Thoughts

Andrew Miller

September 24, 2023

Uncovering Hidden Domain Opportunities

After a week off from Sunday Thoughts, while I traveled in the south of France, it is good to be back home. The trip was amazing but there is always something nice about returning to one’s routine; sleeping in my own bed, getting back to my SoulCycle classes, and of course, ramping up for what will be an exciting rest of 2023 for Hilco Digital Assets and domain name assets. One of the stories I often tell when I do keynotes or podcasts is how category, exact match domain names are one of the best “cocktail party” conversations. Everyone is enamored with the story of the sale of Chat.com or the plethora of names that I have owned over so many years. Hilco has many companies across several asset classes, and within each, 800 extremely talented people, management and employees, When I do sessions with Hilco’s people to educate them about domain names and Hilco Digital, I ask them to not only think about their business network but to also pay attention to their neighbors and social circles. I let them know that very often, it is not their client but their peer who may own one of the most valuable domain names in the world. Hence, the cocktail party example. In France, my wife and I became friendly with some people that we kept seeing at meals and beach clubs. Lo and behold, one of them, a top executive, asked me if I could help them acquire a one-word, exact-match domain that will be a 7 figure deal. If it happens, I will post about it. A few years ago, I received a call from an old friend living outside of San Francisco. He mentioned to me that he had an older neighbor who had recently lost her husband and that his family had been inviting her to dinner on a regular basis. One dinner, it came up that she was the original registrant owner of the domain name Tours*com, and she wanted to sell it now to help provide some financial security. He introduced me, and I became fast friends with this incredible woman, selling the domain in a significant deal for her a few months later. Domain opportunities are everywhere if you do it right.

Introducing Squadhelp’s Ultra Premium Marketplace

Last Monday, Squadhelp soft launched its Ultra Premium Marketplace, which as part of our strategic investment in SquadHelp, Hilco Digital manages. I am very encouraged by the early action resulting from this. There will be a trial and error period but domains need a place to feature the most valuable .com domain names and brands on the Internet, and SquadHelp is doing so many high-level technology advancements that are helping power this space. I am really excited for this. A few examples are names like Elm.com, Perch.com, Jay.com, Excel.com, and Ladder.com.

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