Thoughts

Andrew Miller

November 24, 2024

Those that know, know.

As I have said many times, there are very few assets that provide the value that the most premium .com domain names do, both as standalone investments, as well as to the companies that understand the importance of owning them. Many of our Hilco Digital Assets recent deals highlight some, such as OpenAI with Chat*com, Rocket Companies with Rocket*com, Goat Foods with Chocolate*com, OnlyFans with Fans*com, and Amark with Gold*com. One misconception we often hear in a negotiation is. “the domain has not sold for years”, implying less value. There is nothing further from the truth. I know I have reiterated this before, but my philosophy over 26 years of experience is that there is likely 1, or if really lucky, 2, buyers for an ultra-premium domain in a given window of time, which I define as uo to 4 years. When I say one buyer, I am referring to a buyer who: a) understands why they want the domain b) has the capital to acquire it c) is willing to pay a price within the “ZOPA” (Zone of Possible Agreement). Our job is to cast as wide a net as possible and find that champion who meets the above criteria, and then recognize the window where the timing is right to make the deal happen. Oftentimes the net is cast, and it takes time to marinate, or a buyer is not ready and circles back later. It is not a matter of “if” but “when” and “who”. Your category defining name is a 1/1, and once it does transact, it is likely game over. I have been involved with so many high level deals where the initial answer was “no” or “not now” and then months if not years later, the deal happened. Our Gold*com deal took over 3 years 19 months from the first conversation with the buyer. What about the CEO/VC that “just does not get it”. We know, from real world results, case studies, and risk/reward, how strategically important owning their exact match domain is, arguably, and in the words of so many other CEO/Founders in the link above, it is more mission critical than anything else they might do, yet are dismissive, Experience shows that they will figure it out and return, and the only questions are; did the price go up for the domain? Is it too late? As experts, we can only present an opportunity and educate, we cannot “make someone get it”.

Confusion is Dangerous

We recently had a deal where our client, a multi-billion dollar company, had countless confidential emails being sent to and received at an exact match domain that we were representing. Carl Hancock says it best here: https://x.com/carlhancock/status/1502282919766806528

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