How much would you pay for someone to name your startup?
I see a good number of posts of typically deft hackers investing too many hours trying to find the perfect name for their start up.
If struggling, would you pay $99 for 3 options, each option comprising:
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A snappy name;
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A clever URL;
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A tight tagline; and
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1 - 2 sentence breakdown/justification of why each option is tasty?
I figure the average engineer makes $87K, that's 42 bucks an hour. If that same engineer spends more than 2.5 hours spinning their wheels on a name ... they'd come out ahead with my service.
Thoughts?
The reason I struggle with naming is because I'm a control freak who wants everything to be perfect. I don't care about the $99, but I wouldn't pay you because I wouldn't believe that you'd come up with something better than I'd come up with.
Unless you had a site (maybe of testimonials) where you listed all the names you came up with and I was in love with them. In that case, sure.
Edit: I'm actually on the opposite spectrum as @Simone on this. $99 makes me think you're not going to put much effort into it and I'm going to get something crappy as a result. This is one of those services that I'd probably be more likely to purchase if it was more expensive.
A persuasive pitch with evidence of name-whispering capabilities. And a higher price tag. What dollar amount do you think signals qualitative?
And side note: On the same page re control-freak. I've asked myself what would it take to persuade me to name my start-up! That's not easily answered!
Something expensive enough that a) it signal quality and b) I'd be highly encouraged to not second guess the name you chose because I invested so much in it that sunk cost bias - even if I didn't like the name - would win. This would be important for me, cuz I know if I paid you one hour's worth of work then I'd definitely still spend several hours myself on it.
But also c) still cheap enough that I could afford it.
So maybe like $399?
Whoa. $399? Don't get me wrong ... (smiling) I like the price tag. But just wonder if most of the target market, indie hackers, would foot that bill.
At any rate (so to speak), you've given me something to chew on. These are great insights!
I’m not really sure whether Indie Hackers are the perfect target market for this
Coming up with a name is the easy part. The problem is domains for the names that I come with are always taken.
Corresponding domain names would be part of the service. Would that make this service more interesting to you?
Honestly, I wouldn't. But I am cheap AF. There are already so many services that help you choose a name and I believe that it should be something that should resonate with the customers. Someone that has no connection to the product might not make the same good choice.
That said, I could see it if there was a bit more research put into it. If instead of just one name it would be a good amount of(say, 10) options to choose from with a breakdown of why would something something work. I do understand and agree that a name is important just as much as a design piece. But $99 seems a bit steep.
Can you please name thous services to come up with a name? I recently (literally last 4 days) was struggling with naming my next project. I was desperately looking for any service that could help but didn't find anything worth mentioning...
Absolutely!
For my last project I used https://namelix.com and this is now my go to, I love everything about it.
http://www.nameideasgenerator.com/ is another great one that checks domains for you fast.
Then there's https://www.nameql.com but it's a bit more simple.
Thanks!
Curious how these generators worked for you ...
Namelix means well, but none of the suggestions resonate with me. Also, the extra layer of logos and icons are distracting. If they could concentrate on doing ONE thing and do it right, it'd be a more useful tool.
Same. Same. And on all fronts. Excepting one. I'm not yet persuaded that AI/ML is up to the creative task of selecting a company name.
Not even close. Namelix probably worth looking though, but I personally didn't like a single name it generated.
At what price tag would you find the offer compelling?
Maybe $10
Noted!
I would definitely pay $100 for a service that can help to come up with a name. Last 4 days I was struggling with the name for my new project, it was so terrible that I couldn't do anything else. In fact I did look for some such a service but didn't succeed. I'm not sure that what you suggest (3 variants out of blue) will work for me however. As others mentioned good name requires a lot of work. But if there is a tool that can make this work easier it would be great.
Here is the process I was doing until I finally find the name:
Write down all possible words that a name can consist of
Write down all associations that I want my project name to recall
Try different combinations of the words
Try constructing new works by modifying letters to similarly sounding but different
Use a list of English prefixes and suffixes to construct a new words
Use https://www.onelook.com/thesaurus/?s=clever thesaurus to come up with more associations to my target words
Check popularity of words using Google Trends and Google Ngram search https://books.google.com/ngrams/
For each candidate name do WHOIS lookup for my preferred domain zones to see if a domain name available
If domain is available do Google search for the name to see is there any project already using such a name or is there a company registered in any country with the same name (discard in case of popular name/existing company)
Finally check US trademark database for the name: https://www.uspto.gov/trademark - avoid using names similar to existing trademarks
Discuss names with friends ;)
If there is a service that can automate the above process and produce me a list of candidate names I would definitely pay for it.
If the recommended name generators don't work out for you ... https://www.indiehackers.com/forum/name-my-startup-any-beta-testers-a8f7b88f5a
(And thanks for the insight re your workflow! Great to know the processes of other Indie Hackers when performing their naming ceremony!)
Thanks for the invite but this time I solved my issue already :) But If you end up with a working service will definitely try next time.
Lovely! May I ask where you landed?
It would probably depend on how good of a name I could come up myself. If I spend an hour and only come up with something like findbetterquestions.com, I might consider such a service next time
Agreed. I think that would be key in my marketing message. If you come up with something "good enough" in two hours, make it hot. But if you're struggling for more than two hours, you're not making the best use of time and perhaps it's better to outsource ...
How did you feel about the price point?
Thanks for the feedback!
I guess I wouldn’t spend more than 20 bucks, but I also feel like 20 bucks are too little for such an important thing
The name is even more critical than the logo, so maybe you could pick up pricing strategies from that space
Fair enough! Thanks for the input!
The reason i can't find perfect name for my projects,because when perfect name pop in my head,then domain for that name was taken and parked to sell for high amount money.
Fair enough. Thanks for the feedback!
Names are utterly irrelevant at the early stages of a new business and arguably during later stages as well. So I'd be unlikely to spend any money on this.
Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts!
I don’t think I would pay just for the fact that with a high price tag and I end up not liking it I’d get pretty salty but with a low price tag I would still end up doing a lot of work too tell the service what I’m looking for so might as well just do it myself but that’s just me
Might be just you. (Likely not.) But valid all the same. Thanks for sharing your opinion!
I've always found the naming part to be the most fun. I'll generally start with something very dry that explains the product then I'll start looking for synonyms and rhyming words. I'll interate through that a few times and end up with a fun name that I like. I don't think I would pay for the service and I'm not sure I know many people that would.
A target market might be larger enterprise that want to create internal or external tools and need to have snappy names. This might be taken up by marketing/creative/design though.
Great alternative application! Thanks for the insight!
This is an interesting problem space and something every indiehacker/business has to go through. Here's my thoughts:
"I figure the average engineer makes $87K, that's 42 bucks an hour. If that same engineer spends more than 2.5 hours spinning their wheels on a name ... they'd come out ahead with my service."
This makes literal sense, but I feel like we humans rarely do things that make sense, and we undervalue our time. I've just spent 10 minutes writing this response so by those calculations that's $7, wow I should go buy some tacos instead.
Anyway, here's a service that I would probably* use right now:
I Input keywords or answer some questions about what my app does.
Service does a free scan (could just be you in the background to start)
Service sends email or returns results in page (name/domain), and cheapest domain registrar -> Usually porkbun, but google domains works out cheaper if you want a custom email as well.
Service will show 5-10 names and/or taglines for free, to do any more in the future (or more than X per month) I have to pay $x.
The great thing about this for me as a customer is it's free and there's no risk for me to try it out.
The good part for you is:
If the results are considerably better than the alternatives (https://batname.com, https://iwantmyname.com, https://www.namemesh.com, https://www.launchaco.com/name), and I actually use one of your names/taglines, then I would probably want to use it again in the future.
I feel like it could be automated in the future
But I also could be completely wrong and a higher price point with good testimonials/one-on-one personal service would work just as well. This is just an alternative approach for you to think about.
*I say probably because I am really just guessing what I want. What I think I want and what I actually want don't always match up. It's hard to know until I'm actually using it.
imho this 👆 makes total sense,
and would suggest pathway towards monetisation => earn it off affiliate links by for instance designing startup packages domain+webhosting.
Namemesh.com has 500k+ visitors per month with very low bounce rate. at 1% conversion rate, that's 5,000 users times affiliate ref of $10 (i believe was in dropocean case) that's $50,000 pmth.
Vs 500 users per month at $100 dollars (comparing same run rate), which would need to be manually pitched and closed. .. out of a pool of how many leads? and how cost effective can you be to source them ?
So underlying question imho is not the price range per se (moving 100% up or down the $99 range), but could you profitably service your customers at all (given that you need to spend on ads, onboarding, revisions follow up) given non automated // agency business model?
Or 99Design style suggested by @DavePoly
PS:
"...This makes literal sense, but I feel like we humans rarely do things that make sense, and we undervalue our time. I've just spent 10 minutes writing this response so by those calculations that's $7, wow I should go buy some tacos instead." may I add that all indie/ startupy is first and foremost an emotional endeavour, but for VC level startup they would opt in for some high profile agencies to juice up their launch => perhaps it could be another avenue for you to explore
You raise excellent concerns about finding customers. If it ain't low hanging fruit, the "do-things-that-don't-scale" approach to finding a viable side gig will be tough to maintain!
Thanks for taking the time to respond!
(Laughing!) So true for so many, including myself, but so few are willing to admit such!
I do feel as though there are plenty in the space that offer name mash-ups for free, but the value is quantity over quality. And I rarely see anything tasty and brand-worthy as a result of those automated efforts. Plus, I'm trying the "do things that don't scale" approach, before thinking about scaling.
However, I do like the idea of partnering with some entity to offer the cheap domain registration and bundling such in a package! That's a great idea!
Is there any scenario under which you'd value a curated, qualitative list?
I think it would need to be more of a 99Designs style where $99 opens up a contest for dozens or 100+ name options. Three options doesn't sound like enough choice.
What would be sufficient choice, assuming all were qualitative choices?
I would pay £20 for3 to 5 good name options + Domain name. All in one click
Am I reading this correctly that you'd prefer automated mash ups, rather than a person crafting something on your behalf? Have you had good experiences with these type of name generators?
(Thanks for taking the time to respond!)
Automated mashups, if they were really good, but often not.
I would pay $20 for 5 good names on a bounty model... But if you were going to do this, it going to be really hard.
People will want to know the names before they pay...
So you might end up having to go down the agency route and charge more for a tailored service with a good track record.
Thanks for coming back to chime in! We'll see what I can make happen!
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