

I Want Your .com For New Startup - immad
http://www.gaborcselle.com/blog/2008/09/i-want-your-com-for-new-startup.html

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Prrometheus
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.

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vaksel
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.

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mariorz
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.

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DenisM
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.

~~~
attack
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...

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

Apple?

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

~~~
bootload
_"... 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.

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pmsaue0
have you tried <http://www.bustaname.com> ?

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zhyder
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 :)

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zandorg
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.

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river_styx
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.

~~~
rewind
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.

~~~
davidw
> 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.

~~~
attack
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.

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maneesh
I own uglyfatty.com, do you want it?

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ridertech
vidpath.com (.net|.org)

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

_Need naming help? Ask The Name Inspector._

