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Comment by sho | Hacker News Reader

It would be a cold day in hell before I decided to engage the services of a company called "Woobius".

Seriously, am I the only person on earth who thinks all these new startup names are just utterly stupid? What are these people thinking? "Woobius"!

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It's very interesting what people say about our name. One thing for sure, the name Woobius is like marmite, some love it, some don't, but everyone remembers it.

Thanks for the honest comment though!

I look past names and use them for the problems they solve.

Well, more power to you I suppose. I just see it as laziness on the part of the founder, and I can't overlook it.

edit: you can mod me down all you like, swombat, but I'm just stating what I think, and I doubt I am alone.

He actually can't downmod your original comment, because he submitted the story.

I don't much care for the name either, but in the long run, I don't think it matters much. "Google" doesn't sound very serious, "Yahoo" speaks for itself. "Micro" "soft" has been the butt of jokes for a while. Unix is a pretty awful name in its own right. And so on and so forth...

"Unix" sounds freaking awesome compared to "Woobius". As do the others. Microsoft is a fantastic name, what are you talking about?

I think more than a few founders here are in denial about their companies' ridiculous names, but whatever, it's not my fight. Hey guys, if modding down my (polite, reasonable) comments makes you feel better about naming your company something a 3-year-old would laugh at, have at it.

[edit: the having-at-it has commenced all right, but are people really defending these crappy names? I might come across as an asshole but I am actually serious here - I think these names are awful! I think they are costing otherwise good companies customers! What is wrong with telling the founder community to try harder?]

Chill.

if modding down my (polite, reasonable) comments

Your initial comment said it would be a "cold day in hell" before you used Woobius and that the name was "utterly stupid." That's an interesting interpretation of polite and reasonable.

I don't see what's impolite or unreasonable about that. I really do think the name is stupid, and I really would be prejudiced against a company with a name like that.

I suppose I could have said the name is "suboptimal" or something but why beat about the bush?

Are you my ex-girlfriend?

"You're ugly and stupid!!! I'm not being mean, those are simply the facts!"

Never said they were facts, just my opinion.

So, she's free, then ..? :D

You could try couching it in some politeness: "The idea looks good, but my honest opinion is that the name sounds awful". Also, keep in mind the "what would you say in person" guideline. I guess some people would be that blunt in person, but for most people, it puts things in enough perspective to produce something polite.

Unix --> eunuchs Microsoft --> small and soft

No, but you might be one of the few limiting their options and opportunities simply based on names ;-)

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