Are domain names still undervalued or just misunderstood?
The internet’s real estate is strange. Some of the most powerful names are parked, unused, and often dismissed as "just a domain." But if naming matters in startups (and it does), why do most people still treat domains as an afterthought? One name, strategically placed, can signal funding, clarity, and momentum — before a single line of code is written. Curious where others stand. Are we underestimating the role of names in product-market fit?
There was a time when it was all about .com and there was no omnibar. Now there are almost 1600 tlds! Even though a 1 word domain may be hard to find, if you are creative you can always find something.
A special domain is a nice to have, not a “have to have” for marketing. Usually people who hold domains want 10x or more than most web developers (think real estate developer not software developer) want to pay.
Fair take, but I’d argue the oppositein an ocean of noise, a sharp name isn't “nice to have,” it’s leverage. Sure, you can always find a domain. But the ones people remember, trust, and type without thinking? Those aren’t placeholders. They’re assets.
Isn’t what you call a "sharp name" just a brand-able name? These kind of domain names aren’t parked that often as they are typically some kind of fantasy names or combinations of two or even more words. So no, I don’t think they’re undervalued.
That’s exactly why they are undervalued. Most aren’t parked they’re just buried in bad branding or lazy usage. A sharp name with clear vision still beats SEO stuffing and generic combos any day:)
If I had to choose either a premium domain name or the full court press of SEO and SMO I'd pick the later. Consider the case of steam.com
https://www.reddit.com/r/Steam/comments/73fshf/could_valve_b...
Steam has been at "steampowered.com" which is a 2nd rate domain name in comparison since the beginning. I'm sure they'd like to have steam.com but they've connected well with customers and game publishers without it -- they've done all the other work it takes to make their service a household name.
Although new gTLDs can be used for catchy names, the world is mostly still used to finding the most successful companies on a .com domain. It's easier to jump into a moving stream than it is to fight it.