresno, graduate to start a company that this year has 75 employees and is expected to generate as much as $1.4 billion in loan volume.
O'Brien realized he found something when the Web site he created for his newest domain name had more than 1,000 "hits."
"This one was different," he said. "I knew I didn't want to sell it."
Full story
http://www.fresnobee.com/business/story/6923992p-7859372c.html
Also of note is that he had originally registered Financialaide.com. Once his company started taking off, he spent $1 Million bucks getting "FinancialAid.Com" (without the 'e'). What a difference one letter can make!
