we buy domains before we write code. some people buy lottery tickets, we buy .coms
we buy domains before we write code.
most teams: idea, mockup, mvp, "wait, we should grab the domain."
us: idea, "is the .com free?", buy, maybe code in six months, maybe never.
it sounds reckless. it kinda is. but here is the thing: domains compound differently than products. a name you have owned for eighteen months has aged dns, has been crawled, has a tiny breadcrumb of trust. a name you registered yesterday is a stranger.
at Inithouse we treat domains as territory claims. some get picked up: Without Human sat as a parked .com for months before a single line of code shipped. Be Recommended waited longer. some never get built, that is fine. we would rather hold the option than chase it later when somebody else is squatting on the .com asking $4k.
three rules we follow: if the name fits the thesis, buy. don't deliberate for a week. renewals on a $12 .com are cheaper than rebrands. never try to buy back a domain you let lapse, you will pay tuition.
people buy lottery tickets. we buy .coms. fewer of them win. the ones that do don't expire.
