4 ms·

How I named my startup

30 points by gma 15y ago

ThomPete 15y ago
There are all sorts of reasons to put some effort into your name. But that is primarily if you are expecting to get a lot of your traffic from google. In most cases though. It simply doesn't matter as long as your aren't being completely retarded about it. No name is going to save your company. So instead go with something you like. That way even if your company goes bad you don't start blaming your name for the misery.
- gma 15y ago
  There's a lot to be said for that. For small businesses that will be predominantly marketed online it makes sense to choose something that communicates what you do. If you've got a massive PR budget, I think the rules are slightly different.
freejack 15y ago
I generally agree with most of the points made by the author, except he neglects a very basic requirement - usability and memorability. Whether we like it or not, these products often end up needing a website which need a domain. theagileplanner.com is a substandard name because someone else owns agile planner.com - most users will not remember the "the" and leave it off the domain when they type it in or write it down. It is okay to refer to the "the" in a product or company name in your copy, but generally fatal when it comes to domain names - unless you own the corresponding version of the domain with the "the".
mbarlow 15y ago
IMO it would have been better to create a unique name and then use "The agile planner" as the title attribute for your homepage. Creating a unique name & domain would help you in the long run for search engines and brand recognition. Searching for "the agile planner" on google has 1,950,000 results.
mvkel 15y ago
I think, more than anything, the name has to follow the two-syllable rule. Tumblr. Twitter. Facebook. Olark. Reddit. Slashdot. Google. If a company does have a longer name, users will end up coming up with a two-syllable nickname. For example, Huffington Post -> Huff Po. Lots of folks try to name their company after what it does, following the FreeCreditReport.com model, but it's kinda lame and not very memorable, especially if you're getting started.

30 points by gma 15y ago

There are all sorts of reasons to put some effort into your name. But that is primarily if you are expecting to get a lot of your traffic from google. In most cases though. It simply doesn't matter as long as your aren't being completely retarded about it. No name is going to save your company. So instead go with something you like. That way even if your company goes bad you don't start blaming your name for the misery.

gma 15y ago
There's a lot to be said for that. For small businesses that will be predominantly marketed online it makes sense to choose something that communicates what you do. If you've got a massive PR budget, I think the rules are slightly different.

freejack 15y ago

I generally agree with most of the points made by the author, except he neglects a very basic requirement - usability and memorability. Whether we like it or not, these products often end up needing a website which need a domain. theagileplanner.com is a substandard name because someone else owns agile planner.com - most users will not remember the "the" and leave it off the domain when they type it in or write it down. It is okay to refer to the "the" in a product or company name in your copy, but generally fatal when it comes to domain names - unless you own the corresponding version of the domain with the "the".

mbarlow 15y ago

IMO it would have been better to create a unique name and then use "The agile planner" as the title attribute for your homepage. Creating a unique name & domain would help you in the long run for search engines and brand recognition. Searching for "the agile planner" on google has 1,950,000 results.

mvkel 15y ago

I think, more than anything, the name has to follow the two-syllable rule. Tumblr. Twitter. Facebook. Olark. Reddit. Slashdot. Google. If a company does have a longer name, users will end up coming up with a two-syllable nickname. For example, Huffington Post -> Huff Po. Lots of folks try to name their company after what it does, following the FreeCreditReport.com model, but it's kinda lame and not very memorable, especially if you're getting started.