Been in this space a long time and just watched one of the dumbest self-inflicted losses I’ve seen in years. Was interviewing with a ai company (~$300M+ revenue and 1 single owner…). During research, noticed they didn’t own their exact-match domain-just a pile of second-tier alternatives. Found owner (no comment) Rare case: real info. Called the owner (older guy, not a flipper). Good conversation. He initially said it wasn’t for sale, but after talking, he opened up and said, “make me an offer.” Price? Completely reasonable for the asset. What do they do? They send a junior HR person asking me to hand over the contact info. No strategy. No discretion. No understanding of how these deals actually work. I declined and set up an anonymous contact to test them. They haven’t yet, but I’m fully expecting a lawyer to. During an interview, it was the first question they asked. Not letting someone inexperienced spook the seller or turn it into a legal posturing situation over what is, frankly, a cheap acquisition for them. Interesting outcome. They’ll never get the name now (no comment). They lost a premium domain because they treated it like a routine admin task (or worse…c&d?) instead of what it is-a negotiation. Big takeaway (again, for the hundredth time): Most companies-even big ones-have zero idea how to acquire domains properly. And yeah, lesson on my end too: don’t offer to “help for free,” and don’t assume competence or ethics just because there’s revenue or a “good guy” founder. Curious how many of you have seen deals die like this for completely avoidable reasons. submitted by /u/jdawgindahouse1974
Originally posted by u/jdawgindahouse1974 on r/ArtificialInteligence
You must log in or # to comment.