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Ask HN: Do dead YC companies sell their brands/IP?

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Re: Ask HN: Do dead YC companies sell their brands/IP?

#21

Post by gunapologist99 »

neilv wrote: post #11

> Good business names and domains are always in demand, being able to acquire those together with trademarks is even more attractive as a business investment. If branded social media accounts are included, now you have a startup package that many established businesses don’t have. How could you legitimately use the brand name, domain name, or branded social media accounts of a different company? Sketchy SEO could use…

You mean like Shinola?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shinola

https://www.shinola.com/

It does seem to be a shame to throw away hard-built branding, especially when much larger brands get bought and sold every day. It seems like a win to restore an old vintage brand (vintage in HN terms might be anything from the previous batch!)

Re: Ask HN: Do dead YC companies sell their brands/IP?

#22

Post by morgante »

simonbarker87 wrote: post #7

I would imagine it’s the same as any other business. They declare bankruptcy, put the business into administration, appoint administrators who then determine how much the assets are worth and how to realise any value from those assets to pay off any creditors/shareholders/take their fee. Realising value from the assets (both tangible and intangible) might be via selling the business or just a fire sale of what they c…

I don't think bankruptcy is the norm, since most startups don't fail with outstanding debt.

Re: Ask HN: Do dead YC companies sell their brands/IP?

#24

Post by guywithahat »

gunapologist99 wrote: post #21
neilv wrote: post #11

> Good business names and domains are always in demand, being able to acquire those together with trademarks is even more attractive as a business investment. If branded social media accounts are included, now you have a startup package that many established businesses don’t have. How could you legitimately use the brand name, domain name, or branded social media accounts of a different company? Sketchy SEO could use…

You mean like Shinola? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shinola https://www.shinola.com/ It does seem to be a shame to throw away hard-built branding, especially when much larger brands get bought and sold every day. It seems like a win to restore an old vintage brand (vintage in HN terms might be anything from the previous batch!)

Shinola appears to have been around for over 80 years, and the IP wasn’t used for decades

Re: Ask HN: Do dead YC companies sell their brands/IP?

#26

Post by SoftTalker »

morgante wrote: post #22
simonbarker87 wrote: post #7

I would imagine it’s the same as any other business. They declare bankruptcy, put the business into administration, appoint administrators who then determine how much the assets are worth and how to realise any value from those assets to pay off any creditors/shareholders/take their fee. Realising value from the assets (both tangible and intangible) might be via selling the business or just a fire sale of what they c…

I don't think bankruptcy is the norm, since most startups don't fail with outstanding debt.

Debt in the sense of formally borrowed money? Maybe not. But unpaid invoices, rents due and lease obligations, possibly even payroll due, I think would be pretty common.

Re: Ask HN: Do dead YC companies sell their brands/IP?

#28

Post by thekevan »

It could be a competitor (Stark Industries) that is getting large. If the brand still has SEO or social juice, buying it then rebranding it as something like "Wayne Enterprises, now a Stark Industries Company".

It could be a cheap relabeling of existing products but if all the company who is doing that say is, "Yo, we bought the brand." and doesn't hide it or make false claims, that is completely legit.

It's a pretty smart move if the price is right, which can be a big "if".

Re: Ask HN: Do dead YC companies sell their brands/IP?

#29

Post by SoftTalker »

throwawaycities wrote: post #9
yawnxyz wrote: post #2

I have no insight, but I always wondered what happens to the $100k+ domains that VC-funded startups buy and then go bust. Do they sell them at a bargain?

Back in the day I read that a lot of the desirable domains used by startups are leased , it would be interesting learn more how that part of the industry actually works.

It's good to be very careful about what you do with your email account at such a place. Most companies are tolerant of some incidental personal use of your work email address, but just remember that whoever gets control of the domain later will also receive all "your" email. So if you're using it as a recovery address for any personal online services, they will now have that.

Best policy is to use work email addresses strictly for work, even if they are OK with some personal use. This is true even if it's your own business. Are you going to want to pay for that domain forever? If not, keep it separate from your personal email.

Re: Ask HN: Do dead YC companies sell their brands/IP?

#30

Post by petesergeant »

snowwrestler wrote: post #10

Worked at a dotcom which ran out of funding after Series A. After all the staff got laid off, the email list, domain, brand materials, and web content were all transferred to the lead investor of the Series A. Not sure if they were just “first in line” for it all, or if they passed anything on to minority investors. It probably comes down to who has how much equity in the business, and what the terms say. It is essen…

Feels like there’s an opportunity there for a business that will maximise dead tech startup IP
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