Comments on: 3 Rules for Naming Your Startup

By: The 15 dumbest names for Web 2.0 startups « Daily Technology Tips

The 15 dumbest names for Web 2.0 startups « Daily Technology Tips — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 14:22:11 +0000

[...] Godin – the new rules of naming Folksonomy – 7 tips for naming your Web 2.0 startup GigaOm – 3 rules for naming your startup LSVP blog – Naming your startup Startup Spark - Everything You Need To Know About Naming a Startup [...]

By: Digital Notepad » Blog Archive » Articles on naming your startup

Digital Notepad » Blog Archive » Articles on naming your startup — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 19:51:08 +0000

[...] GigaOm – 3 rules for naming your startup [...]

By: The 15 dumbest names for Web 2.0 startups

The 15 dumbest names for Web 2.0 startups — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 15:55:12 +0000

By: What’s In a Name? Too much, sometimes… « FoundRead

What’s In a Name? Too much, sometimes… « FoundRead — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 23:51:34 +0000

[...] Picking a name for your startup is tough, especially when you have to consider real estate on the Web. Sometimes you have to get creative. We’ve written about this several times at Found|READ. [...]

By: edfrench

edfrench — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 11:33:12 +0000

I posted something in January with a few more Some pitfalls of chosing a company name. Ed}

By: adambenayoun

adambenayoun — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 06:04:07 +0000

I personally think that any name can "make" it if you have good marketing skills. There's several hundreds of name that are catchy and good but their companies never made it and lot of companies that are successful but their name were poor. Usually when I pick a name, I'm coming up with 100 names and doing round. First round I usually take off of the list around 70% that I like less. Then in the second Round, I usually ask friends and people what they think about the rest of the name. I usually end up with 5 solid name. Third round I evaluate the name by its stickiness, combination letters, relativity to the product (not always good for you), and other parameters but lots of gutts feeling. I usually end up with 2 names, which I have to chose from (I end up registering them both so I can take my time picking one of them without worrying than some domain name squatter will steal it from me). Few golden rules I use when looking for a domain name: - pick one free (I'll never spend more than 100$ at the beginning to buy a domain name, prices are always too high and usually you're building your name after marketing it and not vice-versa. Of course I'm not talking about generic name like business.com that alone are worth lot of money. - Never use underscore - Don't know why, I hate those. - Always buy a .com and other extensions - I never buy .net domain alone because I like .com domain more. But when buying a .com name I usually buy the other extensions as well, such as .net and the local extension of my country, you never know. - Trust no one but you - I could do a lot of survey, but at the end its what you're feeling about your name, do you like it? does it sound a bell? its like a relationship. Why other can't help you pick a name? because judging a name usually comes from personal preference or taste and not objectivity.

Hope that helps.}

By: macrunch

macrunch — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 05:33:16 +0000

GREAT article! I read it with awe, people are actually earning money based on brainstorming of .com name itself.}

By: ihor

ihor — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 17:43:03 +0000

Thanks. We chose http://www.idearover.com because of ‘dear’ inside.}

By: vineet_s

vineet_s — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 17:13:05 +0000

We had a great experience using http://pickydomains.com/ In particular they don’t charge you if they don’t pick the name for you. It is worth using atleast to get help for brainstorming.

PS: Hmm… you only linked your companies name. Personally I find Voxiy and Anubis more catchy name than Dial Directions.}

By: iamronen

iamronen — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 16:38:57 +0000

nice thoughts… I would offer that: 1. add in inspiration… let your gut/soul/body (insert word that works for you) take part in the choice… “Good” is often hidden from the mind and reasoning. Have you ever had the feeling that something is just right but couldn’t explain why ??? Go for that in a name… that feeling/inspiration will carry through the name… 2. the “goodness” of a brand is achieved over time – stick to it, support it, make it visible, repetition. Someone I spoke to from the music industry told me that a good radio DJ will make any song a hit – simply by endorsing it and playing it over and over and over and over….}

By: zviband

zviband — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 13:01:57 +0000

Good article! You are missing one big point... ...it all depends on domain availability. Getting sold on a name, then finding it is taken, sucks. Settling for a .net or a second tier domain is a big mark against you most of the time.

I chose the name Localnik for my site (community powered marketplace for home services) because it's relevant, easy to pronounce, and most importantly, the domain was available!}

By: mistone

mistone — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 11:32:59 +0000

Great topic and insight.

We actually just completed a renaming process, going from: PromoterForce to Rephoria. Rephoria is a web application, used by consumers to refer friends to trusted services and by service providers to create and manage referral marketing programs.

Some initial feedback said that PromoterForce was to techie, and bizznessy , so we went with something softer and more consumer orientated. Playing off the word euphoria, Rephoria is defined as, an intense state of customer satisfaction, so good it has to be shared with others.

Let me know what you think and thanks for the tips.}

By: anuj

anuj — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 05:48:35 +0000

often what happens is that you start with a name like it....build ure product and by the time it is launch you are convinced its a bad name...

and then u start all over again!! its frustrating to say the least ...

difficult to be in love with the name 6 months after you came up with it :-)}