What Every Startup Founder Should Know About Buying Domain Names

Rewind back to five years ago, and I was helping some of the most incredible startups on the planet to find and acquire domain names. Now, as a startup co-founder myself for the past three years, I find that many of my fellow founders still call on me as the former “domain guy” to help them navigate the waters of domain negotiation.

The domain name market is a mercurial one; it’s relatively secretive, however not by choice. When most people approach me about a domain they’re trying to buy I usually hear the same thing, “it looks like a squatter has it, what should I do?”

So I thought it was time to take my experience in buying, selling, and brokering millions of dollars in domain names and share the same advice and step-by-step process that I share with my friends and startup founders around the world. Here it goes.

Step 1 — Determine who owns the domain name

First things first; let’s separate “Cybersquatters” from “Domainers” because they are very different and so is the way in which you approach each. Cybersquatters are people who violate an existing Trademark or buy typos of your brand in order to either extort or damage your brand.