discuss .com switches to .app in the wild

[MapleDots]

There is an online company actually called Jane App

They have the domain JaneApp.com but they are using Jane.app instead.

Interesting situation and I wonder what I would do in their shoes.

The reason I say that is because....

[email protected] seems a bit odd to use as an email address

so upon investigation I notice they are actually using [email protected]

Not sure if I would do that, I think I would pick one of the two and run with the email address thereof.

------------------------------------------

Just for clarification... I have NO association whatsoever with this company.

 

[illumy]

Co’s can still do well despite mistakes.

Doesn’t mean it is a good idea to buy domains in bad extensions, especially for domainers who are supposed to be skilled in the area.

Consider it.....

Another "probably" "non-advised" company from Netherlands rebrand and redirect their original .COM site from okit.com to .APP site ok.app. Since you are in most arguments the odd one out, ever consider that maybe you are the one being outsmart by most people in this forum instead of the other way around? Maybe this "over controlling person in management who won’t seek or listen to advices and just make a decision themselves" fit in more with your characteristic demonstrated here all this time? since you are usually the one being disagreed by most if not all "supposed to be skilled" domainers here?

Consider it...

 

[johnnie018]

Another "probably" "non-advised" company from Netherlands rebrand and redirect their original .COM site from okit.com to .APP site ok.app. Since you are in most arguments the odd one out, ever consider that maybe you are the one being outsmart by most people in this forum instead of the other way around? Maybe this "over controlling person in management who won’t seek or listen to advices and just make a decision themselves" fit in more with your characteristic demonstrated here all this time? since you are usually the one being disagreed by most if not all "supposed to be skilled" domainers here?

Consider it...

2 sites in the world have changed? Keep finding needle in haystack, .mobi did better!

 

[Bob Hawkes]

In the off chance that someone from Jane stumbles on this thread, I wanted to say this to you...

You probably are concerned about numerous negative comments on your name and domain from one member whose username is Johnnie018. I wanted you to know that it is not just your company or this thread - he almost always is negative on everything. I made a joke about NPs switching to a .pro domain and he did not even realize it was a joke despite the emoji I included. For some reason the reaction to almost everything anyone says is negative. I really feel a little sorry (being genuine. not sarcastic) on why he always feels so angry and negative about anything. Finding a place in life where you can be happy is important. And possible.

In case with a name like NamePros you thought all members were professional domainers that is not true. There are about a million members of NPs who range from those with hobby interests, part-time gig, full time domain investors, as well as those involved in various aspects of the domain industry. This can be a wonderful community, full of supportive people with deep knowledge of many topics. That does not mean that all contributions are valuable or even true. In some cases we have no idea about the identity of a person or what their background is. A thought I recently had is are we even sure it is a person, and not a negatively programmed bot. Anyway, let's move on but please do not full hurt by his/her/its comments and remember....

Anyway don't think that his views represent those of the majority here.

I know you know the following, Jane, but I wanted to share the following points I discovered in a bit of research on your company for knowledge of others that might be reading this list (for others wanting to read your company story it is here).

• Jane started out in 2011 with finding a good solution for the integrated clinical practice of one of the founders. After being unsatisfied with available products a decision was made to have a custom built product. Six weeks after that decision you had (from above link) "a beautiful, flexible, real time online booking tool running on a server within the clinic and connected to the website - and it offered flexible electronic charting/note taking too."
• Others began to ask about the software so in 2012 a decision was made to create and license a more ambitious product.
• This venture was and is lead by two individuals, one from a clinical practice background, attuned to the needs of the end user community, and one who came from a marketing/branding background with technical expertise. I think there is a message here. How many domain businesses have dual leadership recognizing both end user and domain expertise?
• By 2014 the product launched and quickly grew. Today you have more than 12,000 clients and continue to grow strongly. I see that you have 3 open positions right now, for example.
• While many startups are successful at raising funds but unsuccessful at getting business success (exceptions obviously!) it is important to realize how Jane grew. To quote from your company jobs page: "...we’ve been growing a real business out of our own revenue for over 4 years now. We have the luxury and security of not having a zero-cash date like some some ventured-backed companies."
• I don't know your exact numbers, but was able to find on a third party site (GlassDoor) that your company has 51 to 200 employees and 25 to 50 million dollars per year in revenue. An impressive success story by any measure for a company less than five years old.
• I am sure many aspects went into the decision to use an .app as your major domain name. I personally love the elegance of Jane.app and feel that the move to a secure space, on a TLD currently almost immune from phishing, has numerous benefits. I respect that some do not agree, especially those in the US where the .com assumption is usually true for corporate names.
• I live in your broad region of Canada and realize that affects Google search results, but for me when I search on 'Jane' your Jane.app site is #1 on page 1. A great achievement. Congratulations.
• I admire many things that Jane has done, from growing organically to being co-founded by individuals with very different skills (one in marketing and one in end user expertise). I like that you named yourself after your first customer. As a senior remembering my learning to read books many decades ago I think the "See Jane Run" is pretty clever marketing!

I wanted to respond to one of the negative comments directly, that refers to a controlling difficult leadership. That is so patently untrue that I have asked moderators to remove his post so possibly it will be gone when you read this - I hope so. But for the benefit off those reading this post I wanted to point out that independent reviews (GlassDoor) of those who have worked at your company (18 reviews in total) give you a score of 4.9 out of 5.0 and 100% rate the leadership of the company positively. Let me quote from one of the reviews at GlassDoor:

"I have never worked for an employer that legitimately cared about each and every person and was more than willing to ensure that not only were you a good fit for the job, but that the job was a good fit for you.... it's the people and the love of the product that makes Jane stand out. A company where we don't push sales or track metrics, but rather are concerned that each and every touchpoint with customers is compassionate and thoughtful and genuine."
​

Best wishes for further success. Although I have no association with any aspect of your company, and in fact did not know of it prior to another Canadian starting this thread, I am proud that such a forward looking company is based in western Canada. And once again, on behalf of many members of our community (I hope), I wanted to apologize for the posts by one of our members.

Bob Hawkes

 

[johnnie018]

In the off chance that someone from Jane stumbles on this thread, I wanted to say this to you...

You probably are concerned about numerous negative comments on your name and domain from one member whose username is Johnnie018. I wanted you to know that it is not just your company or this thread - he almost always is negative on everything. I made a joke about NPs switching to a .pro domain and he did not even realize it was a joke despite the emoji I included. For some reason the reaction to almost everything anyone says is negative. I really feel a little sorry (being genuine. not sarcastic) on why he always feels so angry and negative about anything. Finding a place in life where you can be happy is important. And possible.

In case with a name like NamePros you thought all members were professional domainers that is not true. There are about a million members of NPs who range from those with hobby interests, part-time gig, full time domain investors, as well as those involved in various aspects of the domain industry. This can be a wonderful community, full of supportive people with deep knowledge of many topics. That does not mean that all contributions are valuable or even true. In some cases we have no idea about the identity of a person or what their background is. A thought I recently had is are we even sure it is a person, and not a negatively programmed bot. Anyway, let's move on but please do not full hurt by his/her/its comments and remember....

Anyway don't think that his views represent those of the majority here.

I know you know the following, Jane, but I wanted to share the following points I discovered in a bit of research on your company for knowledge of others that might be reading this list (for others wanting to read

• Jane started out in 2011 with finding a good solution for the integrated clinical practice of one of the founders. After being unsatisfied with available products a decision was made to have a custom built product. Six weeks after that decision you had (from above link) "a beautiful, flexible, real time online booking tool running on a server within the clinic and connected to the website - and it offered flexible electronic charting/note taking too."
• Others began to ask about the software so in 2012 a decision was made to create and license a more ambitious product.
• This venture was and is lead by two individuals, one from a clinical practice background, attuned to the needs of the end user community, and one who came from a marketing/branding background with technical expertise. I think there is a message here. How many domain businesses have dual leadership recognizing both end user and domain expertise?
• By 2014 the product launched and quickly grew. Today you have more than 12,000 clients and continue to grow strongly. I see that you have 3 open positions right now, for example.
• While many startups are successful at raising funds but unsuccessful at getting business success (exceptions obviously!) it is important to realize how Jane grew. To quote from your company jobs page: "...we’ve been growing a real business out of our own revenue for over 4 years now. We have the luxury and security of not having a zero-cash date like some some ventured-backed companies."
• I don't know your exact numbers, but was able to find on a third party site that your company has 51 to 200 employees and 25 to 50 million dollars per year in revenue. An impressive success story by any measure for a company less than five years old.
• I am sure many aspects went into the decision to use an .app as your major domain name. I personally love the elegance of Jane.app and feel that the move to a secure space, on a TLD currently almost immune from phishing, has numerous benefits. I respect that some do not agree, especially those in the US where the .com assumption is usually true for corporate names.
• I live in your broad region of Canada and realize that affects Google search results, but for me when I search on 'Jane' your Jane.app site is #1 on page 1. A great achievement. Congratulations.
• I admire many things that Jane has done, from growing organically to being co-founded by individuals with very different skills (one in marketing and one in end user expertise). I like that you named yourself after your first customer. As a senior remembering my learning to read books many decades ago I think the "See Jane Run" is pretty clever marketing!

I wanted to respond to one of the negative comments directly, that refers to a controlling difficult leadership. That is so patently untrue that I have asked moderators to remove his post so possibly it will be gone when you read this - I hope so. But for the benefit off those reading this post I wanted to point out that independent reviews (GlassDoor) of those who have worked at your company (18 reviews in total) give you a score of 4.9 out of 5.0 and 100% rate the leadership of the company positively. Let me quote from one of the reviews at

"I have never worked for an employer that legitimately cared about each and every person and was more than willing to ensure that not only were you a good fit for the job, but that the job was a good fit for you.... it's the people and the love of the product that makes Jane stand out. A company where we don't push sales or track metrics, but rather are concerned that each and every touchpoint with customers is compassionate and thoughtful and genuine."
​

Best wishes for further success. Although I have no association with any aspect of your company, and in fact did not know of it prior to another Canadian starting this thread, I am proud that such a forward looking company is based in western Canada. And once again, on behalf of many members of our community (I hope), I wanted to apologize for the posts by one of our members.

Bob Hawkes

The only members who would agree with you are other new tld fanatics. In this case the usage is a mess.

On another note NP really should consider putting a limit on post length.

 

[Morgo]

I work at a venture backed startup and we're using a .app domain. We love it and in our experience, people get it.

We were willing to spend up to $15k (and possibly more) on a domain. We were looking mainly at .app domains and interestingly, no one wanted to sell even for that price - and I'm talking mostly non-premium domains registered on after the EAP. Ended up buying a solid name for $14 (and there are still plenty of these).

 

[johnnie018]

I work at a venture backed startup and we're using a .app domain. We love it and in our experience, people get it.

We were willing to spend up to $15k (and possibly more) on a domain. We were looking mainly at .app domains and interestingly, no one wanted to sell even for that price - and I'm talking mostly non-premium domains registered on after the EAP. Ended up buying a solid name for $14 (and there are still plenty of these).

Won’t take long before the problems start.

 

[MadAboutDomains]

I'm surprised at how many inquiries I've had for my .APP names... people seem to like them.

I'm also surprised at how many gTLDs I'm seeing out in the wild now. They're everywhere I turn.

 

[johnnie018]

I'm surprised at how many inquiries I've had for my .APP names...

Zero? Let us know when there is a sale, might be a while.

 

[MadAboutDomains]

Zero? Let us know when there is a sale, might be a while.

Calm down dear. You know what assuming does...

 

[Morgo]

Won’t take long before the problems start.

Haha, maybe. We view this as a huge opportunity. No one downloads apps anymore - distribution is a total pain. Our team worked in venture before this, and saw it first hand over the last 6 years. We've been tracking changes on the web and app stores very closely (Google/Oracle Java lawsuit and why Fuchsia matters, native app stores + antitrust and why a non-native option will be important for apple+G, how MSFT is betting on PWAs, w3c developments like payment request API and others). We're going to make our current web app a pwa (simply add manifest and service worker) to get people out of their mobile browser (yes, people do have different expectations in mobile browser vs. app) and into a native app-like container.

We felt like prompting users to install our web app to their home screen makes sense from a .app. This is going to be a new dynamic for users and they should expect an "app" and not a "website" even though that's technically what it is. Just our opinion.

 

[Bob Hawkes]

The only members who would agree with you are other new tld fanatics.

With respect, I would like to suggest that no matter their views on certain extensions, I think and hope that most NPs would believe that we should be accurate, balanced and respectful in what we post. That was what the thread you posted this response to was about - balancing information about a third party that is not even part of the discussion, in fairness to them. Just my humble opinion.
Bob

(ps I do agree with you that my posts are frequently too long. I promise to work on that.)

 

[johnnie018]

With respect, I would like to suggest that no matter their views on certain extensions, I think and hope that most NPs would believe that we should be accurate, balanced and respectful in what we post. That was what the thread you posted this response to was about - balancing information about a third party that is not even part of the discussion, in fairness to them. Just my humble opinion.
Bob

Will you take you own advice Bob?

 

[johnnie018]

Haha, maybe. We view this as a huge opportunity. No one downloads apps anymore - distribution is a total pain. Our team worked in venture before this, and saw it first hand over the last 6 years. We've been tracking changes on the web and app stores very closely (Google/Oracle Java lawsuit and why Fuchsia matters, native app stores + antitrust and why a non-native option will be important for apple+G, how MSFT is betting on PWAs, w3c developments like payment request API and others). We're going to make our current web app a pwa (simply add manifest and service worker) to get people out of their mobile browser (yes, people do have different expectations in mobile browser vs. app) and into a native app-like container.

We felt like prompting users to install our web app to their home screen makes sense from a .app. This is going to be a new dynamic for users and they should expect an "app" and not a "website" even though that's technically what it is. Just our opinion.

Sounds like a bunch of programmers made this decision? You realize average consumer won’t have any idea what .app is?

 

[Ali - jane.app]

Oh hi!

Would you like to know more of the details - I'll give you the full run down. Jane did miss out on Jane.com by one week. A lovely British woman sold it to the current owner just a week before we contacted her asking about it - sad. So we registered a number of other domains, including janeapp.com.

As we are a web app, and not a native app, we don't use the word "app" in our branding, and we began only referring to ourselves as "Jane". 99% of people consider an App only as a mobile product - and Jane isn't available on any app stores.

But a really fascinating thing started happening. Because our customers get subdomains for their sites (ie clinicname.janeapp.com) our customers ALL started calling Jane "Jane App". This is something we really weren't expecting.

So when the .app domain became available we knew that we wanted to own it, since someone else owning jane.app would be a pain in the butt. And from a branding perspective we think it communicates well. It's memorable, short and works super well in print. And because it wouldn't negatively impact our SEO when re-directed properly, it felt like a good fit. We also aliased all emails so both domains still work... no bouncing of bad emails!

We just found out about the public discussion around our domain switch and have been reading the threads with much enjoyment. Thanks for having so many things to contribute - we like the topic and would be happy to answer any questions.

And Bob - you are a true gem. Thanks for your very kind words and to all of you with thoughtful responses.

And to everyone: We've very much enjoyed sipping some bourbon and catching up on this debate. We had no idea people felt so strongly about tlds or ever imagined that our domain change would be the source of public discussion.

 

[illumy]

Oh hi!

Would you like to know more of the details - I'll give you the full run down. Jane did miss out on Jane.com by one week. A lovely British woman sold it to the current owner just a week before we contacted her asking about it - sad. So we registered a number of other domains, including janeapp.com.

As we are a web app, and not a native app, we don't use the word "app" in our branding, and we began only referring to ourselves as "Jane". 99% of people consider an App only as a mobile product - and Jane isn't available on any app stores.

But a really fascinating thing started happening. Because our customers get subdomains for their sites (ie clinicname.janeapp.com) our customers ALL started calling Jane "Jane App". This is something we really weren't expecting.

So when the .app domain became available we knew that we wanted to own it, since someone else owning jane.app would be a pain in the butt. And from a branding perspective we think it communicates well. It's memorable, short and works super well in print. And because it wouldn't negatively impact our SEO when re-directed properly, it felt like a good fit. We also aliased all emails so both domains still work... no bouncing of bad emails!

We just found out about the public discussion around our domain switch and have been reading the threads with much enjoyment. Thanks for having so many things to contribute - we like the topic and would be happy to answer any questions.

And Bob - you are a true gem. Thanks for your very kind words and to all of you with thoughtful responses.

And to everyone: We've very much enjoyed sipping some bourbon and catching up on this debate. We had no idea people felt so strongly about tlds or ever imagined that our domain change would be the source of public discussion.

Nice for showing up, where did you find out about the discussion?

You are certainly not alone in this one, there's many that we didn't know, but here's some more including yourself:

Janeapp.com > Jane.app
Okit.com > Ok.app
Synereo.com > HyperSpace.app
ZeroFinancial.com > Zero.app
Cash.Square.com > Cash.app

Interesting note that Cash.App recently sponsored this interview with Alex Rodriguez and Kobe Bryant: www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLmccH35j8Y

 

[Ali - jane.app]

Nice for showing up, where did you find out about the discussion?

You are certainly not alone in this one, there's many that we didn't know, but here's some more including yourself:

Janeapp.com > Jane.app
Okit.com > Ok.app
Synereo.com > HyperSpace.app
ZeroFinancial.com > Zero.app
Cash.Square.com > Cash.app

Interesting note that Cash.App recently sponsored this interview with Alex Rodriguez and Kobe Bryant:

We just hired a VP of marketing and he was researching our online reach and share of voice. Showed up in his audit!

 

[johnnie018]

Oh hi!

Would you like to know more of the details - I'll give you the full run down. Jane did miss out on Jane.com by one week. A lovely British woman sold it to the current owner just a week before we contacted her asking about it - sad. So we registered a number of other domains, including janeapp.com.

As we are a web app, and not a native app, we don't use the word "app" in our branding, and we began only referring to ourselves as "Jane". 99% of people consider an App only as a mobile product - and Jane isn't available on any app stores.

But a really fascinating thing started happening. Because our customers get subdomains for their sites (ie clinicname.janeapp.com) our customers ALL started calling Jane "Jane App". This is something we really weren't expecting.

So when the .app domain became available we knew that we wanted to own it, since someone else owning jane.app would be a pain in the butt. And from a branding perspective we think it communicates well. It's memorable, short and works super well in print. And because it wouldn't negatively impact our SEO when re-directed properly, it felt like a good fit. We also aliased all emails so both domains still work... no bouncing of bad emails!

We just found out about the public discussion around our domain switch and have been reading the threads with much enjoyment. Thanks for having so many things to contribute - we like the topic and would be happy to answer any questions.

And Bob - you are a true gem. Thanks for your very kind words and to all of you with thoughtful responses.

And to everyone: We've very much enjoyed sipping some bourbon and catching up on this debate. We had no idea people felt so strongly about tlds or ever imagined that our domain change would be the source of public discussion.

Very misfortune, missed by 1 week? So sad. Have you tried buying jane.com from the new owner?

 

[johnnie018]

You could also consider jane.ws, 2nd best to .com.

 

[Bob Hawkes]

It is fantastic to have end user participation at NPs and to share more of the background with us @Ali - jane.app. It is interesting to know about how you just missed Jane.com and about how Jane.app came about. I think subdomains are under utilized, and nice to hear how they are integral to your product with each client having their own. Thank you for offering to answer questions. Best wishes for continued success!

Bob.