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analysis Ycombinator W22 and S22 name analysis

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This is an analysis of the domain names used by Ycombinator W22 and S22 startups. Not a guide or advice. DYOR.

TOTAL STARTUPS: 573

COMMON INDUSTRIES: Remote, Collab, Wallet, B2B, SAAS, Biotech, Space Exploration,
Solar Energy, Fintech, Robotics, AI, Machine Learning, DeFi, Web3, Payments, No Code Development, Programming, E-Commerce, Security, Health (In rare cases, projects related to Food).

I have only categorized the .COM names, because I mainly buy and sell .COMs. You can easily categorize the .io, .co and other ones in the list though.

NOTE: some names can be put in multiple categories.

As you can see, 299 out of 573 projects use the .COM extension.
Let's start with made-up "brandable" names: pulppo, iollo, homli, etc.

Those companies definitely prioritized the shortness of the domain name (usually 5-6 letters)
over readability. Doing this, they have 2 major pros:
1. They are unique
2. They won't have to upgrade (in most cases)

Here they are:

Landeed - landeed.com
Velontra - velontra.com
Entvin - entvin.com
Oneleet.com - oneleet.com
Krave Mart - kravemart.com
Homli - thehomli.com
Ruffo - ruffo.com
Iollo - iollo.com
Pulppo - pulppo.com
Tersho - tersho.com
Disclo - disclo.com
Tranch - tranch.com
Deekard - deekard.com
Boostly - boostly.com
Fetii - fetii.com
Cerrion - cerrion.com
Devyce - devyce.com
Chordio - chordio.com
Weltio - weltio.com
Wolfia - wolfia.com
Cofactr - cofactr.com
KorrAI - korrai.com
AirMyne - airmyne.com
Verdn - verdn.com
Heptabase - heptabase.com
Avocademy - avocademy.com
Dumme - dumme.com
Arpari - arpari.com
Yhangry - yhangry.com
GoJom - gojom.com
Amiloz - amiloz.com
Clupp - clupp.com
Unsaddl - unsaddl.com
Nophin - nophin.com
Numida - numida.com
Bemlo - bemlo.com
Legistify - legistify.com
Durioo - durioo.com
Goodfin - goodfin.com
Arintra - arintra.com
Finnt - finnt.com
FinFlx - finflx.com
Enlightra - enlightra.com
Cogram - cogram.com
Snippyly - snippyly.com
Plumter - plumter.com
Mintlify - mintlify.com
Iomete - iomete.com
Speechly - speechly.com
Cardda - cardda.com
Bunkyr - bunkyr.com
Creizer - creizer.com
Munily - munily.com
Pyrls - pyrls.com
Tahora - tahora.com
UpBanx - upbanx.com
Bobidi - bobidi.com
Miggos - miggos.com
Alixia - alixia.com
HypaHub - hypahub.com
Castia - castia.com
Dropezy - dropezy.com
Discz Music - disczmusic.com
Yeeza - yeeza.com
Nyckel - nyckel.com
Transfez - transfez.com
WeReno - wereno.com
Pelm - pelm.com
Optery - optery.com
Medplum - medplum.com
Vobi - vobi.com
Clinikally - clinikally.com
Keylika - keylika.com
Blocknom - blocknom.com
Pluralith - pluralith.com
CrediBook - credibook.com
Netmaker - gravitl.com (UPGRADED TO netmaker.org)
Albiware Inc. - albiware.com
Payourse - payourse.com
Palitronica Inc - palitronica.com
Craniometrix - craniometrix.com

Most used suffixes: -io, -ia, -ly, -fy, -er, -ra.

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

Next on the list are companies who could's secure the "plain" version of their name, and most probably, will upgrade later on.
For example, the company Ping uses the domain name "letsping.com" because "Ping.com" was taken.

Most used prefixes: get- 13, join- 7, use- 6, try- 5, lets- 3.

Lightmeter - getlightmeter.com
Zorba - getzorba.com
Sphere - getsphere.com
Agency - getagency.com
Nash - getnashglobal.com
WANTD - getwantd.com
Plutto - getplutto.com
Derisk - getderisket.com
Lancey - getlancey.com
CoKitchen - getfoodcourt.com
Lovage - getlovage.com
Aklimate - getaklimate.com
Fuell - getfuell.com

Oto - joinoto.com
Fleek - joinfleek.com
Pana - joinpana.com
Pasito - joinpasito.com (Spanish: pasito = 1. little step, 2. gently)
Taro - jointaro.com
Attain - joinattain.com
Alfie - joinalfie.com

Levers - uselevers.com
Bracket - usebracket.com
Winter - usewinter.com
Deall - usedeall.com
Fini - usefini.com
Nimbus - usenimbus.com

Polymer - trypolymer.com
Caddie - trycaddie.com
Toolchest - trytoolchest.com
Duplo - tryduplo.com
Forest - tryforest.com

Ping - letsping.com
GAVEL - letsgavel.com
Rever - itsrever.com

Slingshot - slingshotbills.com
Almond - almondobgyn.com
Hero - herofacturas.com
Everyspace - everyspacehq.com
Artemis - artemisdevtool.com
Cambio - cambiomoney.com (Spanish: cambio = change)
Hedgehog - hedgehogfoods.com
NewsCatcher - newscatcherapi.com
Rio - riocrypto.com
ALT TEX - thealttex.com
Sunlight - sunlightapi.com
Craze - thecrazeapp.com
Blitz - blitznocode.com
Chariot - givechariot.com
Internet Friends - wagmiapp.com
Ten Lives - tenlivesfoods.com
BBy - bbymilk.com
Lizza - lizzapp.com
Evoly - evolyenergy.com
Mono - cuentamono.com
Realize - realizefi.com
Trusty - trustyhomes.com
TAI - withtai.com
Circular - nowcircular.com
Rally - rallyuxr.com
Rider - withrider.com
QUIK - quikpago.com
SNAB - snabfinance.com
Quan - quanwellbeing.com
Moneytree - moneytreepower.com
Trueplace - trueplacehomes.com
Kindly - kindlyhealth.com
Andi - andisearch.com
Lifecast - lifecastvr.com
Argo - watchargo.com
Bloom - withbloom.com
Spot - spotdx.com
Northwind - northwindskin.com
Agave - agaveapi.com
Cube - cubeanalytics.com
Identitypass - myidentitypass.com
Posh - poshrobotics.com
Toko - tokotutor.com
Eazipay Inc - mymyeazipay.com
LunaJoy - hellolunajoy.com
Ole - oleshop.com
Nook - nookrenovation.com
Streak - streakcard.com
OpenOps - heyopenops.com
Koala - teachwithkoala.com
Invert - invertbio.com
Inedit (Brandazine) - brandazine.com
HomeRoom - livehomeroom.com
Pursuit - pursuitoutside.com
Lovecast - lovecastapp.com
Trebol - gotrebol.com
Sieve - sievedata.com
Momento - tumomento.com
Starling - starlingmedical.com
Railbird - railbirdexchange.com


2-word names
-----------------------------------
Uh-Oh Labs - uhohlabs.com
WorldQL - worldql.com
Rosebud Biosciences - rosebudbiosciences.com
Engage Bio - engagebio.com
Actipulse Neuroscience - actipulseneuroscience.com
Wingback - wingback.com
Wagetap - wagetap.com
AeonCharge - aeoncharge.com
Snap Trade - snaptrade.com
Sophys Health - sophyshealth.com
Stock Unlock - stockunlock.com
Phase Biolabs - phasebiolabs.com
Agentnoon - agentnoon.com
Unlayer - unlayer.com
Fieldproxy - fieldproxy.com
NinjaStudy - tryninjastudy.com
Shuttle Central - shuttlecentral.com
Instant Domains - instantdomains.com
Corveus Medical - corveusmedical.com
DynamoFL - dynamofl.com
TeamOut - teamout.com
Fleetzero - fleetzero.com
NudgeLabs - nudgelabs.com
Nest Genomics - nestgenomics.com
Perl Street - perlstreet.com
SubscriptionFlow - subscriptionflow.com
Strong Compute - strongcompute.com
Bonsai Desk - bonsaidesk.com
Livedocs - livedocs.com
PayCaddy - paycaddy.com
Stairs Financial - stairsfinancial.com
PermitFlow - permitflow.com
Stackshine - stackshine.com
earnJARVIS - earnjarvis.com
Flagright - flagright.com
EXO Freight - exofreight.com
SilkChart - silkchart.com
Rome - rometrucking.com
AntWalk - antwalk.com
DimOrder - dimorder.com
Trackingplan - trackingplan.com
SmartHelio - smarthelio.com
Demo Gorilla - demogorilla.com
Blitzllama - blitzllama.com
Unravel Carbon - unravelcarbon.com
PropelAuth - propelauth.com
Fogbender - fogbender.com
Stablegains - stablegains.com
IoTFlows Inc - iotflows.com
SixWheel - sixwheel.com
Origami Therapeutics Inc - origamitherapeutics.com
Impossible Mining - impossiblemining.com
Olympian Motors - olympianmotors.com
The Ankler - theankler.com
Reviving Mind - revivingmind.com
NFTScoring - nftscoring.com
Eventual - eventualcomputing.com
AiSupervision - aisupervision.com
Phoenix Hydrogen - phoenixhydrogen.com
Polymath Robotics - polymathrobotics.com
Coverage Cat - coveragecat.com
MovingLake - movinglake.com
ReleviumBio - releviumbio.com
AiPrise - aiprise.com
Garage Mobility - garagemobility.com
Chowdeck - chowdeck.com
FlyCode - flycode.com
PreStacks.com - prestacks.com
Chainsight - chainsight.com
Zoltar Labs - zoltarlabs.com
Payload CMS - payloadcms.com
Maverick Bioworks - maverickbioworks.com
Tank Payments - tankpayments.com
Active Pieces - activepieces.com
Dr. Treat - drtreat.com
Bunting Labs - buntinglabs.com
Levo Financial - levofinancial.com
Birch Biosciences - birchbiosciences.com
Deploy Sentinel - deploysentinel.com
SimpleHash - simplehash.com
Reality Defender - realitydefender.com
PolicyFly - policyfly.com
Boardcave - boardcave.com
LifeAt - lifeat.com
Serif Health - serifhealth.com
Supertone - supertone.com
Emerge Career - emergecareer.com


3-word names
-------------------------------
Blue Hill Payments - bluehillpayments.com
Neural Dynamics Technologies - neuraldynamicstechnologies.com
Cash Flow Portal - cashflowportal.com
Insure My Team - insuremyteam.com
RedBrick AI - redbrickai.com
Vacation Home Rents - vacationhomerents.com


4-word names
-------------------------------
Power to the Brand - powertothebrand.com


Uses the shorter version of the name
------------------------------------
Cisterna Biologics - cisternabx.com
Eugit Therapeutics - eugittx.com
WhiteLab Genomics - whitelabgx.com
Airhart Aeronautics - airhartaero.com
Blacktop Hoops by Vinci Games - blacktophoopsvr.com
Simplyfyd Systems - simplifyd.com


With dash
-------------------------------
Beyond Aero - beyond-aero.com
Guardian Bio - guardian-bio.com
Bitstack - bitstack-app.com
Re-mint - re-mint.com
Joe - joe-app.com
Elementary - elementary-data.com


With number
-------------------------------
Workflow86 - workflow86.com
91Squarefeet - 91squarefeet.com


Abbreviations
-------------------------------
RTHM - rthm.com
TYBR Health - tybrhealth.com
8vdX - 8vdx.com


Uses non-english words
-------------------------------
Mooji Meats - moojimeats.com
Anja Health - anjahealth.com
Amal Invest - amalinvest.com
Seis - seis.com
Mahaana Wealth - mahaana.com
SOTERI SKIN - soteriskin.com
HoyTrabajas - hoytrabajas.com
Tuva Health - tuvahealth.com
Syrona Health - syronahealth.com


First/second name + word
-----------------------------------
Mederva Health - medervahealth.com
Andson Biotech - andsonbiotech.com


From this section, the names are not categorized, but as you can see, they are very similar to .COM names and you can very easily categorize them yourself.
The most common extensions after .COM are .IO, .CO, and .AI.


.IO names
-------------------------
Access Owl - accessowl.io
Intuned - intuned.io
Cone - getcone.io
Autone - autone.io
UpLink - uplinkapp.io
Allero - allero.io
Rampay - rampay.io
Ultimate Tournament - ultimatearcade.io
Maya Labs - mayalabs.io
Sytex - sytex.io
Ajourney - ajourney.io
Slauth - slauth.io
Apply Design - applydesign.io
CodeCrafters - codecrafters.io
Overwatch - overwatchdata.io
Array Labs - arraylabs.io
Trebu - trebu.io
Ilumadata - ilumadata.io
Openpod - openpod.io
TrueBiz - truebiz.io
Alterya - alterya.io
Ciro - ciro.io
Banabo - banabo.io
Onboard - onboard.io
Karate Labs - karatelabs.io
Cinapse - cinapse.io
GoSats - gosats.io
HelloGuru - helloguru.io
Pigeon Loans - pigeonloans.io
Ploomber - ploomber.io
CypherD Wallet - cypherd.io
Joon - joonapp.io
Theneo - theneo.io
Kula - joinkula.io
Courtyard - courtyard.io
Carbon Crusher - carboncrusher.io
Nullstone - nullstone.io
Cinder - cndr.io
Airwork - airwork.io
Hydra - hydras.io
Convoy - getconvoy.io
Dojah - dojah.io
Requestly - requestly.io
Tingo - mytingo.io
Kable - kable.io
Castled Data - castled.io
Slai - slai.io
Mysterious - mysterious.io
Vista - govista.io
Philippo - philippo.io
Iron Leap - ironleap.io
Atlas - getatlas.io
Rownd - rownd.io
Onyx Card - onyxcard.io
Spinach - spinach.io
Proper - properfinance.io
Segna - segna.io
Strac - strac.io
AstroForge - astroforge.io
GrowthBook - growthbook.io


.CO names
---------------------------
Vizzly - vizzly.co
Momentu - momentu.co
Tangia - tangia.co
Provision - getprovision.co
BiggerPicture - biggerpicture.co
Malama Health - heymalama.co
Hello - sayhello.co
Novig - novig.co
Delegasi - delegasi.co
Erad - erad.co
TradeX - tradexapp.co
Powerhouse AI - powerhouseai.co (pwh.ai)
Humand - humand.co
WishRoll - wishroll.co
Brainboard - brainboard.co
Yunit Inc - yunit.co
Lenco - lenco.co
Grey - grey.co
Boya - boya.co
Curacel - curacel.co
Cotera - cotera.co
Wibond - wibond.co
NearWave - nearwave.co
Suggestr - suggestr.co
HOKALI - hokali.co
Azuki - azuki.co
Criya - criya.co
Valari - valari.co
Seabound - seabound.co
Skillza - skillza.co
Zywa - zywa.co
Peakflo - peakflo.co
Selia - selia.co
Compra Rapida - comprarapida.co


.AI names
----------------------------
Dev Tools - dev-tools.ai
Knowtex - knowtex.ai
Monterey AI - monterey.ai
Lamin - lamin.ai
Hiresure - hiresure.ai
Metriport - metriport.ai
Coris - coris.ai
Peoplebox - peoplebox.ai
Aragorn AI - aragorn.ai
NuMind - numind.ai
Pilot AI - getpilot.ai
Openline - openline.ai
Ruleset - ruleset.ai
Sherlok - sherlok.ai
Paces - paces.ai
CloudEagle - cloudeagle.ai
Syncware - syncware.ai
Powerhouse AI - powerhouseai.co (pwh.ai)
Shaped - shaped.ai
Ngrow - ngrow.ai
OurEye - oureye.ai
MutableAI - mutable.ai
Edustack - edustack.ai
Armilla AI - armilla.ai
Eto - eto.ai
MosaicVoice - mosaicvoice.ai
Lexter.ai - lexter.ai
Cerebrium - cerebrium.ai
Dioptra - dioptra.ai
JumpWire - jumpwire.ai
Kaso (formerly Elkaso) - kaso.ai
CUTR - cutr.ai
Industrial Next - industrialnext.ai
Uberduck - uberduck.ai
Cherry Recommends - cherry.ai


.APP names
--------------------------
Kashin - kashin.app
Relay - joinrelay.app
Shipmates - shipmates.app
Typewise - typewise.app
Moneco - moneco.app
Kapstar - Kapstar.app
Flike - flike.app
1Flow - 1flow.app
Winno - winno.app
Take App - take.app
Tendo - tendo.app
Kaagaz - kaagaz.app
Botin - botin.app
Markaz Technologies - markaz.app
Soon - soon.app
Haddock - haddock.app
Celeri - celeri.app
Blaze - withblaze.app
Kiter - kiter.app
OnScale - onscale.app


.XYZ names
-------------------------
Excheqr - excheqr.xyz
Rampp - rampp.xyz
Supercool - supercool.xyz
EthosX - ethosx.xyz
Immuna - immuna.xyz
Probably Nothing Labs - probablynothinglabs.xyz
Coinbooks - coinbooks.xyz
Remi Labs - remilabs.xyz
Decent - decent.xyz
Axis - axis.xyz
Apollo - apollofirst.xyz
Better Financial Corporation - betterfinancial.xyz


.TECH names
-----------------------------
Blockscope - blockscope.tech
Needl - needl.tech
Seaflight Technologies - seaflight.tech
Paigo - paigo.tech
Tailor - tailor.tech
Darsel - darsel.tech
Takt - takt.tech
BharatX - bharatx.tech
Ozone - ozone.tech
Vance - vance.tech
Sarus - sarus.tech
Arc - arc.tech


.DEV names
----------------------------
Abridge - abridge.dev
Kombo - kombo.dev
Windmill - windmill.dev
Raven - raven.dev
Sematic - sematic.dev
Spade - spade.dev
BotCity - botcity.dev
Firezone - firezone.dev
Hyperbeam - hyperbeam.dev
Flightcontrol - flightcontrol.dev


.IN names (India)
----------------------
Shelf - shelfpay.in
AlgoTest - algotest.in
RootFi - rootfi.in
Payo - payobank.in
Plover Parametrics - plover.insure
Better Opinions - betteropinions.in
Fello - fello.in
Material Depot - materialdepot.in
PayCrunch - paycrunch.in
RecordBook - rekord.in
Harmoney - harmoney.in
Brown Foods - brownfoods.in
Samos Insurance - samos.insure


.ID names (Indonesia)
------------------------------
Mataree - mataree.id
Payable - payable.id
Fresh Factory - freshfactory.id
Bananas - bananas.id
Aigis - aigis.id
Finku - finku.id
PINA - pina.id
Radius - radiusapp.id
Sribuu - sribuu.id
Whiz - whiz.id
Bipi - bipi.id


.AFRICA names
--------------------------
Pivo Technology Inc - pivo.africa
Patika - patika.africa
Topship - topship.africa
Moni - moni.africa
Heyfood - heyfood.africa


.VN names
--------------------------
GIMO - gimo.vn
Marathon Education - marathon.edu.vn
Tradezi - tradezi.vn
Anfin - anfin.vn


.US names (USA)
--------------------------
Emigre - emigre.us
Ankr Health - ankr.us
Myria - myria.us


.COM.BR names
------------------------
Drip - dripapp.com.br
Pantore - pantore.com.br


.DE names
--------------------------
Glocally - glocally.de
Voize - voize.de


.FINANCE
--------------------------
Cachboard - cashboard.finance
Cashmere - cashmere.finance
LiquiFi - liquifi.finance
Arda - arda.finance


.NET
--------------------------
Two Dots - twodots.net
Vimmerse - vimmerse.net


.ORG
--------------------------
Koko - kokocares.org
Sendme Inc - sendme.org


.HEALTH
--------------------------
Morf Health - morf.health
Float Health - float.health
Remedial Health - remedial.health


.SPACE
----------------------------
Quindar - quindar.space
Drifting in Space - driftingin.space
Wyvern - wyvern.space


.BIO names
-----------------------------
Signatur Biosciences - signatur.bio
Serinus Biosciences - serinus.bio
Alga Biosciences - alga.bio


.CLOUD
----------------------
Nucleus - usenucleus.cloud
Massdriver - massdriver.cloud


.TO
-----------------------
Campfire - campfire.to
Rebill - rebill.to


Non-common extensions
-----------------------

Vessel - vessel.land

SALT - salt.pe

Ping - ping.gg

Kapital - kapital.mx

Shopr - shopr.tv

Gym Class - by IRL Studios - gymclass.quest

Shinkei Systems - shinkei.systems

Moonshot - moonshot.li

Venue - venue.live

Drahim - drahim.sa

Terrace - terrace.fi

Orca - orca.fyi

Be Golden - begolden.online

Uwi - uwi.com.ph

Elphinstone Inc - elphinstone.com.pk

Videbug - bug.video

Stackup - stackup.sh

Bend - bend.green

Alima - alima.la

Vessel - vessel.land

Digiventures - digiventures.la

HippoBuild - hippo.build

BeU Delivery - eat.beu.cat

Poko - poko.fund

Integrated Reasoning - ir.design


Initially, I sorted these names for a personal use. But though to publish here as it might help someone understand
in what industry it is better to invest, what types of names are commonly selected by startups, etc.

Thanks for reading and happy domaining.
 
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The views expressed on this page by users and staff are their own, not those of NamePros.
I prefer ngtlds than a com with prefix join, get... however it's kinda hard to invest in these brandables it's a number game you need to register lots of name and cheap enough
 
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I prefer ngtlds than a com with prefix join, get... however it's kinda hard to invest in these brandables it's a number game you need to register lots of name and cheap enough
Me too. Imo .io, .co, .ai and .app are the best extensions if you want to target new startups that doesn't have much money
 
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Me too. Imo .io, .co, .ai and .app are the best extensions if you want to target new startups that doesn't have much money
Probably yes but I wouldn't outbound them unless I already own the exact match of their name.
I also wouldn't purchase a ngtld just to sell to them
 
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Respect to the OP for putting this together, some interesting stuff!
 
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great writing!
thanks a lot
 
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Great research and thanks for the data (I'm sure @Bob Hawkes would be interested in this information and even have a comment).

Some of these names look like what one would typically see on a brandable marketplace like BB, SH etc and it seems passing the radio/podcast/noisy party test doesn't bother these startups as much as we domainers think.
 
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I anticipate some domain upgrades for the small amount of these companies that become successful in the future.

Brad
 
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Thanks!

Great write-up! Homli will have to upgrade, probably, since they are calling themselves Homli, but using TheHomli.com

It was interesting to see Devyce there. Seemed familiar and I checked my names and found the plural: Devyces/com

Well, apparently, .io and .co are still the names of choice when startups can't get a .com way ahead of xyz. Even .ai seems ahead.
 
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Thanks!

Great write-up! Homli will have to upgrade, probably, since they are calling themselves Homli, but using TheHomli.com

It was interesting to see Devyce there. Seemed familiar and I checked my names and found the plural: Devyces/com

Well, apparently, .io and .co are still the names of choice when startups can't get a .com way ahead of xyz. Even .ai seems ahead.
Io .co and even .tech are for general startups while xyz is more niche, seemingly popular with, Crypto, Blockhain, NFTs, Metaverse, and Web3
 
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Io .co and even .tech are for general startups while xyz is more niche, seemingly popular with, Crypto, Blockhain, NFTs, Metaverse, and Web3
Totally agree. 99% if not 100% of .XYZ names are of so called "Web3" startups
 
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Io .co and even .tech are for general startups while xyz is more niche, seemingly popular with, Crypto, Blockhain, NFTs, Metaverse, and Web3

Probably, just web3. For the rest, .io, .co, .ai, .tech are ahead as a choice.
 
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Probably, just web3. For the rest, .io, .co, .ai, .tech are ahead as a choice.
Interestingly enough, 35 startups are using the .AI extension, while .CO is used by 34 startups.
 
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I am a .COM fan, but many of these brands are terrible.

Almost every domain on the list says "settling"...Like it was not their first choice, but they just found something that was available and settled. It makes sense in a way as the vast majority of new companies fail.

If you are one of the few that succeeds you can eventually get something better.

Brad
 
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I am a .COM fan, but many of these brands are terrible.

Almost every domain on the list says "settling"...Like it was not their first choice, but they just found something that was available and settled. It makes sense in a way as the vast majority of new companies fail.

If you are one of the few that succeeds you can eventually get something better.

Brad

It makes intuitive sense, but logically it is really bad.

You can't plan for failure. You have to plan for success.

And for that to happen, you have to get your branding right, including the exact match .com or cctld in 99% of cases (or both). You are to start building your brand equity from day 1. And your brand is to serve as a catalyst (multiplier). for your company's marketing, sales, pr, networking money and effort spent.

I'd never launch a project live unless a) I am absolutely happy with the name and b) I've secured the exact match .com
 
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Superb analysis @narbuq ! Thank you.

I really liked the categories you used to separate the names by type.

Not that surprised that majority .com and that .co and .io were pretty strongly represented, along with .ai, .app, .xyz and many others.

Under other, interesting to see a few .land names in use, and a .quest that has only be available just over a year.

Surprising, but consistent with similar analyses that James did in past, that .net and .org are used by very few startups of late.

Thanks so much for sharing. This must have taken a long time to do.

Bob
 
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Superb analysis @narbuq ! Thank you.

I really liked the categories you used to separate the names by type.

Not that surprised that majority .com and that .co and .io were pretty strongly represented, along with .ai, .app, .xyz and many others.

Under other, interesting to see a few .land names in use, and a .quest that has only be available just over a year.

Surprising, but consistent with similar analyses that James did in past, that .net and .org are used by very few startups of late.

Thanks so much for sharing. This must have taken a long time to do.

Bob
Thanks for the kind words Bob, I appreciate it. It took about 4 days.

I was also surprised to see how few startups use the .NET and especially the .ORG extension. I actively invest in .ORG and sold about 20 names over the past 1 year.

I guess it's time to pay more attention to .IO, .CO, and .AI.
 
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I am a .COM fan, but many of these brands are terrible.

Almost every domain on the list says "settling"...Like it was not their first choice, but they just found something that was available and settled. It makes sense in a way as the vast majority of new companies fail.

If you are one of the few that succeeds you can eventually get something better.

Brad
I'm not sure if it's settling or simply the bizarre startup trend for choosing childish sounding names like plumpyloo.com (please don't reg) in order not to get pigeonholed
 
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Thank you for a great piece @narbuq.

Regarding ”settling” for a name I think YC is way more smart than so and that there is a certain process to which you decide on and set your name. Budget is obviously a factor here but also legal aspects like simple Trademark checks. An external proper TM check will give you both red lights but also a lot of yellow lights / grey areas and my guess is that the names above are taken to be on the safe side.

In the end a great brand is nothing else than what you add to it and the product / service you put behind it. Brands evolve as well over time - one of the startup star of past years Monday.com (founded 2014) was initially names DaPulse.com - they made the upgrade and rebranding when they already where a success and had the cash to upgrade.

My point is, great brands are never only great names but great products and services can go from the clouds to the stars with great names.

Happy to see the mix of extensions which tells me that we will have opportunities outside of .com going forward as well as bigger upgrades to .com over time. Also extra happy to have a direct match name to one of the fintechs in the list (erad.co) - own erad.xyz (lets hope they pivot to a web3 version of their brand 😅)

Thanks again @narbuq ! ⭐
 
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It makes intuitive sense, but logically it is really bad.

You can't plan for failure. You have to plan for success.

And for that to happen, you have to get your branding right, including the exact match .com or cctld in 99% of cases (or both). You are to start building your brand equity from day 1. And your brand is to serve as a catalyst (multiplier). for your company's marketing, sales, pr, networking money and effort spent.

I'd never launch a project live unless a) I am absolutely happy with the name and b) I've secured the exact match .com
A lot of start-ups rebrand later.
 
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I'd never launch a project live unless a) I am absolutely happy with the name and b) I've secured the exact match .com
That's not always practical (or realistic) for a startup as they'd be waiting forever to get that exact match .com before launching a project.
 
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Totally agree. 99% if not 100% of .XYZ names are of so called "Web3" startups

Actually not true. Check out the /live page on gen.xyz
 
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Actually not true. Check out the /live page on gen dot xyz
I am talking about W22 and S22 startups listed on Ycombinator.
 
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That's not always practical (or realistic) for a startup as they'd be waiting forever to get that exact match .com before launching a project.

It is very practical. You just get the name that is according to your budget and vision within both constraints.

Just because you want to name yourself Cool doesn't mean it is the only possible name for you and you have to start with coolintl-inc.com until you can afford cool.com because starting with that ugly domain or an inferior extension reduces your chances to ever make it to that bright day.

If you don't have budget then go creative and name yourself something like coolia, kuul etc and buy .com for 2k to 10k range or hand reg something like cooligo (just making up, maybe not available, but you can find something if you play around)
 
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