How to Find Buyers for Your Domain Name

Filter by industry, funding stage (Series A/B), and funding date (last 90 days). Cross-reference company names and product names against your domain keyword. A company that raised $10M in a relevant category three months ago has both the budget and the motivation to invest in brand. Search both the company name and the product name — they are often different.

ProductHunt launches show you what is being built right now. Search for your keyword in ProductHunt's product database. Products launched on weaker domains that match your keyword are buyer candidates — they are live, they have users, and they have made a public brand commitment to the keyword. The founder is the right contact.

Search LinkedIn Companies for your keyword. Filter by company size (11–200 employees is the most actionable range — large enough to have budget, small enough that the founder is still reachable). Companies actively hiring for brand, marketing, or growth roles are signaling expansion — an ideal moment to introduce a domain upgrade.

Search Google for site:get[yourkeyword].com, site:try[yourkeyword].com, site:[yourkeyword]app.com, site:[yourkeyword].io, site:[yourkeyword].co. Every result is a company that has already invested in the keyword as their brand. They are the warmest possible leads because they have already made the brand decision — they just have the wrong domain.

YC publishes a searchable directory of all funded companies. YC founders are typically domain-aware (YC explicitly advises on domain strategy), budget-conscious in the early stages but willing to invest in brand when they find the right name. Search the directory for your keyword. Many YC companies operate on suboptimal domains and upgrade post-funding.

For domain keywords in specific verticals — legal tech, fintech, health tech, climate — industry newsletters and directories surface companies that never appear in general startup databases. CB Insights sector reports, Axios Pro vertical newsletters, and industry associations all publish company lists. These are buyers that your competitors targeting only Crunchbase will miss entirely.

How many buyer candidates should I target per domain?

10–20 qualified candidates per domain is the right range. Fewer than 10 leaves you too exposed to individual non-responses. More than 20 usually means you are reaching companies where the fit is weaker and the reply rate will drop. Quality of targeting matters far more than volume.

What if none of my research turns up a clear buyer category?

That is a signal about the domain, not the research. If you cannot identify companies that would plausibly pay for the name, your domain may not have a concentrated end-user buyer pool. That does not mean it is worthless — but it means your best channel is passive marketplace listing rather than active outreach. Price at or below NameBio comps and wait.

Should I contact multiple people at the same company?

No — not simultaneously. Start with the most senior relevant contact (CEO at a startup, CMO or VP Brand at a larger company). If you get no response after your full follow-up sequence, you can try one other contact at the same company, but note this in your tracking. Contacting multiple people at the same company simultaneously creates confusion and signals unprofessionalism.

How do I find the right person to contact at a company?

At startups (under 50 employees): the CEO or a co-founder. At growth-stage companies (50–200 employees): CMO, VP Marketing, or Head of Brand. At larger companies: Head of Corporate Brand or VP Communications. LinkedIn is the most reliable source. Hunter.io and Apollo.io can find the email address once you have identified the person.

What if a company I contact already owns the .com equivalent?

Remove them from your list — they have no domain gap to fill and are not a buyer. The exception: if they own the .com but you have the .ai (and they are an AI company), the pitch shifts to brand protection and signal consistency. This is a weaker case but occasionally produces a sale.

Is it worth hiring someone to do buyer research for me?

For a portfolio of 20+ names with average values above $3,000, yes — the economics support outsourcing the research phase to a VA. The outreach itself (personalized emails, follow-up) is harder to delegate because quality drops fast with generic copy. A common approach: outsource research and list-building, write the outreach yourself.