Founders waste weeks on names. Names do not make startups. Execution does. Your name only has to clear one bar: you do not cringe saying it out loud.
Pick something simple that hints at what you do or how you make people feel. Skip numbers, hyphens, and made-up words that need spelling out every time. Set a 30-minute timer and start.
Open Instant Domain Search and type ideas as they come. Do not overthink it. Aim for a shortlist of five working names, then narrow to one.
Once you have a candidate, run it through Namechk. Social handles matter more than an exact-match .com. If Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn are free, you are in good shape. If your top pick is taken, add a short prefix like get, hello, try, or use. That is a one-second decision, not a one-week debate.
Buy the cheapest domain you can find. A .co, .io, or .app is fine. Cap your spend at $20. Park it on Carrd or your registrar's default page. You can wire it up properly later.
Three quick filters before you commit:
Bad: Synergyflo Quantum Labs Inc — corporate, vague, hard to spell.
Good: Mailbrew, Gumroad, Tally — short, sayable, hint at the thing.
Bad: Drop_pin-2 — punctuation and numbers kill recall.
Good: Droppin — same idea, no friction.
Bad: A name only you understand from a private joke.
Good: A name a stranger can repeat after hearing it once.
If a friend hears the name on a phone call and types the right URL on the first try, ship it.
- Spending days brainstorming the "perfect" name. Your first decent option is fine.
- Paying $500 for an exact-match .com when a
.co works today.
- Naming around a feature you might cut next month.
- Holding out for a name you can never afford.
Open a 30-minute timer. List five candidates. Run them through Instant Domain Search and Namechk. Buy a domain under $20 and claim the handles.
A working name with the domain bought and the matching handles claimed on at least three platforms. You can rebrand later — most famous startups did.
Founders waste weeks on names. Names do not make startups. Execution does. Your name only has to clear one bar: you do not cringe saying it out loud.
Pick something simple that hints at what you do or how you make people feel. Skip numbers, hyphens, and made-up words that need spelling out every time. Set a 30-minute timer and start.
Open Instant Domain Search and type ideas as they come. Do not overthink it. Aim for a shortlist of five working names, then narrow to one.
Once you have a candidate, run it through Namechk. Social handles matter more than an exact-match .com. If Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn are free, you are in good shape. If your top pick is taken, add a short prefix like get, hello, try, or use. That is a one-second decision, not a one-week debate.
Buy the cheapest domain you can find. A .co, .io, or .app is fine. Cap your spend at $20. Park it on Carrd or your registrar's default page. You can wire it up properly later.
Three quick filters before you commit:
Bad: Synergyflo Quantum Labs Inc — corporate, vague, hard to spell.
Good: Mailbrew, Gumroad, Tally — short, sayable, hint at the thing.
Bad: Drop_pin-2 — punctuation and numbers kill recall.
Good: Droppin — same idea, no friction.
Bad: A name only you understand from a private joke.
Good: A name a stranger can repeat after hearing it once.
If a friend hears the name on a phone call and types the right URL on the first try, ship it.
- Spending days brainstorming the "perfect" name. Your first decent option is fine.
- Paying $500 for an exact-match .com when a
.co works today.
- Naming around a feature you might cut next month.
- Holding out for a name you can never afford.
Open a 30-minute timer. List five candidates. Run them through Instant Domain Search and Namechk. Buy a domain under $20 and claim the handles.
A working name with the domain bought and the matching handles claimed on at least three platforms. You can rebrand later — most famous startups did.