This valuation uses three approaches per asset:
1. Comparable Transaction Analysis -- real M&A deals in the same sector
2. Revenue/EBITDA Multiple Analysis -- industry benchmark multiples
3. Debbie's Own Stated Values -- from the March 23, 2026 call (consensus-verified by 3 independent LLMs)
All numbers marked (CONFIRMED) came directly from Debbie McGrath on the call.
All numbers marked (EXTERNAL) came from public sources (Latka, LinkedIn, web) and must be verified with Debbie before use in any client-facing document.
| Fact | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Company name | HR.com | CONFIRMED |
| Company age | 27 years (founded ~1999) | CONFIRMED |
| Business type | B2B digital media / community platform for HR professionals | CONFIRMED |
| Profitable | Yes | CONFIRMED |
| Revenue (current) | NOT STATED | GAP -- must ask Debbie |
| Revenue (external) | $42.6M (2024, Latka) | EXTERNAL -- UNCONFIRMED |
| Employees (external) | ~299 (LinkedIn) | EXTERNAL -- UNCONFIRMED |
| Registered members (external) | 1.9M+ (Latka) | EXTERNAL -- UNCONFIRMED |
| EBITDA margin | ~20% (Ewing stated, Debbie did not correct) | IMPLIED |
| Media revenue multiple | 1.2x-1.5x revenue | CONFIRMED |
| HR vendor directory | 50,000 vendors | CONFIRMED |
| Prior exit (2022) | 8 offers, $9M low, ~$45M high | CONFIRMED |
| Domain value estimate | $15M-$20M (from domain brokers) | CONFIRMED |
| Media business standalone value | $7M-$10M | CONFIRMED |
| My People revenue | $250K/year (from HR.com) | CONFIRMED |
| My People clients interested | 35 HR tech companies | CONFIRMED |
| My People going live | First 7 in ~45 days | CONFIRMED |
| FORJ raised / returned | $8M raised, $1M returned to Debbie | CONFIRMED |
| COVID activations | 260 major associations | CONFIRMED |
| Dev team size (My People) | 18 people (Debbie's side) | CONFIRMED |
| Domain broker commission | Negotiated from 20% to 10% (not signed) | CONFIRMED |
| Previous company sold | CEO Group Inc. sold to Washington Post/Kaplan | CONFIRMED (external) |
| Domain | Sale Price | Year | Buyer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AI.com | ~$70M (reported) | Jan 2026 | Unknown | All-time record for domain sale |
| FB.com | $8.5M | 2010 | Two-letter .com | |
| IG.com | $4.7M | 2013 | Two-letter .com | |
| Sex.com | $13M | 2010 | Clover Holdings | Category-defining |
| Insurance.com | $35.6M | 2010 | QuinStreet | Category keyword |
| Voice.com | $30M | 2019 | Block.one | Two-letter+category |
| Cars.com | IPO valuation ~$2.5B | 2017 | Public | Category-defining |
| Hotels.com | Part of $1.1B Expedia deal | 2003 | Expedia | Category-defining |
Key factors:
- One of only 676 two-letter .com domains in existence
- HR is a $42-54B technology market (2025)
- Category-defining: hr.com = human resources
- Agentic AI use case: single entry point for all HR systems
- Named buyers already circling (SAP, Workday, Oracle, OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Deloitte, Accenture, PwC)
Debbie's stated range: $15M-$20M (CONFIRMED -- from two brokers who sell "90% of two-letter domains")
Our assessment:
- Floor: $12M (conservative, below broker estimates)
- Base: $18M (midpoint of broker range)
- Bull: $30M+ (if AI company bidding war, closer to AI.com trajectory)
For fair market value purposes: $18M
Debbie did NOT state revenue on the call. We have two data points to triangulate:
Method 1 -- Debbie's own valuation backward:
- She said the media business is worth "$7M-$10M" standalone
- She said media companies trade at "1.2x-1.5x revenue"
- Implied revenue: $7M / 1.5x = $4.7M to $10M / 1.2x = $8.3M
- Implied revenue range: $4.7M-$8.3M
Method 2 -- External source (Latka):
- $42.6M revenue (2024)
- But this likely includes ALL revenue across all entities
- If My People is $250K and domain has no separate revenue, media = $42.35M
- This contradicts Debbie's own "7-10M" valuation unless the multiple is much lower
Method 3 -- 2022 offer context:
- Highest offer was ~$45M for the whole bundle (without separate domain valuation)
- If domain is $15-20M, media + My People = $25-30M
- At 1.2-1.5x revenue, that implies revenue of $17-25M
- But the business was "a lot bigger" in 2022
Reconciliation:
The $42.6M Latka figure may be accurate for total platform revenue, but Debbie's $7-10M valuation for "the media business stripped out" likely reflects that much of the revenue is tied to the hr.com brand/domain. If you rebrand and lose the domain traffic, revenue drops significantly. This is a critical distinction for the valuation.
Conservative approach (what we can defend):
- Use Debbie's own $7-10M valuation for the media business stripped of the domain
- This is the number she would agree with
- If the $42.6M revenue figure is confirmed, the combined domain+media value is much higher
| Company | Deal | Year | Revenue | Multiple |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Industry Dive | Sold to Informa | 2022 | ~$110M | 4.8x rev / 11-15x EBITDA |
| Penton Media | Sold to Informa | 2016 | ~$390M | 3-4x rev / 11x EBITDA |
| HCI | Sold to Simplify Compliance | 2022 | Undisclosed | N/A (HR media direct comp) |
B2B media benchmark: 3-5x revenue, 10-13x EBITDA
Scenario A -- Standalone media (domain sold separately):
Using Debbie's stated $7-10M range.
- Floor: $7M
- Base: $8.5M
- Bull: $10M
Scenario B -- Media + Domain bundled (if $42.6M revenue confirmed):
Using industry multiples on confirmed revenue:
- At 1.5x revenue: $63.9M
- At 3x revenue (Industry Dive level): $127.8M
- At 20% EBITDA ($8.5M EBITDA), 10x: $85M
For fair market value (conservative, standalone): $8.5M
For fair market value (bundled with domain, if revenue confirmed): $45M-$65M
| Company | Valuation | Revenue | Multiple | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bevy | $325M | $15.9M | 20x | VC-stage, community events |
| Circle.so | $200-250M | $27.7M ARR | 9x | White-label community |
| Hivebrite | $57M raised | $21.9M | ~5x implied | Community management |
| Higher Logic | $185M raised | $80M+ ARR | ~4-5x | B2B community (mature) |
Current state:
- Revenue: $250K/year (from HR.com -- CONFIRMED)
- Not self-sustaining (Debbie is funding it)
- 35 HR tech clients interested, 7 going live
- 22 years of technology development
- Full rebuild in 2023 (TypeScript, Node.js, React)
- 18-person dev team
- COVID proof: 260 activations, ADP community (10K devs), Michelle Obama
Valuation approach:
At $250K revenue, traditional multiples don't apply. This is a pre-revenue / early-revenue SaaS asset. Value comes from:
1. The IP (22 years of development, full 2023 rewrite)
2. The pipeline (35 interested clients, 7 onboarding)
3. The proof of concept (260 COVID activations)
4. The competitive moat (data ownership vs. LinkedIn/Discourse)
Comparable early-stage community SaaS: 8-15x projected revenue
- If 7 clients each pay $50K/year = $350K ARR in 6 months
- If 35 clients convert at $50K = $1.75M ARR in 18 months
- At 10x projected ARR: $3.5M-$17.5M
Conservative valuation:
- Floor: $2M (IP + pipeline value)
- Base: $5M (with early client traction)
- Bull: $15M (if 35 clients convert + new verticals)
For fair market value purposes: $5M
| Asset | Floor | Base | Bull |
|---|---|---|---|
| hr.com Domain | $12M | $18M | $30M |
| HR.com Media Business | $7M | $8.5M | $10M |
| My People Platform | $2M | $5M | $15M |
| TOTAL | $21M | $31.5M | $55M |
| Approach | Value | Multiple |
|---|---|---|
| 1.5x revenue (Debbie's stated media multiple) | $63.9M | Conservative |
| 3x revenue (Industry Dive comp) | $127.8M | Moderate |
| EBITDA 10x (at 20% margin = $8.5M) | $85M | EBITDA-based |
| + Domain premium ($18M) | +$18M | Separate |
| + My People ($5M) | +$5M | Separate |
Bundled range: $87M-$151M
We recommend using the conservative standalone total as the baseline "x":
Rationale:
1. Uses only numbers Debbie herself stated or would agree with
2. Domain at $18M (midpoint of her brokers' range)
3. Media at $8.5M (midpoint of her "$7-10M" statement)
4. My People at $5M (reasonable for early-stage SaaS with proven tech + pipeline)
5. Does NOT depend on unconfirmed revenue figures
6. Closely tracks the 2022 offer range ($9M-$45M, accepted "in between")
7. If Next Chapter achieves anything above $31.5M, the 20% kicker rewards the outperformance
If Debbie confirms the $42.6M revenue figure, "x" can be adjusted upward.
| Transaction Value | Fee Calculation | Total Fee |
|---|---|---|
| $25M (below FMV) | 5% x $25M | $1.25M |
| $31.5M (at FMV) | 5% x $31.5M | $1.575M |
| $45M (above FMV) | 5% x $31.5M + 20% x $13.5M | $4.275M |
| $65M (strategic premium) | 5% x $31.5M + 20% x $33.5M | $8.275M |
| $100M (bidding war) | 5% x $31.5M + 20% x $68.5M | $15.275M |
The 20% kicker creates massive alignment:
- Next Chapter is incentivized to find strategic buyers who pay above market
- Debbie pays a reasonable 5% for a standard sale
- If Next Chapter creates extraordinary value through competitive bidding, they share in the upside
- This is better for Debbie than a flat 5-10% commission at any price
Before finalizing the proposal, these numbers must be confirmed:
Analysis prepared using multi-LLM consensus verification (OpenAI, Mistral, Groq), web-sourced comparable transactions, and verified transcript facts. Total analysis cost: $0.08.