This is a dilemma for plenty of businesses - do you spring the cash upfront, or pay through your nose later for the .com if your business becomes popular? I wo

This is a dilemma for plenty of businesses - do you spring the cash upfront, or pay through your nose later for the .com if your business becomes popular? I would say spring the cash upfront. I know domain traders and they'll squeeze you hard if they know there's already a successful business with the same name (but on a different extension) You DO lose a lot of type-in traffic when you don't have your name in .com. This traffic is also one of the best converting around. If you're in enterprise, you HAVE to get a .com or at the very least, a .net. I've been in enough meetings with old-school business guys who scrunch their noses and think of you as an idiot for having one of those cool new extensions (.ly,.io, etc.) Think of it as an investment. Most good domain names appreciate in value. Even if your startup were to go kaput, you'd still make money from the domain a few years down the line.