I launched this startup about 3 months ago under the name Domiy (original thread: http://bit.ly/O5PlKw). Since then I've been iterating on the idea, improving many aspects of the site. I've listened to a lot of your feedback and hopefully I've made things better. I actually used my own service to come up with the new name too.
I'd love to hear your thoughts on the overall concept. I think it's make or break time for this idea, either you guys like it and think it would be useful for your own startup ventures, or you don't and I pack it in.
I totally agree. I've named quite a few small projects over the last couple of years and every name I've been happy with has come to my in an "A-HA" moment. Everything just clicked about the name, and it was available.
Any time I've settled for a name that I didn't really like (usually out of lazyness), I end up feeling like something is missing from the project. A little bit of the love I had for it is lost.
That's why I'm building http://domiy.com , a tool which helps teams of people brainstorm name ideas. I believe that the best names arise when a number of people are trying to come up with a name over an extended period of time. You have to give the "A-HA" moments time to occur.
> Andrew: What about this, is it an advantage that you have over a newer entrepreneur or one that is not as well known is, that if you would have called me up at 1:00 AM, I would have taken your call. I would have woken up and made myself a cup of coffee so that I could be fully aware and give you ever ounce of attention that I could, because we’re friends, but also because you have a reputation in this space, and I know that at some point I’m going to want to work with you, and so the guy who has that has the advantage over the no-name entrepreneur who’s building his first company who then has to talk to 50 people and just getting 50 conversations would take forever because no one knows him and no one has any reason to be there for him.
All this could be shortened to:
> You have been a tech entrepreneur for quite a few years now and you have a massively successful blog which is read by thousands of people. How much of an advantage is the fact that you already have a reputation and a following? How would a newer entrepreneur go about finding 50 people to have these conversations with?
There are many similar examples throughout the transcript.
Ok thanks. This is good info regarding the size of the traffic to expect.
The reason I would like to get coverage from startup blogs is because my startup makes a tool for startup founders. I'm hoping that the people who read these blogs are my market demographic.
I think you need some more features, otherwise this is just a nicer looking shared google docs.
http://www.leandomainsearch.com has been adding some filters, but I would like to see the ability to permanently remove certain terms we would never use.
Hi, thanks for the suggestions regarding features.
I started working on the site only 4 weeks ago and I've had people using it for the past week (~200 sign ups). I'm adding features and improvements all the time.
The reason I'm asking my question about blogs now is not because I plan to try to show it to any bloggers right now. I'd just like to start building the relationships now so that I will have some sway when I'm ready to try and get coverage.
Hey, why don't you create an "AskHN review my startup" post? I'm sure there will be many people giving you valuable feedback and if your are lucky enough to cross the threshold you may end up on the home page.
Right now I'm looking to implement some of the improvements that have been suggested by the users I picked up in my initial Show HN post. I'll think about having another one after that to see what people think of the new features.
Hi, I don't think I would, it's nice to have the URL lookup, but a tab in chrome with whois opened up is free while using trello or a google doc. Plus the market segment that would find this tool useful is quite small of start-ups. However, I would argue this would be great tool worth paying for enterprise wise, ad/design agencies have a nightmare trying to find a URL for projects, or new rebranding projects.
You're right. I'm sorry about that. Before I posted this, I didn't think I would have any users!
I can start working on that right now actually. I'm using a third-party authentication library so really all I need to do is add the views to edit users etc.
Let me know if you have any questions or other suggestions.
david@namedar.com