I bought domain for $20k, vibe or waste?
Papermark started as a side project, an open-source alternative to DocSend. It turned out that we hit a nerve.
Companies were sick and tired of outdated interfaces, slow websites, and overpriced fees for sharing documents.
An early M&A customer told me "this market is ripe for an 'open source' disruption". So, we are doing it.
But we first started with the simpliest and cheapest io domain and migrated only now to papermark.com
When to invest into domain?
As a bootstrapped company we did not plan to invest in domain at all.
And only after a bit more than a year when MRR crossed 25k. So that this investment can be covered in one month.
Though we would never spend $20k on domain on day 0.|
And would not recommend to anyone.
Why to invest into domain?
Credibility and trust I think one of the main reasons.
In particular for our field for customers it makes difference.
Domain is just another investment in our brand, which we don't know gonna be hit or miss. As we were doing good on our current domain so far. But we got more confident we want to grow Papermark brand further.
Now our main focus is on how the traffic transition will happen.
Next stop, disrupting the data room mafia!
Happy to hear if you invested in domain and if it paid off.
Spending $20K on a domain is a bold move, but your timing makes sense—once MRR can cover it in a month, it's a calculated investment rather than a risky expense. Credibility and trust do matter, especially for enterprise customers.
plus have you noticed any early signals on how the domain change is impacting conversions or customer perception?
I feel like these questions are hard to quantify, but I agree with the rationale.
I suppose the counter argument would be, what % of people really care and how does that + the domain change improve conversion rates?
Then again, I suppose even if 1%, over 3-5 years would be significant if you're already 25k MRR?
Talked myself into it...
Yes exactly. It also very hard to track, people will say they dont care, but maybe at some point it creates this micro -frication in purchase.
In particular for bigger customers. So just working on removing friction.
I think it's a good idea (although, I have never been in the position of $25k MRR). I have a dream domain for what I'm currently building that costs $40k but I'm not even going to touch that until my revenue is able to pay for it. I'm settling for a mildly similar domain name that is about $10 which seems reasonable for me. There is another domain that is like $0.1 lol so might even consider that
You will get there! The same mindset, when your business will grow to the 40k I think it is worth to consider, as you could cover the costs in one month. But before that does not worth to think.
yes we got one for $10 first good choice. At the beginning really does not matter
Hey Marc, I think it was a good move especially if you have continued success. An individual(s) hardly ever look back at a domain purchase and says to themselves, we overpaid if the business prospers.
Also, your initial domain was (PaperMark.io) good due to the widespread acceptance and positive credibility that has been attributed to the .io extension. However, I do get why you made the move to the .com, especially if a lot of your customer/client base are from more traditional industries like finance and healthcare.
I currently work for a health insurance company and some with in the industry don't understand alternative extensions and would probably opt to not use the service just due to the fact that they are not familiar. That said, there are also some that don't even pay attention or put much thought into the domain name of another company whose services they are going to use.
Smart timing on the domain upgrade. Branding and trust matter, especially in your space. Have you noticed any impact on customer perception or SEO since the switch?
I suppose the counter argument would be, what % of people really care and how does that + the domain change improve conversion rates?
yep
🤯