Story is typical of startups and explains the benefits of using a great domain name.
Startups go through the name game all the time. Picking a name and acquiring the matching domain name is often no easy feat.
But rarely is the story chronicled so well as this post on Priceonomics.com about Experiment.com.
The story does a great job of outlining what I think is a typical adventure for startups:
1. Pick a bad name because it’s available for registration (or cheap).
2. Realize the bad name is holding you back.
3. Go out and buy a better domain.
In this case the company had a lot of trouble with Microryza because it got most of its traffic from word-of-mouth. It brainstormed for a while and came back with some alternative domains.
Then it hired a domain broker who tried to help them buy cofactor.com. They couldn’t agree on a price. Next, they went after Ryza.com and bought it for $7,500.
Still, they felt like they were settling. So they reached out to the owner of Experiment.com. Rather than acting like they were broke college kids, they told the domain owner exactly why they wanted the domain name.
As it turns out, their mission was appealing to the domain owner and he agreed to negotiate. They ended up buying the great domain for only $54,000.
I really appreciate these closing lines about the benefits of a good domain name:
Scientists emailed them to congratulate them on the rebrand and confess that they felt better about the company with the easier to pronounce name. The founders discovered that journalists appear to take them more seriously as well.
This is a story worth bookmarking. I’m going to share it with people who come to me frustrated about finding the right domain name. I’ll also send it to people who want to buy my domain names but don’t think they should have to pay much for them.
(Hat tip: Jorge)
Acro says
There are two schools of thought here. Build a great brand from the ground up, or buy the generic that best matches your focus.
Microryza literally means “microscopic root” in Greek, apparently an attempt by the founders to reference a seed or the creation of something that grows. When they bought Ryza.com they had a great opportunity to utilize a short, sassy name but apparently they grew impatient and eventually got some extra seed money to spend.
While experiment.com is a great name – and for that price, no less – it’s far too generic to identify the function they are seeking; from a branding standpoint, it’s going to be hard to rank “experiment” as high as “microryza” and the brand will always retain the same vague element.
Elliot Silver says
$54,000 was an excellent price for a domain name like Experiment.com, and if you send this article to a prospect for an expensive domain name, this article might make them think your domain name is far overpriced.
Andrew Allemann says
Good point. Send it to someone you’re trying to get to pay $10k, not $100k.
Domenclature.com says
What a narrative! The domain owner is the protagonist here. WTG! Very uplifting…
Christian Nally says
Thanks. I’m super happy with what they’re doing and actively supporting their efforts.
Transparency says
Maybe they are planning to file a trademark application for “experiment”, so that they will receive privative rights on all experiment.whatever….tsshhhh
Like made the tricky company that was able to prevent the registration of a generic domain like photo.technology using the DPML. I would be curios to know what is the trademark that prevent you to register photo.technology. May be the following filed less than 2 months ago by l’Oreal?!?…
PHOTO-BLUR TECHNOLOGY
Application number 012464103
Application language fr
Application date 2013-12-24
Second language en
Application reference OAP311106-124375/EM
Trade mark office OHIM – OHIM
I WANT to see all the generic names on which someone is trying to put his hands forever!
Ms Domainer says
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Wow! I checked the whois, and, yes, photo.technology is blocked.
Ridiculous! This is totally a generic term.
Why didn’t the numpty just register the names?
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fizz says
Microryza is woefully hard to recall and spell, and ryza.com is marginally easier…but was it rysa, riza, risa, riser etc?
Experiment.com is a fantastic domain for their crowd-funding scientific research website.
As has been highlighted, this para says it all:
>>According to the founders, the response so far to the new name has been fantastic. They have no buyer’s remorse. Scientists emailed them to congratulate them on the rebrand and confess that they felt better about the company with the easier to pronounce name. The founders discovered that journalists appear to take them more seriously as well.<<