Only for the seller
We never buy, hold or resell your data, so we're never on the other side of your deal.
Seller-side agent for AI data licensing
The labs are buying. Get paid right.
Harpoon represents companies licensing their operational data to AI buyers: code with its history, tickets, support conversations and internal docs. We work only for the seller.
- Confidential
- About a week
- Free appraisal
History from the systems you already runWe're not affiliated with these companies.
- GitHub
- GitLab
- Bitbucket
- Jira
- Linear
- Asana
- Zendesk
- Intercom
- Freshdesk
- Confluence
- Notion
- Google Docs
- Salesforce
- HubSpot
The market
Same data. $5M apart.
This year, three AI companies went after one bankrupt airline's internal records: emails, documents, code and operational data. Same records, three prices.
That's what the right process is worth. A company that hears from one buyer never learns what else was on the table.
| Bidder | Bid and what happened |
|---|---|
| Mercor | $7.5MOutbid by Google |
| $10MTop bid in the bankruptcy sale. Court approval still pending in mid-October. | |
| micro1 | $12.5MCame in afterward to beat Google |
Why Harpoon
Every buyer at the table has a team. Now you do.
The best deal, not the first one
We track which buyers pay for which kinds of data. We find the buyers who'll value yours most and negotiate the best overall offer: price, terms and fit.
Rights checked first
We run a rights pre-check with you before anything moves, so problems show up before a buyer sees anything.
You set the floor
You set your floor and your terms. Talk to us before you take an offer. A process with several buyers takes a few weeks.
Still operating?
License your history and keep running.
You don't have to shut down to earn from the code, tickets and docs your company has built up. You keep ownership, and buyers pay for the right to use it.
Shutting down instead? Read this first.
- You keep ownership. And you keep using your systems.
- Non-exclusive by default. Licenses are non-exclusive unless you choose an exclusive.
- You pick what goes in. Which systems, and which years.
- Rights pre-check first. We check what your contracts allow before anything moves.
- Income over time. Our licensing program starts in January 2027.
Process
How it works
You describe your systems. You don't send any data. Personal data comes out in your own systems, before anything leaves.
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Two minutes
Tell us what you have
Two minutes. You describe your systems. You don't send any data.
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About a week
Get your appraisal
In about a week: what's licensable, an indicative price range and what would raise it. Free and confidential.
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Before anything leaves
Clean it at the source
You or a qualified vendor remove personal and customer data before anything leaves, with a signed certificate. You approve every sample.
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On your terms
Close the best deal
You set your floor and your terms once. We pick the buyers, run the process and negotiate. You sign every license yourself.
The manifest
What's licensable. What stays out.
What buyers pay for
- Code with its full commit history
- Tickets linked to the code that fixed them
- Support conversations
- Internal docs and SOPs
- Project and CRM history
Years of history, and the links between systems, are what raise the price.
Excluded by default
- Private messages and personal email
- HR, payroll and recruiting records
- Health and biometric data
- Passwords, keys and secrets
- Anything your contracts or NDAs restrict
- Customer names and contact details
Fees
Fees, in plain numbers.
- Free
- The appraisal is free and confidential.
- 15%
- Of the license price, with a $15,000 minimum, paid at closing. If you turn down an offer that meets your floor and terms, the fee is still due.
- Open
- On a one-time deal, the buyer also pays us a 15% premium on top of the price, disclosed to you and to every buyer before anyone bids. If a buyer pays us anything else, such as a referral fee, you see it in writing before you sign, and it never decides which offer wins.
I'm Preston Reiff. I've started businesses and run them, and I've had startups that didn't make it after a lot of time and money. That work shouldn't end up as just a lesson.
The code, tickets and customer conversations behind a company are worth real money to AI buyers now. That's true whether the company has shut down, is winding down, or is healthy and still growing. For a company that's closing, licensing recovers that value before the data is wiped. For one that's operating, it's new income from work you've already done. You keep the business and you keep ownership. You decide what's in and what's off-limits.
Harpoon exists to find you the best deal for that work. We work only for the seller.
Questions
Straight answers
Didn't see yours? Email preston@harpoondp.com and you'll hear back from Preston directly.
Book a 20-minute callCan I sell my company's data to AI companies?
You license it. You keep ownership, and buyers pay for the right to use it.
Who buys this data?
AI labs and the companies that build training data for them. We don't name buyers publicly.
Will my customers' or employees' personal data be shared?
No. It's excluded by default or removed before anything leaves your systems, by you or a qualified vendor, with a signed certificate.
Do I give up ownership?
No. Buyers license the right to use the data. You keep ownership.
Who picks the buyer?
We do. When you sign, you set your floor price, your terms and anyone we should never approach. Then we choose the buyers, run the process and pick the best overall offer, with a written record of every offer.
Do I sign an exclusive?
For a one-time deal, yes, for 90 days. Any license you sign in that time carries our fee, whoever found the buyer. If we haven't brought an offer that meets your floor within 60 days, you can end it early. The licensing program works differently.
What does it cost?
Our fee is 15% of the license price, with a $15,000 minimum, paid at closing. If you turn down an offer that meets your floor and terms, the fee is still due. Buyers pay a separate 15% premium on one-time deals, disclosed to you and to every buyer before anyone bids. If a buyer pays us anything else, such as a referral fee, you see it in writing before you sign, and it never decides which offer wins.
Can I license it over time instead of in one deal?
For the right data, yes, from January 2027. It works differently: we're your exclusive agent for 3 years, we keep 35% of license revenue, buyers pay us no premium, and you can end it if nothing is licensed in the first 12 months. Tell us in the form if you'd rather have income over time.
I already have an offer. Is it worth talking?
Talk to us before you take an offer. A process with several buyers takes a few weeks.
We're still operating. Can we license our data?
Yes. You keep ownership and keep running. Licenses are non-exclusive unless you choose an exclusive, and you pick which systems and years go in. We run a rights pre-check first.
My company shut down. Is it too late?
Often not, if the company or its estate still owns the data and can license it. We check that first. Data can be lost at shutdown, so don't wait.
How fast will I hear back?
You get a first read by email as soon as you submit. If it looks like a fit, we'll reach out within one business day.
Is this legal advice?
No. Bring your lawyer. We're glad to work with them.
Free and confidential
Get your free appraisal
Two minutes. Describe what you have, but don't paste or upload any company data. Appraisals are indicative, not offers.
Fit score0 of 8
Start answering
- Your first answers show what moves your score.
Based only on your answers, using our own scoring. It isn't buyer data, a price or an offer.
- Nothing about you is shared until you sign with us
- A first read by email as soon as you send
- Your full appraisal in about a week
For AI buyers
Buying company data?
Get first look at rights-checked, de-identified packages, each with a plain record of where it came from and how it was cleaned.
- Rights checked first
- De-identified at the source
- Seller named under NDA
Free, confidential, about a week
Find out what you're sitting on.
You describe your systems. We tell you what's licensable, an indicative price range and what would raise it.
Shutting down? Data can be lost in a shutdown, so don't wait. Read this first.