Weโre absolutely thrilled to welcome back Richard Lau

, a serial entrepreneur, domain industry titan, and one of the core investors in Titan Research

, to Domain Summit Europe 2025! This guyโs a living legend with a story that spans decades, millions in revenue, and a knack for turning digital dirt into gold.
Richardโs journey kicked off in the mid-โ90s, when he was knee-deep in the paging business in Canada. A partner bolted to start an internet dial-up venture, sparking his curiosity. Friends snagged IceCream.com, and he jumped in, registering a slew of auto-dealer domains with a buddy in 1996. A wild Microsoft call offering $9,500 for one lit the fuse - though a trademark snag killed it, the seed was planted for a domain empire.
By the late โ90s, heโd turned that spark into a wildfire. He launched DomainsDirect.com, slashing ISP prices with a โfree for friendsโ model - a clever landing page that crossed out $19.95 and offered zero-cost searches for buddies. It evolved into YourNameFree.com and NamesDirect, hitting the top-30 registrar list. By 2001, heโd merged with NameZero and snapped up MyDomain.com, a free DNS giant hosting 500K domains, cementing his early dominance in the registrar game.
Named โDomainer of the Yearโ in 2004 at TRAFFIC, Richardโs racked up millions since. He dreamt up NamesCon in fall 2012 after chats on Rick Schwartzโs forum - a virtual living room where he soaked up wisdom. Launched in 2014, it became the domain worldโs must-attend event, blending back-to-back meetings, breakfast trades, and WaterSchool charity drives. Sold to WorldHostingDays in 2017, itโs now owned by Opus Origin, a major UK media and events investor, marking a new chapter for the conference he birthed. Resume.com, aiding millions of job seekers, went to Indeed, and Logo.com - his latest gem - has churned out 10M+ logos with a slick generator he built from scratch after ditching clunky third-party tools.
Then thereโs Titan Research, a UK-based domain name data powerhouse led by COO Cosmin Elefterescu. Their Domain Name Intelligence API delivers businesses and organizations real-time intel on any domain name - ownership, history, risk flags, you name it. The Domain Name Management Service is a full-on solution for wrangling massive portfolios, streamlining renewals, transfers, and analytics. Titanโs poured serious cash into custom software, fine-tuned over years to manage and grow their own portfolio and clientsโ, marrying Richardโs domain savvy with cutting-edge tech for a seamless, scalable edge.
Richardโs domain game is next-level - heโs rescued RL.com (a legal slugfest costing more than its value), God.com, Wifi.com, and Iraq.com from hijackers, earning a rep as a forensics guru whoโd chase principles to the end. His portfolio? Thousands of two-word .coms for steady cash flow, plus single-word stunners like Logo.com - his pride and joy for its category-killing fit - and Face.com, now at a $10M ask after he turned down $1M, betting on its future in facial recognition or beyond. Weed.com? Sold cheap at auction in 2008, and heโs still kicking himself alongside every domainer in that room.
In 2002, after a whirlwind of business moves and tax challenges, Richard rebooted with $5K on credit cards, flipping domains like a pro. Heโd scour GoTo.com (pre-Google) for hot keywords, hunt owners with skip-tracing tricks he cribbed from a detective book - think Intelius lookups and casual โRichard from Canada!โ cold calls - and land deals others couldnโt touch. Heโs since advised on crypto projects, built tools like Domain Manager (still free for domainers), and shaped the industry with a tenacity thatโs pure Lau.
Titan Research ties it all together - Elefterescu (ex-Deepcrawl, Palantir) brings product management chops from SaaS giants, while Richardโs vision fuels their push into digital identity solutions. Theyโre not just managing domains; theyโre shaping how brands secure their online turf in a wild digital frontier, from APIs that sniff out threats to dashboards that tame portfolio chaos. Itโs a blend of his 25+ years of hustle and a forward-looking tech ethos.
Richardโs heart matches his hustle - heโs raised over $500K for WaterSchool via WaterNight, serving as Executive Director to bring clean water to Uganda and Kenya since 2007. Heโs a cheerleader for Women in Domaining, a champ for the Internet Commerce Association (ICA), and a networker who once brokered a deal over barbecue at his house. Picture this: he loves Chinese food, 60s pop, Orwellโs 1984, and the gentle click of snooker balls - a man of eclectic tastes who dreams of being an astronomer or concert pianist if domains ever fade.
Expect a session thatโs pure dynamite - Richard will dive into 25+ years of domain evolution (from $75 flips to $10M asks), branding secrets (Logo.comโs 10-minute magic), and digital identityโs future with Titan Research. Heโll spill on RL.comโs courtroom drama, NamesConโs breakfast-deal heyday under his watch and its new life with Opus Origin, and why heโd fight for principles over profit any day. Itโs a masterclass for investors, brand pros, and tech junkies - a front-row seat to a pioneerโs mind!
Join us in 2025! Register today:
https://london25.domainsummit.com/e/2138665959
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