HN Explorer

Ask HN: Thoughts on startup name - Dashboardly.com

6 points by guynamedloren ↗ HN
Like it? Hate it? Does it look weird? Does it sound awkward when spoken? Easily misspelled? I'd like to hear what you think.

I've already gone through 3 solid names over the past few months and I'm sick of my URLs getting bought up because I'm too slow to jump on them. This has potential and it was available, so I just bought it. May not end up being the home of my startup, but maybe it will.

I'd prefer to stay away from the generic "ly" discussion because there have already been many HN topics on that. Just wondering what you think of "dashboardly".

15 comments

[ 2.5 ms ] story [ 38.7 ms ] thread
dotBen
Seems awkward, especially given that this is not dashboard.ly (yes, I agree let's move on from my .ly domain saga)

I'd love to know more about your project though. I started working on a dashboard concept that took Panic's Dasboard type interface and let you plug in loads of accounts into it to get a nice dashboard.

Problem was that the total addressable size of the market didn't seem very big and thus not something that could be venture backed or expected to turn much of a profit.

Would love to compare notes.

guynamedloren
I'm not familiar with the Panic's Dashboard interface, but it sounds interesting.

My idea is painfully simple. A cross-platform dashboard (mobile, web, desktop), where you can store thoughts, ideas, and a little bit more. I don't want to go into too much detail as I prefer to keep things on lock-down before launch. I know, I know - every entrepreneur thinks everybody wants to steal his idea, and I try to tell myself otherwise, but better safe than sorry I guess.

dotBen
Totally different angle to mine, sounds interesting though.

Good luck

bdr
Clunky but serviceable.
trouble
It seems visually awkward to me, but I don't know whether that's a good thing or not. My eye tends to skip over things like 'dashboardly', on the assumption that oddly spelled things are 'gimmicks'.

A suggestion - dashboardish.com is available [1]. While it's still not a 'real' word, it seems to roll off the tongue more fluidly than dashboardly.com.

[1] http://www.godaddy.com/domains/searchresults2.aspx?ci=16811

rhizome
I'd like it better without the 'l'.
bloggergirl
Hmm. It's hard to respond to this without getting into the "ly" issue. I guess what rubs me the wrong way about Dashboardly is that it feels like it will be dated quickly... just like anything with the prefix "my" (MySpace) or "i" (every software company has an 'iKnow' tool, I'm positive).

At the risk of dating yourself, I'd hesitate to use it.

But, that aside, it's cute and memorable. And the part before the "ly" is very obvious/clear, which is the best you can hope for in a URL.

Hmm, the more I think about it, the more it grows on me. Go for it! :)

mitrick2
Too many syllables in my opinion, which will be particularly frustrating for you down the road after saying and typing the name a few thousand times :)
guynamedloren
I initially thought that too, but dropped that thought very quickly after some deeper thinking. If three syllables is too many, than the only options are one and two syllable names. One syllable is damn near impossible to achieve, leaving two syllable names as my only option. Sure, plenty of the big guys have two syllable names (yahoo, Google, Facebook, twitter) but these are difficult to find/register, and there are just as many websites and growing startups with three syllable names (posterous, delicious, amazon, etc).

So I'm sure I'd be okay with a three syllable name, but I think I can gather the creativity to come up with a two syllable name.

Edit: on second thought (or third?) I'm sure I can muster up even more creativity for a one syllable name. Looking at others helps.

arn
don't like it. .ly is understandable when it's part of the domain, but as a .com, I don't like it at all.
guynamedloren
bit.ly = bitly.com, ad.ly = adly.com, del.icio.us = delicious.com
arn
Yeah, but they were all branded around the .ly/.us, not the .com. I was assuming he was going with just the .com. But looks like the .ly is available, so if he's serious, he should get it before someone else does.
user24
So I take it you have the product all wrapped up and have the marketing all done too?

If not, why are you wasting your time worrying about the domain name?

If you bought vulsdkjn.com, I bet you could still build a web app on it.

guynamedloren
I already registered a temporary domain name (not posted here) with a web app running on a heroku server. The purpose of this url is for testing and my own personal use - yes, I have been using the app for 2 weeks missing many critical features and I still love it. And I do not view this as "wasting time" as the time I spend thinking about domain/startup names does not take away from coding time. I think about these things during fluid dynamics class and right before I fall asleep at night, thanks.