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Ask HN: Tips for coming up with a new web startup name

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Re: Ask HN: Tips for coming up with a new web startup name

#21

Post by Laurentvw »

iseff wrote: post #9
tjic wrote: post #3

There's a ton of info on the web. Google things like "picking a brand name", etc. From a trademark perspective, you don't want to be "books.com" - it's too generic. From a mindshare perspective, you also don't want to be "wrejiorgsdf.com". The sweet spot is just off-center of the topic. E.g. Amazon - the world's biggest bookstore. Your brand is distinct from (and hence more memorable than) the thing you sell, but it…

This is, I think, great advice. I'll add my thoughts because I think there are a couple of other things to think about. This comes after doing one project with a name I now hate (Openomy) -- even though I love the story behind it -- and with having just named a second project. * SEO. Along with the fact that being too generic means you won't have access to good trademark protection, it also means that you'll never ge…

Thanks for the advice. Would you consider 'yunar' to be a spell-able name? The name sure looks pretty, it's pronouncable, but something tells me it's hard to spell and hard to remember. I've been struggling for months on whether I should use it or not.

Re: Ask HN: Tips for coming up with a new web startup name

#22

Post by [deleted] »

tlb wrote: post #17

Also, taken != unavailable. If there's no actual website there, or if the website looks neglected, or if it's one of several names for the same thing, you might be able to buy it. Several YC startups have bought .coms for between $1000 and $5000. If your company is serious, that's a worthwhile investment.

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: Tips for coming up with a new web startup name

#24

Post by socialtistics »

[deleted] wrote: post #22
tlb wrote: post #17

Also, taken != unavailable. If there's no actual website there, or if the website looks neglected, or if it's one of several names for the same thing, you might be able to buy it. Several YC startups have bought .coms for between $1000 and $5000. If your company is serious, that's a worthwhile investment.

[deleted]

There are several companies out there that handle the sale of premium domains. I would recommend BuyDomains.com as they are fair and will work with you to get the best price.

Re: Ask HN: Tips for coming up with a new web startup name

#26

Post by Andi »

A way I tried is with Google's translation API: I wrote a script which translates a word (which has some meaning for your project) to different languages and then shows all translations in a list. Then I remove all translation which do not sound good or are incorrect. In the end I have a bunch of exotic words and I give them a try by suffixing them with ".com" and looking if the URLs are not existing.

Re: Ask HN: Tips for coming up with a new web startup name

#30

Post by dpifke »

neoneye wrote: post #6

brand name != product name

Maybe I misunderstood your comment, but I would recommend the opposite for most startups, namely company name == product name == brand name (i.e. trade name).

Why? Because it's hard enough to build consumer awareness of one name, especially with a limited marketing/PR budget. Doing it simultaneously for more than one name is even harder.

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