Mike Berkens recently posted about Limos.com receiving another $10MM in funding to further build out their business, bringing the total to $15MM in VC money in recent years.
Mixergy.com recently interviewed MJ DeMarco, the original founder of Limos.com, who revealed a fascinating back story on the evolution, up until his final sale of the business (not just the domain name) in 2007.
That interview is available at this link. (If the interview is no longer available for free, check the iTunes store, search under Mixergy, and it may still be available for free there.)
Highlights include:
- The original business was built on the domain www.Limo-Search.com. (discussed at about the 8 minute mark of the interview)
That domain was then upgraded to www.LimosinesOnline.com.
- That domain was then upgraded to www.Limos.com, which in the founder’s opinion was the ‘turning point’ of the business (though he admits he over-estimated how the domain would the impact the business).
- The purchase price of the domain Limos.com in 1999? $10,000. (about the 17:30 mark)
- The business transitioned from a directory model to a lead gen model.
- The business & domain name was sold by MJ DeMarco in 2000 for $1.2 million —- $500k in cash and $700k in stock options.
- The acquiring company went bust, then re-sold the Limos.com business back to MJ DeMarco for $250,000.
- He then built up the business, and eventually sold it again in 2007 for $4.5MM.
If you’re not yet sold on the revenue potential of the lead gen model, listen to the interview to get blown away by the gross revenues and profit margins that are discussed.
Limos.com have grown so much in the past few years, my fear is that they are growing too fast and their customers might not be getting the best service I have seen this first hand with other online sites. As of now it looks like they are keeping quality up, so that is a good thing!
I’ve seen a lot of my photography clients use Limos.com and they seem to offer a solid service.
I just finished MJ’s book and it was OK. I wish he talked more how he started his business and how he sold the leads. I felt like he spent 300+ pages trying to show you the difference between starting your own business and working for someone else. I think we can all agree… anyone reading The Millionaire Fastlane is already on board with the idea of owning their own business. I just launched my own Transaction Coordinator service.