Thoughts

Andrew Miller

April 20, 2025

Patience, Young Grasshopper

This month has reinforced the importance of understanding my philosophy that oftentimes, there are only 1-2 buyers, in an extended window of time ,for an exact match domain name, no matter how valuable it is. To be clear, there is always a price point for a domain asset where there is liquidity, so what I am referring to is an acquisition at a value that is inside of the ZOPA (zone of possible agreement). For this to occur, it requires a buyer who understands the strategic importance of the domain asset to their business, has a clear vision on how to deploy it, and has the capital to enter into the transaction. All of these ingredients are incomplete without patience, perseverance, and timing. This is why I often use the term “marinating”, meaning the domain has to reach a point it is ready to “cook”. It is also why so much of what we at Hilco Digital Assets do is continue to stay in touch with the most likely prospective acquirers and develop that relationship. I have discussed our $8.6m sale of Gold*com, and the fact that it took just under 4 year, with 19 months of discussions with the ultimate buyer. I recorded a podcast on this shortly after the deal, https://youtu.be/bOJhZ2CTJSc?si=Je4yu-Daa3_e4ESk. Last week, as I posted on Friday, we confirmed that we oversaw the sale of the domain asset Icon*com. There were a handful of companies with serious interest, and with patience of almost 4 years, I believe that the outcome was a win-win for all sides. Next week, we will enter into another transaction that will be well worth it for all sides and also has been years of discussion with the buyer. As Jerry Garcia once sang, “all good things in all good time.”

Google is Migrating from Country Code TLD’s to .com Globally

Last week, Elliot Silver wrote about how Google will now direct all of their domains and TLD’s to Google*com, https://lnkd.in/eH9JWmah. I was messaging with a friend and client, a very successful founder of 2 unicorn, generic domain name brands, and he wrote back to me “.com has always been where it’s at. I wouldn’t trust a company that can’t secure its *com, whether a brand or start up”. We certainly agree. Other use cases of established CEO/Founders can be seen at https://lnkd.in/eFS_NYXp

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