Paddle was formed in 2012 and its founder, Christian Owens, understood well the need for a clean, memorable domain. The company went after Paddle.com which was acquired via Afternic for $120,000 dollars.
The company had raised $200,000 dollars but was able to extend the VC funding to $320,000 dollars just to get the domain. It was clear from the get-go that owning the exact match .com of the brand was absolutely necessary!
A few weeks after launching a temporary landing page on Paddle.com, a package arrived at the company’s small office, containing a cease and desist letter for trademark infringement, casting Paddle’s plans under a dark shadow.
What had happened: It seems that their search for a clean record for the PADDLE mark had failed to identify a fresh registration days prior. Paddle had a real hot potato in its hands!
The letter had arrived from another start-up seeking to use the PADDLE name. The solution, after a bit of back and forth, was to pay them money to rebrand. Paddle spent an extra $155,000 dollars for this, acquiring the trademark in the process.
Left with only $45,000 dollars in funding, the company had to move quickly toward its goals; it was the greatest motivation of all time.
Moral of the story: Getting the right domain can be the end or the beginning of your corporate problems.
