

Ask HN: Does a Startup name really matters? can it break a Startup? - Concours

After reading following quote " Mint was a better name and had a better design " on Marc Hedlund’s blog ( http://blog.precipice.org/why-wesabe-lost-to-mint ), I'm wondering if a company name really matters, it surely can't make a company but, could it break a company?
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martey
The "money quote" from Hedlund's post (which, imo, answers your question):

 _A domain name doesn't win you a market; launching second or fifth or tenth
doesn't lose you a market. You can't blame your competitors or your board or
the lack of or excess of investment. Focus on what really matters: making
users happy with your product as quickly as you can, and helping them as much
as you can after that. If you do those better than anyone else out there
you'll win._

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michael_dorfman
According to the blog post, the name was only one of a long list of factors
involved. I think it's safe to say that if Mint had been called "Wesabe", and
Wesabe had been called "Mint", things would have played out the same way.

I can't think of a situation where a startup has failed solely because of the
name, or even where the name was the most significant factor.

