In a recent episode of Master of Your Domain, Rob Schutz sat down with Chad Wittman, founder of Dolly.com, to dive into the story of how Chad landed the perfect domain for his on-demand moving and delivery platform. Dolly.com has become synonymous with easy, accessible moving—think “Uber for bulky items.” But, before Dolly was a household name, Chad and his team hustled hard to lock down the domain.
The Birth of Dolly: Finding the Right Name
Dolly’s concept was simple—just like its name. Chad explained that, coming from a background with SEO-heavy, utilitarian brands, he wanted something different. He was looking for something catchy, memorable, and easy to communicate, even in a crowded bar. The inspiration struck during brunch in Chicago as Chad and his co-founders brainstormed. “I pictured, what I learned later, is technically a ‘hand truck,’” Chad laughed, recalling the moment. “But my co-founder immediately said, ‘Dolly,’ and it just clicked. We knew that was the name.”
Once the name was decided, Chad and his co-founders quickly snatched up every possible variation: GetDolly.com, DollyMove.com, and DollyApp.com. Though Dolly.com was taken, they initially launched under GetDolly.com, with plans to go after the shorter, ideal domain down the line.
Chasing Dolly.com: The Domain Hunt Begins
In 2014, Dolly was scaling fast. With the gig economy blossoming and on-demand services booming, Dolly’s popularity grew, prompting Chad to think bigger about branding. Dolly.com wasn’t listed for sale, nor was it associated with any active website. After some sleuthing, it became clear this was a “digital ghost”—a domain with an owner, but no accessible information. Their initial budget for acquiring it? About $10,000, and the outlook wasn’t optimistic.
Chad recounted how they approached the acquisition once Dolly had raised a Series A round. Maveron, a VC firm based in Seattle, led Dolly’s Series A, and they connected Chad with a domain broker who took on the challenge. The broker, who was based in Eastern Europe, managed to track down the domain owner, but the journey was far from straightforward.
A Risky Transaction
The negotiation process was fraught with uncertainty. The broker initially quoted a price of $200,000, which was far beyond what Chad and his team had anticipated. After some back-and-forth, they agreed on a price closer to $100,000. "At one point, the broker said, 'Wire $50,000 to this bank account,' and we were just trusting this random guy on Skype," Chad shared, highlighting the nerve-wracking nature of the transaction.
The story behind the domain's original owner added an interesting twist. The previous owner had purchased Dolly.com in the late 90s, hoping to sell it to Dolly Parton. He had held onto the domain for years, believing that the country music legend would eventually buy it to build a media empire around it. However, as time passed, the owner's dreams of a Dolly Parton-backed website faded, and he eventually sold the domain to Chad's team.
The Big Switch: Migrating to Dolly.com
Once they had secured Dolly.com, it was time to make the switch. Migrating from GetDolly.com was a big move, especially considering the SEO they’d built up on the original site. Chad admitted it was a tricky process, one that came with an inevitable drop in search rankings—a painful pill for any SEO-conscious founder. But ultimately, he believes the credibility that came with Dolly.com, especially in B2B channels, made the purchase worthwhile. Working with major partners like IKEA and Lowe’s, having that clean, single-word domain made a difference. “It probably paid itself back more in B2B deals than just pure consumer traffic,” he noted.
A Domain for the Ages
Chad’s experience underscores the value of an iconic domain and the complexities involved in acquiring one. For startups considering premium domains, he offers a caution: “There’s this weird game theory where the bigger your business gets, the higher the domain price. We tried to buy it before we announced our Series A. It’s like, once people see you’ve raised, that price tag tends to balloon.”
As for social media, Dolly stuck with GetDolly across platforms, realizing early that the single-word name was likely unattainable on every network. Chad’s advice to other founders? Focus on building your brand where it matters most—sometimes a unified handle is less important than the brand itself.
Life After Dolly: Crypto and ENS Domains
Today, Chad has pivoted to the crypto ecosystem, dabbling in infrastructure and asset tokenization. He sees parallels between domain names and blockchain-based assets like ENS domains, calling them “the original NFTs.” He’s been able to bring a lifetime of lessons from domain acquisition into this new venture, even humorously crediting his teenage self for some creative buying decisions.
In a world where the right domain can make or break a brand, Dolly.com is a prime example of how securing the perfect digital asset can be a game-changer. For Chad, it was the perfect mix of creativity, grit, and—at least a little bit of luck—that brought Dolly.com to life.
