

One Letter Domain - mrkmcknz

We have the chance to acquire a single letter domain at a competitive price for our start up. It will be the largest single expenditure from the angel round/seed and we're considering on whether it is actually worth it.<p>We own the brand name .com domain and the single letter domain is brand related.<p>I was wondering what you guys thought on this and whether it would be money better spent elsewhere.<p>I have to admit it does look cool.
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Andrenid
Is it a .com/net/org?

If it's one of those random country TLD's not related to your own country or
the name of your business, i'd say definitely "No."... if it's a .com/net/org
or the TLD makes up part of the business name (eg i.bm, which doesn't exist,
but is an example of what I mean) then maybe.

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Joakal
Depends on your business plans pretty much.

If you're appealing to the very internet illiterate, the single letter brand
is very useful.

However, there might be some problems; eg trademark issues in which case
you'll lose the domain to the trademark holder. So, not only do you have a
premium for the single letter but you also have to pay lawyer and court costs
for it.

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mrkmcknz
Some great feedback and I mean we have had some talks of re branding simply
because at this stage we can.

It's going to be a hard one.

I guess some respect would come from press and blog given that not every start
up comes with a single letter domain.

Then again would the money be better utilized in plain marketing.

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arkitaip
I'm obsessed about branding, names and domains so if I had the money I would
most definitely buy it. But in your situation? Doubtful. You already have the
brand .com so how are you going to use this one, as a cheap url shortener
domain? Or is it for a cool domain hack which you are going to use as your
main domain?

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MrMike
You've probably already researched it, but if not, look into leasing it with
an option to buy. You might give up a sliver of equity, but you could keep the
cash free and used for things which your angel/seed round investors (and you,
pre-realizing-the-domain-was-available plans) had intended.

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mrkmcknz
MrMike I actually stupidly enough haven't even thought about that. Someone did
mention it but I just thought it would be a solution not suited.

Maybe it could be something to explore...

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mikeknoop
Out of curiosity, who "offers" single letter domain names? The only two
single-letter domain .coms I could find are:

    
    
      x.com => Paypal,
      q.com => CenturyLink (???)
    

Even if someone had the money, which organization decides who can register
these?

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alexshye
I'd have to imagine that in the early stages, money should be spent that
improves the customer-product fit, and its never worth it spend significantly
on a domain name. If you gain a lot of traction, then it may be worth it in
the future.

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makecheck
Not worth it.

A reasonable variation on a domain would be one that includes some line of
work, e.g. if it were gardening you could get "z-gardening.com" instead of
"z.com" and probably save a ton.

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MrMike
I think that, depending on the type of product/service they're offering, it
could definitely be worth it. If it's a consumer product targeting less
computer savvy folks, the shorter/easier the better. If it's something my
parents would use, and they could go to "z dot com" instead of "z dash
gardening dot com". On the other hand, if it's a site that targets HNers, then
it's probably harder to justify.

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relaunched
the incremental impact on success bewteen a good and single letter .com domain
name is less than the incremental impact of a great hire, at any early stage
startup.

