ABC to XYZ : When Larry called Negari

Daniel Negari scrolled through his emails, finishing off the last bits of a crunchy chicken salad with balsamic vinegar and croutons.

Twenty five notifications about XYZ domains becoming active web sites, a couple of emails from Paul Stahura, five spam promos that somehow escaped the strict .XYZ filters – all this pile of work and it wasn’t even 2:00pm on the West Coast yet.

On his glass-top desk, the iPhone 6 buzzed, a ringtone mix of jingles and whistles fading off to an orchestral crescendo.

Unknown number, area code 650 – Mountain View, California.

Negari picked up his cell before it’d go to voicemail.

“Hello, Daniel Negari, CEO and awesome founder of Generation XYZ, who is this?”

There was a short pause, then the person on the other end answered back.

“Hi there Daniel, this is Larry Page from Google, how you doin?”

Daniel Negari guffawed.  Could it be the Verisign lawyers pranking him again?

“Yeah? Well listen Larry, I ‘m not sure how to say this, but I don’t appreciate the bullshit ok?”

The other party laughed, as if it were not the first time they were getting this type of response.

“Daniel, I know man, hard to believe but it’s really me, Larry. Listen, I’ll cut to the chase: I want one of your reserved XYZ domains, we have big plans for it. If you want to verify my number, call Google and ask for me, I’ll be waiting for your call in the next 15 minutes. Bye for now.”

The call ended with a click.

Negari, still feeling shell-shocked and perplexed, scrolled through his contacts and dialed Google. Twenty seconds later he was patched through to Larry Page, Google CEO.

“Larry. Mr. Page, I mean, hi. This is Daniel Negari, I’m returning your call, it’s a pleasure talking to you sir!”

Larry Page chuckled.

“Daniel, a pleasure man, and listen, I knew you’d be skeptical but I’ll get straight to the point: we want ABC.XYZ for a huge new project that everyone will be talking about for months to come. How much?”

Negari swallowed hard.

Having spent hundreds of thousands of dollars building the XYZ Registry and brand, he wasn’t quite used to such direct propositions.

Mustering all of his energy, he muttered: “Well, Larry, it’s probably one of our best domains, if not *the* best one, and listen, I would be honored to help you guys out, I mean, Google, jesus. Well, how about $250k ?”

There was a short pause, then Larry Page simply said “Done.”

Negari felt a rush of energy unlike any other, just like gulping down three cans of Red Bull and a double espresso – all at once.

“Larry, that’s awesome. When do you want the domain? I can point it right now to Google if you want. We can start an Escrow on Monday, or you’d prefer a wire transfer to our counsel’s holding account? Anything to make you happy, this is awesome, just awesome!”

Larry Page broke a wide smile, or so it felt like; his voice turned into a thundering drum of corporate vision, manifesting itself via words.

“Daniel, this is bigger than Google. Thank you for letting us have the domain. We’ll deliver the cash this afternoon with further instructions.”

Daniel Negari was on cloud nine, his heart beating faster than a hummingbird’s wings.

Bigger than Google? Bigger than Google???

OMG. OMFG.

“Thanks so much Larry, I’ll be here until 10pm if you need me. Have a wonderful afternoon, please stay in touch!”

The dial-tone’s flatness brought an end to Negari’s day-dreaming, sending his adrenaline levels into a euphoric overflow rush that pumped his brain like a locomotive engine.

He got off his Aeron chair, grabbed his skateboard and rolled out of the office, through the server room and into the lounge area, past the customer service room, and out the door of 2800 Olympic Boulevard, kicking his board through the sidewalk and down the street, beyond the fancy coffee shops of Santa Monica, finishing off with a perfect 720 at the park’s concrete ramp.

What a motherfucking great day to be alive.

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