Member-only story
Did You Know How a 20-Year-Old Outsmarted Reliance And Turned a Domain Sale Into a PR Triumph?
A 20 y/o from Delhi outsmarted Reliance and bought JioHotstar.com before their merger — which he has now sold to 2 kids.
Not only did Reliance lose its domain, but it also created a PR nightmare in the process.
Here’s how it went down:
1. A 20-year-old IT graduate from Delhi noticed Disney+ Hotstar losing users after losing IPL rights.
2. He connected the dots: “Since Sony and Zee were pursuing their merger, Viacom 18 (owned by Reliance) is the only major player with sufficient resources to acquire Disney+ Hotstar”.
3. Thought ahead and bought JioHotstar[dot]com, remembering how JioSaavn[dot]com was created after a similar merger.
4. When JioHotstar came through, he saw this as an opportunity. He’s an aspiring entrepreneur who had a seat at Cambridge’s MBA in Entrepreneurship but couldn’t afford it.
5. Asked for 1 Cr for the website, to fund the dream: “For a multi-billion dollar company like Reliance, this will be a minor expense, but for me, the sale of this domain would be life-changing”.
6. Reliance refused outright and responded with legal threats instead of negotiation.
