How to name your startup: A 9 month first-hand journey through rebranding
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Re: How to name your startup: A 9 month first-hand journey through rebranding
#2According to the article, one of the reasons they changed the company name is because it was hard for people to understand the old name when spoken verbally.
Their new name seems to have the same problem.
For example:
Learndot: "Email me at paul-at-learn-dot-dot-com"
Customer: "learn dot com?"
Learndor "No, learn dot dot com"
Customer "???"
Re: How to name your startup: A 9 month first-hand journey through rebranding
#3According to the article, one of the reasons they changed the company name is because it was hard for people to understand the old name when spoken verbally. Their new name seems to have the same problem. For example: Learndot: "Email me at paul-at-learn-dot-dot-com" Customer: "learn dot com?" Learndor "No, learn dot dot com" Customer "???"
Hey pud, OP here.
The thing is, we never say the domain. We say the name of the company. I totally agree that "Learn dot dot com" is confusing. But "Learn dot" isn't. Vast majority of people use Google to find things on the web (that was the theory). Last couple weeks of trying it out has backed that up.
Re: How to name your startup: A 9 month first-hand journey through rebranding
#4According to the article, one of the reasons they changed the company name is because it was hard for people to understand the old name when spoken verbally. Their new name seems to have the same problem. For example: Learndot: "Email me at paul-at-learn-dot-dot-com" Customer: "learn dot com?" Learndor "No, learn dot dot com" Customer "???"
Hey pud, OP here. The thing is, we never say the domain. We say the name of the company. I totally agree that "Learn dot dot com" is confusing. But "Learn dot" isn't. Vast majority of people use Google to find things on the web (that was the theory). Last couple weeks of trying it out has backed that up.
I don't necessarily disagree, but remember that while you may be saying "learn dot," your users/customers are saying "Hey, you should check out learn dot dot com." You can train your team, but you can't train your customers.
Re: How to name your startup: A 9 month first-hand journey through rebranding
#5According to the article, one of the reasons they changed the company name is because it was hard for people to understand the old name when spoken verbally. Their new name seems to have the same problem. For example: Learndot: "Email me at paul-at-learn-dot-dot-com" Customer: "learn dot com?" Learndor "No, learn dot dot com" Customer "???"
Hey pud, OP here. The thing is, we never say the domain. We say the name of the company. I totally agree that "Learn dot dot com" is confusing. But "Learn dot" isn't. Vast majority of people use Google to find things on the web (that was the theory). Last couple weeks of trying it out has backed that up.
In that case:
Learndot: "Our company is called learndot."
Customer: "Learn dot what?"
Learndot: "Learn dot nothing - that's the name of the company."
Customer: "Learn dot nothing?"
Learndot: "Well, dot com."
Customer: "Learn dot com? Why didn't you say that?"
Learndot: "No, it's learn dot dot com."
Customer: "Dot dot?"
Learndot: "No, the first dot is spelled dee-oh-tee."
Customer: "???"
I hope I'm not coming across as snarky. Naming isn't easy.
Re: How to name your startup: A 9 month first-hand journey through rebranding
#6Earlier quoted context omitted.
Hey pud, OP here. The thing is, we never say the domain. We say the name of the company. I totally agree that "Learn dot dot com" is confusing. But "Learn dot" isn't. Vast majority of people use Google to find things on the web (that was the theory). Last couple weeks of trying it out has backed that up.
In that case: Learndot: "Our company is called learndot." Customer: "Learn dot what?" Learndot: "Learn dot nothing - that's the name of the company." Customer: "Learn dot nothing?" Learndot: "Well, dot com." Customer: "Learn dot com? Why didn't you say that?" Learndot: "No, it's learn dot dot com." Customer: "Dot dot?" Learndot: "No, the first dot is spelled dee-oh-tee." Customer: "???" I hope I'm not coming across a…
Fair enough - usually I just say "Learndot, dee oh tee" and it's no problem. Though I agree it's not perfect. The other factors balanced it out (spellability, MVP-ness and so forth).
You're right, naming is hard.
Re: How to name your startup: A 9 month first-hand journey through rebranding
#7First off: great post!
I've told clients similar things before. You need to be able to tell someone your website name and be able to have them find it very easily. Unless you're one of the only ones in your space and people will find your site searching for key terms, it's very important that your site is easy to find, pronounce and spell.
With all that said, I'm curious as to why you went with a logo that, to me, is hard to read? Before I even got to the body of your post, I was looking at the background on the header image and struggled with:
Leai ndot...
Why did I have problems with this? The dot is often used as a syllable spacer when you are looking at pronunciation guides. For example: mis·take.
I don't know if you considered this but I thought I'd mention it because I can't be the only one. It seemed appropriate to mention since having a logo that is easy to read and understand should go along with having a name that is easy to pronounce and understand.
Re: How to name your startup: A 9 month first-hand journey through rebranding
#8First off: great post! I've told clients similar things before. You need to be able to tell someone your website name and be able to have them find it very easily. Unless you're one of the only ones in your space and people will find your site searching for key terms, it's very important that your site is easy to find, pronounce and spell. With all that said, I'm curious as to why you went with a logo that, to me, is…
[meta: HN is a great critic, the two biggest issues we had before pulling the trigger was this one and what pud pointed out :)]
This was a tough call. We thought it was a clever design that tied together the name mark and the logo. In the post I mentioned I printed it out and got people on the street to read it – that was specifically because some people found the 'r' hard to read!
If it turns out to be an issue for a lot of people, we'll revisit.
Re: How to name your startup: A 9 month first-hand journey through rebranding
#9Tangentally related, мотыга is Russian for Hoe. As unglamorous and boring word as it gets.
Re: How to name your startup: A 9 month first-hand journey through rebranding
#10First off: great post! I've told clients similar things before. You need to be able to tell someone your website name and be able to have them find it very easily. Unless you're one of the only ones in your space and people will find your site searching for key terms, it's very important that your site is easy to find, pronounce and spell. With all that said, I'm curious as to why you went with a logo that, to me, is…
Also had the same initial read of the logo. Thought it said "Leai·ndot". Other than that: Paul, "thanks" for sharing your story. Interesting and well written.