GoDaddy Gives Silicon Valley a Big Kiss

It still loves the geeks

Even after its buzzed-about Super Bowl ad, GoDaddy.com is still kissing up to geeks. It's latest move brings the web platform company to Silicon Valley itself, opening up a new office in Sunnyvale.

At an event on Monday, Go Daddy leaders showed off the new digs at 100 Mathilda Avenue; about 40 employees worked over computers, a foosball table nearby for creative breaks Silicon Valley techies are known for. The company hopes to double the number of employees by the end of this year.

Go Daddy's CEO Blake Irving wanted to highlight not only its new office, but that it had acquired M.dot Inc., a mobile app company for small business website creation.

 "M.dot's global vision of a mobile future for small businesses fits beautifully with what our customers need right now," Irving said. "Go Daddy wants to help businesses connect with their customers wherever they are in the world, and that means providing killer mobile technology. It also means helping our customers manage their business from anywhere, anytime with the simplicity of their smartphone or tablet. With M.dot, small businesses can compete on a big-time level without spending big-time money. We're completely stoked to have M.dot on board."

I can't help but notice a bit of irony here: As Texas Governor Rick Perry comes to Silicon Valley to try and lure tech companies to pack up and move to Texas (where, admittedly, it is cheaper to be), we still see a fairly steady stream of companies with headquarters elsewhere establishing a Valley beachhead.

GoDaddy, for instance, has its HQ in Scottsdale, Ariz. And, deliciously, Dell - famously headquartered in Texas, recently opened new buildings and hired new employees here in Silicon Valley.

If you've been a GoDaddy fan (and I'm not talking about its commercials anymore), head to the company website. You'll see, among other things, many job listings in Silicon Valley.  It's announcing its presence with authority, and plans to make friends with lots of techies along the way.

If you missed Go Daddy's Super Bowl ad, watch here.

Scott can be virtually kissed on Twitter: @scottbudman

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