Contact the investor of a startup?

[Bernard Wright]

Hypothetically:

A startup's CEO contacts you to ask for pricing on an exact match .COM you've had for a few years. The startup obtained a TM on the name a couple of years after you purchased the domain. After a few emails, domain pricing discussions with the CEO grow cold.

Would anyone consider approaching the investment fund that provided capital to the startup? Does @jberryhill have any thoughts?

 

[Kyle Tully]

Sounds desperate to me.

If they want it they will come to you.

 

[karmaco]

Don’t contact them or another party involved. You are safe with UDRP with them coming to you.

It doesn’t matter about trademark date if you target a trademark holder there is always a risk of receiving a UDRP. Even on lets say word that has many trademarks. They can try to use it against you. Moreso if just one end user exists which sounds like your case.

If negotiations stalled he didn’t like your price and/or doesn’t see the value or as a must have at this point. Startups fail. Some survive and come get the name later.

I too have multiple names that fall in this category and I would never initiate contact. Best you can do to be ready or proactive is set BIN.

 

[BaileyUK]

I guess it's down to how the negotiations went cold and how long ago. If everything was amicable, there's no harm in dropping a line and just ask if the interest remains. Obviously I would hope you've kept all your records of the initial contact from the prospect. Sounds to me that the buyer has just baulked at the price and happy to sit things out.

I've had similar go cold for many years, but still result in a sale. Entrepreneurs tend to have more than one idea/project in first/early stages This prospect knows where to find you, it's never clever to go chasing unless your going to lower your asking price. Don't be doing anything that seems like your trying to undermine your initial enquirer, there's no good reason and very little chance of any benefit.

The best pressure you'll ever keep is a nice current Sale-page

 

[draco]

I agree with @Kyle Tully

Also, other than p*ssing off the CEO, what do you hope to accomplish? If the investment fund trusted the CEO enough to give them money, do you think they're going to override the CEO and tell them to buy the domain? Doubtful. At best they'll ask about it and the CEO will make up some excuse to not buy it, since you went around him and made him look bad.

 

[bismisoft]

Reaching negotiations with CEO or the head of marketing is your best bet. Remember you're trying to sell something not trying to report a crime or fraud about the company, reaching out to a board / investment fund is out of the line and may cause you more bad than good!

 

[Bernard Wright]

These are all good responses. Thank you all.

Indeed I don't think it would come off as desperate at all. I think it would be extremely bold. I can imagine circumstances under which it would indeed backfire, and in most cases perhaps it would. But there might be some instances in which the fund would have an incentive to purchase the domain in order to help guide the startup toward success (one relatively small investment in the domain could help ensure a return on their much larger investment in the startup), or perhaps even to gain a little more leverage in the fund's relationship with the startup.

It does seem like it would be an imprudent move. I just wondered what perspectives might be out there.

 

[BaileyUK]

You've clearly done all the ground-work and due diligence on this one. Must have seemed like the perfect sale was lining-up. What with later TM registration, CEO contact, Capital Investment identified. Easy to see as money almost in the bank.

I've little doubt that the business entities are seeing your domain price as the stumbling block. I'm guessing your asking into the $XX,XXX or not far off. I'd be revisiting just how versatile I believe the domain to be and taking my steer from that perspective.

If I'm wrong and you've had positive negotiations, There's nothing much you can do but sit tight.

 

[DomainNature]

I can see this happening with many domains, if it will happen to my domains, I will contact the TM holder and ask them to rename their biz to something else if they not plan buying the .COM domain after they decided to TM, as a cease and desist letter I will tell also that their TM is tarnishing my COM domain and is scaring out other interested parties, more than that I m going to put up a website where I will use the COM to tarnish TM's holder biz.

 

[Mister Funsky]

Would anyone consider approaching the investment fund that provided capital to the startup

If it were my name, I would not.

Some good advice from multiple posters above. Although it could take many months, if it is an exact match, they will likely come back with a higher offer.

I had this same thing happen about a year ago...I ended negotiations (VERY nicely and professionally) every time they came back with a slightly higher offer...they finally came up to my asking price after about 7 months.

 

[biggie]

I can imagine circumstances under which it would indeed backfire, and in most cases perhaps it would. But

Hi

above i see example where the "common sense" part of the mind is being ignored, in favor of a scenario that has the least chance of happening.

the fund would have an incentive to purchase the domain in order to help guide the startup toward success

the fund, is not a person. so it is not of one mind.

as @karmaco mentioned, "don't contact them".
you will come off as desperate, while before that, they had no idea of your situation.

hypothetically speaking....

imo....