[discover]

6. Pick a better brand name. Sorry but GRINN.IT is a VERY bad name. Why? Because you have to spell it out for them every time. Just like pownce.

Hey, what's your new site?

grin it, check it out.

Grabs smartphone, types in grinit.com, nope nothing, grin.it, nope nothing. done.

Keep and understand the distinction between a bad PRODUCT and piss poor marketing.

[grantismo]

In today's domain ecosystem, you're not going to easily find a name which is easy to spell, pronounce, remember AND is free (or affordable) to acquire as a domain name. The vast majority of non-technical users are just going to google for your company, so your example seems a little contrived.

The first part of the conversation would go more like this:

Hey, what's your new site?

grinnit with two n's. So grinn dot it.

However, there is definitely a problem when a search for "grin it" on google doesn't find your site. Moreover when a search for "grin it photos" or "grinit photos" is also unsuccessful. That's definitely a problem. If the spelling of your website isn't immediately obvious (a la reddit), you just need to ensure that users can still find your site.

I don't think it's a horrible name. Seeing it in print makes it instantly memorable which is always helpful, they just needed some additional work on seo for the typos of their name. Calling it "piss poor marketing" is disingenuous and unnecessarily inflammatory.

[Hisoka]

I think you're wrong. Yes, a lot of very good domains are taken, but you can spend as little as $200 in Flippa.com to get a decent one that people can at least remember.

[grantismo]

I think ease of spelling was the problem I was getting at, not memorability, but after visiting Flippa, I can see your point.

[kmccarth]

really dude? After reading that earnest post, your only issue was with the URL? What a trivial matter

[discover]

If you think your brand is a trivial matter, then I'm sorry to hear that.

Look, Being an entrepreneur is not about lining up your ducks 100%, but it is about getting each element of your project as close to "pretty damn good" as possible. Don't let something as important as brand slip to the side guys. It IS important.

[rcolinkennedy]

You're totally right.

We were going to call it http://trololololololololololo.com/ but that was already taken.

Wish you were there when we were working on the backup name, sounds like you would have been very helpful

[OoTheNigerian]

Your attitude stinks!

Is this how you take feedback? Someone has taken time out to give you a sensible feedback and you call him/her a troll?

Maybe it sounded a bit harsh, but c'mmon.

It says a lot about you Mr Kennedy.

[rcolinkennedy]

You are correct and I reacted too defensively. Yes, marketing is absolutely critical, and perhaps there are better domain names that could have been chosen.

HOWEVER, name / domain was not at all the root cause of what we decided was ultimately the reason to stop pursuing this endeavor.

[yid]

True, but you've just demonstrated that marketing / PR isn't your forte, and you come across a little brash in an Internet forum filled with entrepreneurs and VCs.

[MicahWedemeyer]

I disagree. These kinds of posts take a lot of courage to write, and then people jump in with all kinds of "well, you should have done ..." bullshit advice. People here on HN need to learn (and respect) when someone is asking for feedback vs when they're telling a story.

[v1sion]

this person just closed his/her business and trying to help others. Then the commenter calls them "piss poor" - that's not "sensible." Perhaps there is a more mature way to respond, but that's still not cool. I feel for these guys. Call it a tie.

[rockets]

Actually, that was hilarious. Well played.

[revorad]

Grinnit = grin+innit, innit?

[rcolinkennedy]

Not sure I understand your equation, but I think you're right. It's a happy photo if you GRIN IN IT. The goal was to have a name that's easy to say, short, and bring a smile (Grin). We actually had a list of 50+ names which we brought down to four contenders and checked in every language using Google Translate; we those put out to a survey. 58% of respondents preferred Grinnit.

[revorad]

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=innit