Startup CEO shares experience of their search for suitable .com domain

[Doron Vermaat]

I thought you guys might enjoy this read in which Sandi Lin, CEO and co-founder of a startup named Skilljar shares how they decided to re-brand their company because they couldn't acquire the matching .com of their first name Everpath

http://thenextweb.com/entrepreneur/...ups-name-tale-crowdsourcing-843-domain-names/

Great insight in end-user behaviour!

 

[VURG]

I haven't heard of Squadhelp. It is interesting to see from the site that you get about 500 suggestions for $100 offer and 1000 suggestions for a $200 offer to get a good domain name. It would be interesting to see what sort of quality these lists are. SkillJar appeared to pick a good name and not waste too much time in getting it. I think most companies are not as efficient as SkillJar at getting a good name. Lots waste a lot of time or settle for a poor quality name.

 

[cdboard]

nice article.

here's another - I saw the link beside the first article.

http://viniciusvacanti.com/2010/11/08/how-we-used-a-python-script-to-find-our-domain-name-yipit

 

[randian]

Not sure why you'd use SquadHelp. You're just asking for domainers to troll the site and buy up domains they think you'll want.

 

[Doron Vermaat]

nice article.

here's another - I saw the link beside the first article.

http://viniciusvacanti.com/2010/11/08/how-we-used-a-python-script-to-find-our-domain-name-yipit

Very interesting - thinks for sharing!

 

[Rado_Ch]

Not sure why you'd use SquadHelp. You're just asking for domainers to troll the site and buy up domains they think you'll want.

That's the point of getting so many suggestions and not declaring your favorites publicly before you register them. So what if someone wants to extort some money from you by registering what they assume is interesting for you? Let them, it will be even funnier seeing them struggle to sell it :D

 

[hookbox]

Only the contest holder can see the entries.

 

[Ms Domainer]

*

Good idea, but I think the brand name they chose is terrible.

Skilljar? It reminds me too much of job jar, a sort of comedic cliche on the henpecked husband reaching into the jar to pull this weekend's home repair duty.

But perhaps they can make it work.

Had I known, I would have suggested LePath, which is closer to their original name. Besides, I own the .com.



One problem with crowd sourcing: Groupthink can creep in, resulting in compromise and mediocrity.

Also, their negative attitude toward domainers may have crept into their negotiation strategy.

*

 

[hookbox]

@Ms Domainer

Groupthink can only occur if the participants are able to see each other's entries in real time. This can't happen if the contest holder is the only one seeing the entries.

 

[Ms Domainer]

@Ms Domainer

Groupthink can only occur if the participants are able to see each other's entries in real time. This can't happen if the contest holder is the only one seeing the entries.

*

The people selecting the name can get into a group think situation.

*

 

[bmugford]

*

Good idea, but I think the brand name they chose is terrible.

Skilljar? It reminds me too much of job jar, a sort of comedic cliche on the henpecked husband reaching into the jar to pull this weekend's home repair duty.

But perhaps they can make it work.

Had I known, I would have suggested LePath, which is closer to their original name. Besides, I own the .com.



One problem with crowd sourcing: Groupthink can creep in, resulting in compromise and mediocrity.

Also, their negative attitude toward domainers may have crept into their negotiation strategy.

*

I agree. It is an interesting article, but in the end they ended up with "Skilljar". That does not seem like a very strong or memorable brand.

Brad

 

[ulterios]

It was an interesting article to see their path to get the name they decided on. The fact that they got ideas to go off of from some of the names that were suggested in the contest was a good choice since they didn't get one there that they liked. I sometimes get ideas that stem from places I first look for a solution and it eventually gets me the results I was wanting so I can appreciate the way they got to the name they chose. I liked that idea and it was fairly cheap. Would I have chosen they name they did? No, but it wasn't me spending my money so as long as they are happy then that's what matters most.