Vaughan Lazar is pissed. The Pizza Fusion czar is definitely not down with elephant slaughter, and when GoDaddy CEO Bob Parsons bragged about killing a male on video in Zimbabwe (which experts say was actually a protected female), Lazar lost it. And Parsons lost business.
A lot of it.
Lazar told CPC he's pulling more than 130 domain names he registered with GoDaddy.
Clean Plate Clean: What will your move cost GoDaddy, do you think?
Lazar: I only use GoDaddy for their domain name purchases, but if I were to renew them all today, it could cost me thousands. I currently have 50 domains up for renewal. If I were to renew these domains now, it would cost me about $1,000 on GoDaddy. If I was hosting each site with them, it would cost much more. They have millions of customers, and $1,000 can quickly grow with just a small number of their customers leaving them. I understand there are thousands of others who are just as upset as I am and are taking their web business elsewhere.
130 is a lot of domain names. Are they all pizza-related?
Not all of them are pizza-related. I have several other businesses I bought domains for, like Kapow! Noodle Bar that I'm opening, a couple of nonprofits I've started, as well as a few "green"-related domains. I'd say that about a fourth of the domains I own with GoDaddy are Pizza Fusion-related, though.
How, exactly, did you come to this decision?
When I first learned of Bob Parsons' video of him killing an African elephant, I was appalled. I was hoping it was another tasteless PR stunt that Parsons is known for. But it was exactly what I saw -- him heartlessly killing an amazing, majestic animal for sport. Despite his claims that he was "killing a problem animal that was a nuisance to villagers' crops," I wasn't buying it. I completely understand the concept of "animal culling" as well. I'm sorry to say, Bob -- with all your money, you could've relocated these "problem animals" to a reserve and fed the entire village for life without making them wear GoDaddy schwag. I believe, as a business owner, we have the ability to create change for the greater good of all and lead by example. We all vote with our hard-earned dollars, and mine will be voting with another service provider. GoDaddy has lost my business for life.
NOTE: Reps from Venovix, a web hosting and cloud services company, tell Clean Plate Charlie that they have launched a "NoDaddy" promotion for anyone who wants to leave GoDaddy. They are offering free domain migrations for a $2 donation to the International Elephant Foundation. They're also giving six months free web hosting (with a 1-year hosting commitment) to those transferring their web hosting to Venovix. The company has committed to donating 20% of all hosting revenues generated from the NoDaddy promotion. Click here for more details: http://www.venovix.com/elephantconservation.
NOTE: Reps from Venovix, a web hosting and cloud services company, tell Clean Plate Charlie that they have launched a "NoDaddy" promotion for anyone who wants to leave GoDaddy. They are offering free domain migrations for a $2 donation to the International Elephant Foundation. They're also giving six months free web hosting (with a 1-year hosting commitment) to those transferring their web hosting to Venovix. The company has committed to donating 20% of all hosting revenues generated from the NoDaddy promotion. Click here for more details: http://www.venovix.com/elephantconservation.
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