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Change Your Name

paulgraham.com

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Re: Change Your Name

#291

Post by harryjo »

malisper wrote: post #236
TeMPOraL wrote: post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Great names are made not found. > But for most people just like their logo it's it's not that important until you become big Exactly this. If you look at the most successful companies in all sectors out there, most of them have logos that range from plain to just ugly, and many of them feel like they were initially created as a formatted company name on top of some document, back when the company's secretary first…

> The more I see things and think about them, the more I believe that this whole talk of logos being "very important since it's what your customer looks at all the time" is a big scam perpetuated by graphics designers, because they make (a lot of) money on you believing you need the slick, $expensive new brand image. Patio11 has actually A/B tested two different logos. His conclusion was that "Your logo could potenti…

> "Your logo could potentially add or subtract 10% from enterprise value"[0].

...for a very small enterprise with 0 previous brand recognition, choosing logos at random.

BCC site's main goal is to not look like a scam, so people understand it's a legitimate product, not a "steal $10 and disappear" site. That's important, but not as important if your product is already more substantial and credible than "pictures you could download free from the internet, for a small price."

Re: Change Your Name

#292

Post by joeyaiello »

taytus wrote: post #287

We started working in our startup one week ago. I'm signaling weakness because I don't want to spend 5 grands in a .com domain? This post is so confusing.

No, you're signaling weakness because you don't change the name to something that doesn't cost 5 grand to get the .com for.

That's what the article says at least.

Re: Change Your Name

#293

Post by rpedela »

finkin1 wrote: post #273
rpedela wrote: post #219

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How is showing weakness an advantage?

It can signal a prioritization of values. Startups tend move fast and be flexible, and tend to have less customers so each one is more valuable. Established companies tend to move slowly and often provide worse customer service. By being honest about being a startup (or being an established company) expectations can be set between company and customer. Pretending to be established when in reality you are not seems di…

I don't really see how .com or not translates into being genuine or not.

Having been a founder for four years now, I have learned that the word "startup" usually scares potential customers. It is actually a good thing to seem more established than you are. However that doesn't mean you are disingenuous either. It is not black or white. You can look more established: .com domain, decent website, proper terms and privacy policy, no beta or "coming soon" wording on website, etc. However if someone asks directly how established you are, you are truthful.

What the potential customer wants to know is if they can trust you, and you won't be gone tomorrow. Therefore if you are truthful about the company's state, but seem like you are established then more people will look past the word "startup" since it will be obvious to them that you are serious and have some idea what you are doing.

In other words, you dont need to go around yelling at the top of your lungs that X is a startup. That strategy will most likely fail. But you certainly shouldn't deceive people either. There is a line.

Re: Change Your Name

#296

Post by astrong »

devanti wrote: post #240

Is there a way to start a name consultancy? I'm fairly good at coming up with names, and wouldn't mind offering my services, but I'm not sure how to secure my idea before selling it. I would also be open to testing my skills for anyone looking for a company name.

Try the contests over at http://www.namestation.com/contests

Re: Change Your Name

#297

Post by [deleted] »

dweekly wrote: post #249
booruguru wrote: post #117

If the .com name you want is already registered, you can always buy it later once you business is successful enough to justify the investment (much like betali.st and getdropbox.com). There's no point in buying an expensive domain name for a company that may not survive past the startup stage. Note: a large swath of web users don't even understand the concept of a domain name or address bar...instead they google term…

The good news is that if paulg was testing to see if HN was just an echo-chamber that applauds everything he says even if he gives terrible advice, HN just passed the test with flying colors. :-) Hooray for critical thinking!

[deleted]

Re: Change Your Name

#298

Post by astrong »

machbio wrote: post #120

I have a doubt about names - sorry to stray away from the topic but it would help me giving away the domain i have for the future. I have a domain name which is registered as trademark by one of the organizations, can the organization claim the domain name since they own the trademark ?

Did you register the domain name before their trademark ? There are several ways under the Uniform Domain Resolution Policy whereby they can come after the domain name. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uniform_Domain-Name_Dispute-Re...

To answer the other question posted to your question. Registering a trademark in an attempt to take a domain name from someone else is know as Reverse Domain Name Hijacking https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reverse_domain_hijacking

Re: Change Your Name

#299

Post by loup-vaillant »

stickfigure wrote: post #174
loup-vaillant wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, and that is a problem. But that's not nearly as bad as having Google and Bing have the same role. DNS goes through a highly decentralised network of name servers, many of which aren't at all controlled by the ICANN. Each country based top level domain has its own set of servers, and there name requests are generally cached on other servers still. But when you type "company name" in a search engine, you give away…

I don't see the problem with G and B in this role; at least they answer to the end user. Who does ICANN answer to? What is your alternative if you get crappy service from the .com operator? If what PG says is correct, you don't really have an alternative.

> at least they answer to the end user.

Yes they do. Just don't forget that the end user is the advertiser. We poor schmucks who type text in the search box are the product.

Re: Change Your Name

#300

Post by taytus »

pbreit wrote: post #254
booruguru wrote: post #117

If the .com name you want is already registered, you can always buy it later once you business is successful enough to justify the investment (much like betali.st and getdropbox.com). There's no point in buying an expensive domain name for a company that may not survive past the startup stage. Note: a large swath of web users don't even understand the concept of a domain name or address bar...instead they google term…

"There's no point in buying an expensive domain name for a company that may not survive past the startup stage." This is exactly why the .com domain wins. They do not have this attitude. Their attitude is to be in it to win it and do what it necessary to be successful. That's the .com signal.

Maybe that was 2 years ago. Most people google the product/service nowadays, so if you have a better product/service, your company might be on top of some .com domain doing the same thing. I think that the .com fever is over.
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