Launchaco – there’s a new startup in town helping other startups find the right domain name

by Morgan on December 7, 2016

Number one on Y Combinators incredibly popular Hacker News site is a new startup called Launchaco that is focused on helping new startups do just what the name says, launch a company. They have a pretty slick website builder and a tool for helping startups find the best domain.

I found it super interesting to see the default TLDs that they choose to go with as it’s a clear window into the TLDs that are resonating well with startups right now:

Five TLDs show up in their Default TLD list, .COM, .CO, .IO, .NET, and .XYZ. If it were up to me I’d probably swap .NET with .ME as I think it’s a way more popular extension with startups than .NET is but otherwise it’s a pretty solid list. Also very interesting to see .XYZ on the list given how new it is, the rest of the TLDs up there have been around for a while.

It’s a cool idea and with the #1 spot on Hacker News it’s likely going to get a bunch of people using it to find a domain and quickly whip up a site. Feel free to check it out yourself at Launchaco.com.

{ 7 comments… add one }

Joseph Peterson December 7, 2016, 9:36 pm

Their TLD selection is utterly bizarre. And I don’t just mean the ad up top. They show around 50 different suffixes with neither rhyme nor reason.

Yes, they suggest these: .RIP, .ADULT, .PORN, .ENTERPRISES, .CAMERA, .PIZZA.

No, they don’t mention these: .PRO, .TECH, .LINK, .US.

Utter crap.

Reply
- Morgan December 11, 2016, 12:23 pm
  
  @Cate – agreed, it is a tough name to remember.
  
  @Joseph – yeah, I wonder how they came up with their list? Still gives some insight into which TLDs are resonating with folks outside of our industry though…
  
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Cate December 8, 2016, 10:03 am

What’s their name again?? – I’m going to say it – after I read/left this post Morgan I couldn’t remember their own name – good for them for making Hacker news – hopefully they’ll (what’s their name again?) be able to get some traction from the links or get a new Name 🙂

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LAVIEBIKA December 10, 2016, 9:49 am

WATH SEARCH ? , THIS GOOD , THIS GOOD .

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Joseph Peterson December 11, 2016, 6:26 pm

“Still gives some insight into which TLDs are resonating with folks outside of our industry though…”

@Morgan,

Of course, it’s true that some TLDs are better known; and the list of 5 featured domains at Launchaco includes some of the best known.

But it isn’t necessarily true that these 5 TLDs were chosen because they’re what entrepreneurs love. or because these are the 5 TLDs people outside the domain industry think about.

On the contrary, it’s more likely that Launchaco simply copied the layout of registrars WITHIN the domain industry. As evidence, look at Register.com. Compare Launchaco’s “Default TLDs”:

.COM .CO .IO .NET .XYZ

to the 8 TLDs listed underneath the search bar at Register.com:

.COM .CLUB .CO .NET .XYZ .NINJA .TV .IO

Virtually identical. Just substitute .IO for .CLUB in the #2 position, then truncate after #5.

I think Launchaco is taking its cues from registrar home pages – not actual entrepreneurs. And those registrars are very much INSIDE the domain industry. What is more, it’s the registries paying the registrars for top-shelf placement. So this isn’t organic at all. I talk to entrepreneurs every day about naming their projects, and they virtually never ask me about .XYZ (which I’m not a fan of) nor .NET (which I am a fan of).

These are simply the default, most advertised TLDs on registrars. Launchaco is a lazy copycat where these defaults are concerned. That’s my impression anyway.

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- Cate December 12, 2016, 10:00 am
  
  Agreed Joe!
  Morgan do you know who’s behind/founder of (what’s their Name again?)
  Joe, I’ve been following you for awhile now and what you to know I admire your research and communication skill set 🙂 I resonate with you that the true consumer/customer is still not being reached – one person/meetup at a time – we’re trying 🙂
  
  Reply
  - Joseph Peterson December 12, 2016, 4:38 pm
    
    Thanks, Cate.
    
    Reply