7 ms·

Does this have any relation to the world-famous restaurant, sometimes in the past ranked as the #1 restaurant in the world, of the same name?

hurricanesugar 6y ago
No, not organizationally related to the restaurant. https://www.thealineagroup.com/companies/alinea https://www.thealineagroup.com/companies/alinea
anamlakhani_ 6y ago
Yes, Alinea means a new way of doing something,for us, it's a new way of investing!
- psychometry 6y ago
  Why on earth would you name a fintech company after a world-famous restaurant? Bonkers...
  - regulation_d 6y ago
    To those who have not seen the Grant Achatz profile in the Netflix series Chef’s Table (S02E01), I highly recommend it. One of my favorite episodes in the whole series. Excellent cinematography and storytelling. Obvious not the only reason Alinea is world famous, but definitely gave it a ton of exposure.
  - ska 6y ago
    Possibly both have the same source (Latin) not a direct reference ?
  - yanslookup 6y ago
    They are in... completely different industries?
    - UncleMeat 6y ago
      Sort of. The Alinea folks also started Tock, which is a tech startup.
- spoonjim 6y ago
  So you deliberately gave your startup the same name as one of the most famous companies in another industry?
- loceng 6y ago
  I don't understand the downvotes you're getting or the negativity in the comments. I've never heard of Alinea - the restaurant before - and it's really strange that people are being anal about someone else using the name for a completely different industry - it won't be confusing to anyone.
  - icedchai 6y ago
    Here's a simple test I always use when figuring out if a name is good and not confusing: Google it. If you search for "Alinea", what do you get?
    - kevsim 6y ago
      Does that really work though? What about mega companies with very common word names? Segment, Zoom, Stripe, etc.
      - tptacek 6y ago
        It would be a bad idea to name your next tech company "Stripe" (or your next restaurant, for that matter; ew.)
        kevsim 6y ago
        Ha! I guess my point was that when those companies started up, searching for those terms was bound to result in some businesses popping up, though I'm sure they made the call that "hey, they're not in the payments/analytics/whatever space, so no worries"
- adam 6y ago
  You might also take a look at your logo when you're thinking about your brand. It looks very similar to Aether Apparel: https://www.aetherapparel.com https://www.aetherapparel.com
nickkokonas 6y ago
Hi -- I'm the co-owner of Alinea... the restaurant and group. While they are in different industries, I owned a derivatives trading group for years, run a tech startup (Tock), and am getting a bunch of emails from folks thinking I started this or am affiliated in some way. So... while I dislike conflict, I really don't like be associated with something I have no control over. There will be an incoming email shortly.
- moneywoes 6y ago
  Very interesting background, what made you move from finance to restaurants to tech?
  - joezydeco 6y ago
    Nick wrote an epic piece about what motivated his company to create what eventually became Tock: https://web.archive.org/web/20190407042116/https://www.alinearestaurant.com/site/2014/06/tickets-for-restaurants/ https://web.archive.org/web/20190407042116/https://www.aline... (good to see you here, Nick. big fan!)
  - jkkramer 6y ago
    Great interview with Nick about this and other topics: https://www.joincolossus.com/episodes/20135760/kokonas-know-what-you-are-selling https://www.joincolossus.com/episodes/20135760/kokonas-know-...
- bflies 6y ago
  I was about to post something like, haha, the founders didn't do their homework but after checking if there's any brand registered, there isn't. So what do you mean by, there will be an incoming mail shortly? Will you ask them to change their name and if yes, on which basis?
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- WORMS_EAT_WORMS 6y ago
  Amazing. FWIW to the Alinea (YC W21) folks, I felt your name, branding/colors, and logo felt completely off and strange. Good time to change it up? Edit: And fonts. Modern edgy logo font and the website complimentary font is a bit... Crayola. Not dogging on you all, I'm sure having this be a focus of your launch isn't fun for all your hard work. It's a really neat idea.
superdimwit 6y ago
It's also the name of a very popular french furniture chain
- maldini94 6y ago
  Also the biggest provider of educational aid for elementary school in Denmark

hurricanesugar 6y ago

No, not organizationally related to the restaurant. https://www.thealineagroup.com/companies/alinea https://www.thealineagroup.com/companies/alinea

anamlakhani_ 6y ago

Yes, Alinea means a new way of doing something,for us, it's a new way of investing!

psychometry 6y ago
Why on earth would you name a fintech company after a world-famous restaurant? Bonkers...
- regulation_d 6y ago
  To those who have not seen the Grant Achatz profile in the Netflix series Chef’s Table (S02E01), I highly recommend it. One of my favorite episodes in the whole series. Excellent cinematography and storytelling. Obvious not the only reason Alinea is world famous, but definitely gave it a ton of exposure.
- ska 6y ago
  Possibly both have the same source (Latin) not a direct reference ?
- yanslookup 6y ago
  They are in... completely different industries?
  - UncleMeat 6y ago
    Sort of. The Alinea folks also started Tock, which is a tech startup.
spoonjim 6y ago
So you deliberately gave your startup the same name as one of the most famous companies in another industry?
loceng 6y ago
I don't understand the downvotes you're getting or the negativity in the comments. I've never heard of Alinea - the restaurant before - and it's really strange that people are being anal about someone else using the name for a completely different industry - it won't be confusing to anyone.
- icedchai 6y ago
  Here's a simple test I always use when figuring out if a name is good and not confusing: Google it. If you search for "Alinea", what do you get?
  - kevsim 6y ago
    Does that really work though? What about mega companies with very common word names? Segment, Zoom, Stripe, etc.
    - tptacek 6y ago
      It would be a bad idea to name your next tech company "Stripe" (or your next restaurant, for that matter; ew.)
      - kevsim 6y ago
        Ha! I guess my point was that when those companies started up, searching for those terms was bound to result in some businesses popping up, though I'm sure they made the call that "hey, they're not in the payments/analytics/whatever space, so no worries"
adam 6y ago
You might also take a look at your logo when you're thinking about your brand. It looks very similar to Aether Apparel: https://www.aetherapparel.com https://www.aetherapparel.com

nickkokonas 6y ago

Hi -- I'm the co-owner of Alinea... the restaurant and group. While they are in different industries, I owned a derivatives trading group for years, run a tech startup (Tock), and am getting a bunch of emails from folks thinking I started this or am affiliated in some way. So... while I dislike conflict, I really don't like be associated with something I have no control over. There will be an incoming email shortly.

moneywoes 6y ago
Very interesting background, what made you move from finance to restaurants to tech?
- joezydeco 6y ago
  Nick wrote an epic piece about what motivated his company to create what eventually became Tock: https://web.archive.org/web/20190407042116/https://www.alinearestaurant.com/site/2014/06/tickets-for-restaurants/ https://web.archive.org/web/20190407042116/https://www.aline... (good to see you here, Nick. big fan!)
- jkkramer 6y ago
  Great interview with Nick about this and other topics: https://www.joincolossus.com/episodes/20135760/kokonas-know-what-you-are-selling https://www.joincolossus.com/episodes/20135760/kokonas-know-...
bflies 6y ago
I was about to post something like, haha, the founders didn't do their homework but after checking if there's any brand registered, there isn't. So what do you mean by, there will be an incoming mail shortly? Will you ask them to change their name and if yes, on which basis?
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
WORMS_EAT_WORMS 6y ago
Amazing. FWIW to the Alinea (YC W21) folks, I felt your name, branding/colors, and logo felt completely off and strange. Good time to change it up? Edit: And fonts. Modern edgy logo font and the website complimentary font is a bit... Crayola. Not dogging on you all, I'm sure having this be a focus of your launch isn't fun for all your hard work. It's a really neat idea.

superdimwit 6y ago

It's also the name of a very popular french furniture chain

maldini94 6y ago
Also the biggest provider of educational aid for elementary school in Denmark