

Tell HN: The "Doogie Howser" Startup Test - devmonk

If your startup has eclipsed "Doogie Howser" in Google Trends, you can feel satisfied that you've crossed the first line and are well on your way to becoming a household name.<p>For example, Posterous passed the Doogie Houser test in mid-2009:<p>http://www.google.com/trends?q=posterous%2C+%22doogie+howser%22&#38;ctab=0&#38;geo=all&#38;date=all&#38;sort=1<p>And Mint.com in late 2007:<p>http://www.google.com/trends?q=mint.com%2C+%22doogie+howser%22&#38;ctab=0&#38;geo=all&#38;date=all&#38;sort=1
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aspir
HN is getting close

[http://www.google.com/trends?q=%22hacker+news%22,+%22doogie+...](http://www.google.com/trends?q=%22hacker+news%22,+%22doogie+howser%22&ctab=0&geo=all&date=all&sort=1)

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Natsu
I fear that by using that trend, we would distort it.

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devmonk
Links from original post:

[http://www.google.com/trends?q=posterous%2C+%22doogie+howser...](http://www.google.com/trends?q=posterous%2C+%22doogie+howser%22&ctab=0&geo=all&date=all&sort=1)

[http://www.google.com/trends?q=mint.com%2C+%22doogie+howser%...](http://www.google.com/trends?q=mint.com%2C+%22doogie+howser%22&ctab=0&geo=all&date=all&sort=1)

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jw84
Why Doogie Howser?

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philwelch
Just out of speculation, "Doogie Howser" is a very unambiguous string (other
TV shows often have more ambiguous titles, like "Cheers" or "Highlander")
that's close to the edge of public recognition--most everyone knows about
Doogie Howser, but it's not extremely popular.

Also, the Doogie Howser trendline is pretty flat, aside from various spikes.

