British company Hopin had quite the journey in recent years. They started on Hopin.to, only to “upgrade” to the shorter domain hack Hop.in.
That transition to an Indian ccTLD cost them $50,000 dollars in 2020, on the heels of a $6.5 million dollar funding round.
But then, they had an awakening: Time to get the matching .com domain, Hopin.com.
The only problem: The domain was being used by a Greek tourist services company founded in 1952. Hopin.com had been their domain name since 1998, along with the matching ccTLD for Greece, Hopin.gr.
Hopin, the British company, recently moved its headquarters to the US.
Hopin.com upgraded from .to to .in to .com
Dave Schools, co-founder of Hopin, shared a short yet amazing story of how the company spent $375,000 dollars to acquire the domain name Hopin.com from its Athenian registrant.
It took 12 emails over the course of a year that most likely arrived without a solid offer. Once the quote of $50,000 dollars was mentioned, the registrant responded.
Hopin needed a quick launch on the .com and time was of the essence; being flush with cash helped secure the deal. According to Dave Schools, the domain was in their possession 30 minutes before a crucial company meeting.
Selling Hopin.com for $375,000 dollars was definitely a great cash injection for the Greek company, that operates from Hopin.gr but still displays the .com in one of its graphics!
Bonus content!
Dave Schools says he really regrets buying the domain name Session.com for $385,000 dollars to rebrand a video meetings tool called Jamm.
Here is his reasoning:
Part of the reason it struggled was the brand wasn’t unique enough to stand out. It didn’t have a strong narrative or imagery built into the word.
It also couldn’t be trademarked and protected because it wasn’t distinct enough – we tried, but it was too descriptive. To be trademark-ready, a wordmark needs to be new or invented.
Both are valid points, identifying the crucial importance of picking the right domain up front, as opposed to chasing generic domain names for a service that requires targeted branding from the get-go.
