November 18, 2010, 9:34 AM — In early October I wrote about an online auction for FaceMash.com, which was the first website started by Mark Zuckerberg when he was attending Harvard a few years back.
Zuckerberg soon dropped out of Harvard to focus on another site he created, something called Facebook. I'm sure to this day the young man rues his impulsiveness and wonders how he could have so carelessly jeopardized his otherwise bright future. Another cautionary tale in a world full of them.
Anyway, the guy who snapped up FaceMash.com after Zuckerberg let the domain lapse shrewdly decided to cash in on the publicity surrounding the hit movie "The Social Network" by auctioning the site. Striking while the iron is hot is a time-tested business strategy, but as I read his pitch on auction site Flippa.com, I didn't see a lot of selling points beyond the Zuckerberg connection. Certainly not enough to persuade a bidder to offer five figures (the auction included a "Buy Now for $35,000" option).
Well, guess what? Ten bids and 20 days later, FaceMash.com was sold for $30,201. Here's the Flippa bid page for FaceMash.com if you want to take a look.
Shows you what I know.
The buyer has chosen to remain anonymous, but Flippa says it's not anyone from Facebook or Sony Pictures, which produced the movie about Zuckerberg's colossal misjudgment.
The seller is a guy named Rahul Jain, who deserves props not only for successfully pulling off the auction, but for donating part of the proceeds to the Dakshana Foundation, a non-profit that helps pay the educational expenses of poor children from India. That's class.
Congratulations to Jain for selling the site and congratulations to the winning bidder.
In case you're unfamiliar with Flippa.com, the Australia-based website and domain auction site was started in June 2009 as a spinoff from SitePoint Marketplace. In facilitates $2 million in transactions a month. I've used it, albeit with far less success than Jain. (Clearly it helps to have the Zuckerberg stink on your listed property.) But I'd recommend Flippa to anyone buying or selling a site or domain. It's remarkably easy to post a listing, and draws a lot of eyeballs (No. 687 on Alexa).
Chris Nerney writes about the business side of technology market strategies and trends, legal issues, leadership changes, mergers, venture capital, IPOs and technology stocks. Follow him on Twitter @ChrisNerney.
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