I Want Your .com For New Startup | Hacker News Reader

I Want Your .com For New Startup

gaborcselle.com

16 pointsimmad25 comments

I have horrible.me, which I think is an awesome name for a startup. It has an ironic appeal, if you make something awesome and name it "horrible". On the other hand, if you make something horrible and name it horrible, you will be mocked.

I wouldn't put that much weight into Kawasaki naming advice considering he doesn't follow it himself.

i.e. his first naming advice is to start early in the alphabet. That post was made on February, 2006. Then July, 2007 he launches Truemors.

You should never follow advice blindly. The reasons he gives for the alphabet thing don't seem to apply to something like truemors. In general, the advice seems very reasonable.

I heard it from two different lawyers that it's better to have a made-up word instead of a (combination of) real words - a lot easier to deal with trademarks.

So talk to your lawyer about that.

Agreed. Also, made-up names allow you to become a verb and extend beyond your original business (e.g. Google).

That being said, I love FriendFeed because it says exactly what it is. I also like Mochi Media because it just sounds cool.

What promising, legitimate startups have been tripped up because of trademark issues with their domain name? I wouldn't think that this concern is a priority...

Mikerowesoft?

"... What promising, legitimate startups have been tripped up because of trademark issues with their domain name? ..."

Apple?

Not close to being a startup by then, and it worked out great for them?

"... Not close to being a startup by then, and it worked out great for them? ..."

I think Apple Computer was lucky initially, since then quite pragmatic.

Apple Records was incorporated in '68 ~ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Records and in business with the major players in the record industry. Apple Computer incorporated in Jan '77 and by '78 the first legal suit was filed http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Corps_v_Apple_Computer. This might seem a long time but in legal time, short. Both companies have been in and out of the courts ever since. At this early stage could Apple Records have squashed Apple Computers brand? I think the smart thing Apple Computer did was negotiate, license where everyone made money and not to reveal themselves as a threat until the iPod/iTunes. The real losers are distributors while both Apples still make money. Apple now controls the chain.

have you tried http://www.bustaname.com ?

I thought baazu.com sounded cool, and it means "close/near" in Hindi, which could apply to lots of things. But I don't plan to sell :)

I had a .co.uk domain (sanfransys.co.uk) for 2 years, but when I failed to renew it, they said it'd cost 80 pounds (sterling) to get it back. And this wasn't a squatter, it was Nominet!

I said screw them and bought the same .com domain (sanfransys.com) and have it for 5 years, for less than their little scam.

If you can't muster the creativity to come up with one name (or the nerve put one you've created out there), things already do not bode well for your startup. Just think over your vision, what makes it clever, unique, etc, and try to distill all of that to one or two words.

Wow, strong words. I do have a couple of OK domain names that I own. I'm trying to find a better one. Getting the name right is super important. I have plenty of time.

If you've tried to register a domain name recently, you'll find that short, good domains all are taken. The only 5 letter .com domains still available are things like xyzys.com.

Let's see if this blog post ends up working - I didn't think it would make it high up on news.yc.

I didn't mean to word it strongly, and I apologize if you took offense. I just meant to convey that you're probably overanalyzing and giving up too early.

None taken. :-)

I'd just love to have a short, compelling .com domain. Let's see if this post works.

I hope it works out for you, I mailed you a couple of domain ideas for names which might have some value to you and are currently unregistered.

In particular there was one I quite liked that was 6 letters long, so hope you like it too :)

(I actually might end up grabbing that 6 letter one if you don't end up using it, it's kind of growing on me.)

Actually, I'll give him props for asking. As evidenced by all the technically sound start-ups out there with names so dumb and hard to spell that I'd have to TRY to come up with something worse, being smart and being able to build a good product doesn't mean you can pick a good name. He's putting some thought into the process, which is a lot more than I can say for a lot of other companies out there. If he can't come up with the name on his own, I don't see what the big deal is.

Thanks!

> He's putting some thought into the process

Were I being cynical (it's a hobby:-), I would say that he's asking you to put some thought into the process. He should offer some kind of prize, even if it's not really a big deal... a blurb on the new site, a t-shirt, a bottle of wine... something like that.

I tried offering prizes, paying $50 to a name-choosing service, asking everyone I could, spending many hours myself. All results sucked.

For my latest startup I spent just a few minutes on it will resist all urges spend more. I'm not allowing myself to get pulled into that time-sink black hole again.

Want it to be easy? Simple. Have $2000 to $10000 to blow on some squatter scum. Or just choose an uncommon topic area. Probably both are unreasonable for most of us.

I own uglyfatty.com, do you want it?

vidpath.com (.net|.org)

On the subject of naming, I think this should be thrown out there: http://www.thenameinspector.com

Need naming help? Ask The Name Inspector.

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