Mayor (porncity)
Mayor - or Mike to his friends, is one of the old school original players in this game. The man behind Porncity and other programs like Stiffycash is probably one of the top 20 income earners in the online adult business today. Incredibly bright, Mayor insipres instant loyalty. I'm proud to call Mayor a friend. I'm hoping this interview might help you to see why.
Pictures complements of Fubar - check it out for a photo archive all all webmaster events!
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GFY Ambush Interview thread on Mayor
Question #1
Why are all your sites moved offshore now?
The business has changed quite a lot since I started, it simply not an option when you're doing business in the EU or other places to not have a presense there. I know a lot of uneducated people think that being offshore is some sort magic shield that allows you to get around US laws. It would be pretty cool if such a thing existed but that's not the case.
Question #2
How much heat did you get when your hired Rinaldo?
Actually very little. I think people know I don't like to get involved in issues or making assumptions about events I was not present for. Rinaldo has been an instant asset to our team and he's extremely fun to tease and torment. Anyone who willingly poses for a mangina picture can't be all that bad. ;)
Question #3
How come someone that does so much boating got so green at the redneck getaway?
HAHAHAHA, (related question 35) Basiclly the answer to this has to do with a beer bong on friday night. I am actually known to get sea sick at times when I am not driving the boat.
Question #4
How did you enjoy your mini retirement? What made you come out of it?
Which one? The one where I went to FL and left my brother running the biz or the one where I went to Thailand and found out how cool cheap women and strong American dollars are. First one, I learned family and biz don't mix well for me. Second one I learned that I really enjoy this business and unless I have something to really occupy my time, I am going to get very bored very quickly.
Question #5
Why does it seem so many people, and the same people all the time, get so many colds and allergies at webmaster gatherings?
Easy to answer, we're filthy animals, who don't wash our hands enough and shake hands, kiss and touch too much. In come cases I am sure it's Colombian colds, but for the most part I attribute it to late nights and excessive contact with bugs you have no immunity to. (forgot to spell check first hehe)
Question #6
What has made you the most money in your career?
Probably the same thing that has made a lot of people the most money in their career www.stiffycash.com
Question #7
Why did you shut down porncity's free host?
We really didn't market it, capitalize on it or maintain it for years. It's been ages since our free hosting was even a little part of our business. I don't care for having our name on something in such disrepair so we pulled the plug. PornCity.net has always been about community, that community has matured and free hosting is no longer needed to support it. Many of my original free host people like Eric @ Adult, Lensman, Wizzo, and many many others no longer need services like that. Times change, so did we.
Question #8
How much traffic did porncity have on it's best day?
Christ, I think according to sextracker we had over 10 mill a day for a while but who's counting ;)
Question #9
What's your ethnic background?
I'm as white as a ghost and have the dance skillz to prove it.
Question #10
Is it true you grew up with a silver spoon in your mouth? What does your dad do for a living?
Yes and no. As a little kid we were pretty well off, got to live in some cool places. Then things change, divorce etc. . . As soon as I was old enough to work (15), I paid for all my own shit and moved out when I was 16. My dad has been employed as Senior VP of Hertz Asia Pacific, National Car Rental, Chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority Melbourne Australia. Now he's semi retired selling time share in Orlando
Question #11
Talk about your mechanic car garage biz.
This was my first "real" business that kept me in food, rent and beer. I was a self taught mechanic so I really couldn't work for a real shop any way. Basically with a stack of receipts, a MN company set up (done by myself) and a full set of craftsmen tools I went on a mobile mission to repair cars breaks, mufflers, timing belts, ball joints, oil changes, valve cover gaskets etc . . . all from the back of my little Jeep Comanche pick up truck. I had a blast and made very little money. However, it was my first real taste of being my own man and not having a boss. Gotta say, that still feels good.
Question #12
Do you still eat at Perkins?
Rarely but if I am in an area where one exists, and I need some breakfast, I'll take Perkins over Dennys any day. For those who are wondering about this question, Perkins was one of my old waiter jobs. Pay sucked, tips were shitty but it put a 18 year old in cash every night and it was a fun job. All the high school girls that hung out there were nice too ;)
Question #13
Is there anything we need to know about Burger King?
Hehe, everyone jokes about going back to work at burger king. I am one of those that actually did work there! From 16-17 (yea a whole year) I worked closing shift, paid my rent and made your whoppers. Definitely an interesting job and I must admit I am grateful for the experience. It helps you understand how hard people work for a little bit of money. A job like that in your past can help ensure you won't have to work a job like that in your future.
Question #14
How good did it feel to call up the Merrill Lynch rewards program when you had a kazillion points?
It was pretty neat to have worked there in the points dept making $7 per hour right before my adult company took off. When I called called in to check my point balance (which was over 500K @ $1 per point) it had only been about a year since I walked off the job without notice. I actually got to talk to my old cube mates, they couldn't believe it ;)
Question #15
How did Persian Kitty influence your early career?
She was a huge factor in my quest to grow my adult biz. My never achievable goal was to have a site with as many visitors as her. When I came up with the idea for www.porncity.net we were only getting 10-20K hits a day on our sites (making around 20K a month ;)). Within a week of launching we were way over PK's traffic numbers and I was so busy trying to keep the site up I didn't even notice I had reached a long time goal. PersianKitty is the shit, we gave her a free link on every page on porncity for years. It was the least I could do for a lady that helped me get my start!
Question #16
What are: sexeworld.com, mayorsmoney.com, cashmachine, liveteen, and stiffycash? Discuss each one.
Sexworld is by far the largest, coolest, most kick ass adult store I have ever seen. The owner Dennis is a legend in Minneapolis for fighting the city and consistently winning. They were my first web design client and the reason I found adult. I just checked the domain and it looks like he let it laps after owning it since 1995 www.MayorsMoney.com was the first affiliate program we launched back in 1998 and offered a 50/50 revshare on liveteen.com Lots of guys made 100's of thousands from that site. My genius partner at the time (Josh, he's a homeless drug addict now) decided it would be good to copy Lensmans AP program and create a per click program "cashmachine". Unfortunately he never thought to track profitability. We spent on average more than 100 bucks per join People were happy cause they made even more with that program We, on the other hand, teetered on the edge of bankrupsy. I booted my partner, and we started www.stiffycash.com and launched the first lifetime program (an honest one) and we were off to the races doing more than 1000 joins a day (no bullshit)!! Now 2005 we're resurrecting Mayor's Money with some really cool new things that no one has and we're turning heads all over again with another net first REAL HD video online!
Question #17
What cities/countries have you lived in?
Born in Australia. Lived in England, Germany, Singapore, Melbourne Australia, Sydney Australia, New York, New Jersey, Orlando, Chicago, Minneapolis, Ft Lauderdale. I think that's it for places lived. I have traveled to almost as may places as VIRTUMIKE
Question #18
How has traveling changed your life?
Heh, how hasn't it. It's hard to be a close minded when I have seen so much. Traveling has affected me in a profound and fundamental way that nothing else could. I, unlike many holiday travelers, thrive on the differences in the countries and cultures I visit. The more exotic or different than home, the more I enjoy it. I can safely say, that I will always be a traveler.
Question #19
Why does your board get less traffic than GFY? What was it like when your board was THE industry source?
I never treated it as a critical part of my business. It still gets around the same amount of traffic it always has, it's just not nearly as much as GFY. It was originally put up simply as a forum to communicate with our webmasters and customers.
Question #20
Discuss the Venezuelan fishing trip.
Basically it was the most fucked up I have ever been. Pretty scary how easy it is to go from a good time to a total blackout. No one was injured and a good friend looked out for me. There are some things I simply have to stay away from. I'll leave it at that. Or maybe you just wanted to hear about how mad I was about not catching any fish.
Question #21
Why do you like Tailand so much? Is it the cheap young hookers?
Yep that pretty much sums it up Well that, and the fact that everything seems so cheap it's almost free and the food is amazing, the culture is extreemly interesting and there is about 1000 years more history and culture than home Also met my wife there, love diving there and just hangin out! Wanna see a pic of the wife ;) I don't think it was ever an industry source. I have always thought of netpond and ynot as the industry source.
Question #22
What kind of cars do you own? Pics, Boat(s) pics
Top secret information
Question #23
What houses/condos do you own? Pics.
I'll have to post these later. I don't have many pics of my shit (not much of a show off)
Question #24
What are your favorite and least favorite webmaster gatherings?
I hate vegas cause of all the walking and it's sooo spread out. Favorite is Island Gathering in Curacao. Small group of the real decision makers
Question #25
Where do you see online adult in the next year, 5 years, 10 years?
More broadband and way more govt regulations.
Question #26
How many people work for you? Where are they all located?
About 25 people scattered between MN and FL and around the globe.
Question #27
What's the highest/largest chargeback you've ever had?
Nothing more than most people from back in the day. I think we've been as high as 4% but nothing too amazing.
Question #28
Who do you look up to in this industry? Who do you look down on?
JB, Dave Peterson, David "Vandersmutskie" are all people I look up to. They are some of the smartest people I have ever met. An evening with them listening to their thoughts is worth gold. I really don't look down on anyone. There are some people who are asshats but I just dismiss them and go on with my day
Question #29
What ever happened to your brother?
I pretty much answered this earlier. We parted ways and haven't spoken much since.
Question #30
What credit card processor do you like the most? the least?
Paycom, hands down! I dislike Ibill the most for the same reasons as most. They owe me $$$.
Question #31
Have you ever done work with spam? downloads? spyware? other interesting stuff?
I think to some degree anyone who has been around as long as I have would have to say yes to all three. I was getting spam traffic in 97 before I knew what it was. We had some fun promoting gohip and some other downloads as well. Ialways tried to stay on the clean side of things though. I like to sleep well at night even if it means I don't have 10 new cars every month. I can live with myself at least.
Question #32
Have you ever tazered an employee?
hehe, yea we used to chase each other around with stun guns, riot stun batons and shit. That was until I re-wired Adam's baton to stun the holder of it instead of whoever it was jammed into.
Question #33
Ever been sued or sued anyone in the industry?
Sure have, I sued Lycos for non-payment of a multi-million dollar deal back around 99-2000ish. They ended up paying up about 1/2 what I had already paid to people I was brokering the deal with. Basically I lost my ass. I have been sued by some whack jobs here and there for small nuicense amounts but nothing major.
Question #34
How did you come up with the names of the streets on porncity?
I used to have contests letting PC members pick names. If they chose the one I used, they got first crack at the #1 house
Question #35
Ever been drunk or high at a webmaster event? Any thoughts on this?
HAHAH, who hasn't at one time or another (besides those friends of Bill W). It has a time and place. Personally, I try to keep myself under control and if a staff member is outta control, they don't get to go to shows any more. It's tough to stick to my guns with that especially when I have been pretty retarded at times but as I have gotten older my patience has grown weary for drunk retards at shows (even when they are me).
