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Ask HN: What do you do if someone has your startup's twitter name?
So we have just discovered that someone else already has "our" twitter name ( http://twitter.com/splitthebill ) !
Bad planning we know, but what would you do? Ask the current owner if you can have it? Use an abbreviation? Something else?
- Rabidgremlin 17y agoBTW we launched our alpha today: http://blog.split-the-bill.com/its-alive-45 http://blog.split-the-bill.com/its-alive-45
- paulgb 17y agoDo you have a trademark on the name? If you do, contact twitter and they will give it to you (I worked for a company that did this). Even if you don't, it's worth a try contacting twitter since the account seems inactive.
- Rabidgremlin 17y agoNo trademark (in the US). Have sent an email to twitter support. Not holding my breath however.
- jmonegro 17y agoOh, since it's pretty much dead, contact twitter and let them know that's your startup's name.
- xist 17y agoHow important to the business plan is the twitter name? I dont think you will get it from twitter just because you want it. If twitter is vital to your business suceeding/marketing plan, then maybe something like "splitthebilldotcom", to make it look "official". I see you asked twitter, but have you asked/received a response from the user yet?
- Rabidgremlin 17y agoThe twitter account will be used more for status/news then for marketing... Other then sending the user a DM (which they are unlikley to answer on an inactive account) we have no obvious way of contacting the owner...
- yan 17y agoHas anyone had any luck requesting transfers with non-brand names that have been dead for years? I tried contacting twitter, the account owner, other twitter reps and tried their web forms, all to nothing.
- brk 17y agoOn the list of things to be worried about, this just seems to rank a few notches after what font you should use for the names on the conference room doors.
- Rabidgremlin 17y agoJust an update. Got no response from twitter, so we went with @split_the_bill