Kevin Rose Startup Domain Name Has 4 Hyphens

n-o-r-t-h

TechCrunch and Re/code have covered the news of Kevin Rose’s startup branded “North” or “North Technologies.” Rose is a successful Internet entrepreneur who founded Digg, among other companies. According to the TechCrunch article, North “will be focused on building a series of mobile and social products.” Because of Rose’s track record, his startup is going to get a great deal of press and coverage.

If you were to visit North.com thinking you will be able to learn more about Rose’s venture, you will end up on the website of a brand advertising company from Portland, Oregon. If you were to visit NorthTechnologies.com, you will find a software development company. Neither of these companies appear to have a relationship with Rose’s new company.

Based on the

links found in the previously referenced articles, it appears  that Rose’s startup is using N-o-r-t-h.com for its website. Yes, that is a domain name with four hyphens. I don’t know if this is something temporary or if the company will be going to market like this because the website appears to only have one page right now.

N-o-r-t-h.com is a bit annoying to have to type, and I assume it might be difficult for people to share verbally. Say it out loud as if you were telling someone where to find the website  “N dash o dash r dash t dash h dot com.” The N-o-r-t-h.com domain name has a creation date of August 11, 2014.

I think this is an interesting domain name decision and it’s going to be interesting to follow.

Elliot Silver
Elliot Silver
About The Author: Elliot Silver is an Internet entrepreneur and publisher of DomainInvesting.com. Elliot is also the founder and President of Top Notch Domains, LLC, a company that has closed eight figures in deals. Please read the DomainInvesting.com Terms of Use page for additional information about the publisher, website comment policy, disclosures, and conflicts of interest. Reach out to Elliot: Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn

18 COMMENTS

  1. If you want someone to take your company seriously don’t brand on a %^%$#!domain. If you are a small company .Net is OK if .COM is way outside your budget. As well, a two-word or even three-word domain can still be brandable. Many startups are using .CO, .Me, .TV and .IO (though I don’t get .IO). IMO North Technologies will eventually change their mind and go with some other domain. What’s wrong with (if not already in use)…

    NorthTechnologies.com
    NorTech.com
    NorthTechnology.com

  2. Plenty of companies use symbols in their names and brands, most of which cannot be used as part of a domain name. Eventually, domains names will become irrelevant as carriers to a corporate destination, in a new, improved version of the Internet. Let’s discuss 20 years from now 😀

  3. Rose knows what he’s doing. The fact that you covered it and the fact that nobody will forget the domain is all positive. If it becomes successful he’ll upgrade. Until that point no sense in spending big money.

    • Why assume he knows what he is doing?

      Because he started digg?

      Besides if his intention was to get PR he could have done the same thing while assuring an upgrade path to the name he thinks he will end up at.

      So, for example, if you own “Shane.com” and you start of company and use “S-h-a-n-e.com” then you have somewhere to go.

      Of course I wouldn’t assume that he hasn’t already figured out that he can grab north.com (maybe he has optioned it) or even “northxyz.com” but seems like there are safer ways to get people talking about you.

  4. I think the real point here is that he would rather use a .com than anything else regardless of how it looks.
    .Com wins again

  5. If he used NorthTech.com, NorthTechnologies.com or NorthTechnology.com most would say, how come the founder of Digg can’t get a better much shorter domain. Most outside of this industry are looking at him now as a trendsetter not a cheapskate. How many one word domains with hyphens will be registered in the next month? Thousands! How many will drop in a year? Thousands! LOL

  6. Wait a minute…Digg failed big time right? Sometimes a person gets lucky with a good idea…does not make them smart a smart business person. Creative at the right time but not always smart. Not having an easy to remember domain is just plain dumb.

  7. Like this guy can’t afford good generic 1 word coms? Give me friggin break!

    Rose has been vocal that he has great disdain for “parkers” and those that work in the domain business. Yet… he buys quality domains from people ALL the time.

  8. An early (or another) sign that good .com’s are getting scarce, but people still want to use a .com despite it’s quality. I don’t think anyone would have advised a company to use this type of domain for their website. I agree if the business takes off they will upgrade to a better name. They will also get a lesson in how to make it hard for people to arrive at your website.

  9. I am not a big fan of any extension other than .com, but I think almost anything would be better than this domain. So, I would have to assume it is either just a demo domain until they officially launch, or a very stupid decision (in my opinion). It is not that there is no chance of it working out, but that would be a huge risk, and it seems silly to take a big risk like that right from the start, when there is no potential upside from it (other than free publicity about a stupid domain). And, there are also trademark risks from sites like north.com or even Kim and Kanye.

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