Dapulse is a startup that makes some pretty slick collaboration/communication tools for teams, they’ve raised over $34M and are trusted by companies like the Discovery Channel, Uber, and Adidas. But let’s pause for a second…what the heck does Dapulse mean?
If you’re scratching your head trying to piece together some logic behind the name, you’re not alone. Roy Mann the CEO of Dapulse shared how they picked the name with Business Insider:
“When we were first starting out, our priority was on building the best product we could, and less so on the name,” said Roy Mann, CEO and founder of the company. “Based off what we felt was the essence of our tool, a platform to help you keep your finger on the pulse of your team, we identified with the concept of a pulse. After searching for domain options, the only website available was dapulse!” (Source – Business Insider)
Well it turns out that the name was a bit of a problem since nobody could really understand what it meant and at one point a TV anchor actually started laughing at the name while interviewing a Dapulse employee on the air. That being said, obviously making their top priority building the best product they could definitely was the right move. Raising over $34M doesn’t really happen unless you have a kick-ass product.
That being said, it does show how a branding mistake you make early-on can become a bigger and bigger problem as you grow. Too many startups set their budgets at $10 for a domain which means they have to come up with something completely random. With even a small budget ($5k – $10k) there are some truly exceptional domains available.
Of course my guess is Monday.com sold for a lot more than $10k, given that one word .COMs like Freedom.com sold for $2M this year and even two-word .COMs like MyWorld.com hit the $1.2M mark. The question is, do strong brand names like these more than pay for themselves with the long-term benefits that they bring? I think so, but I also know many people who could care less and just want to build a great product.
Clearly, like Dapulse proved, you can build, fund, and scale the heck out of a great product on a mediocre name, but I wonder how much additional benefit they would have had along the way if they picked a stronger brand name out of the gate.
What do you think? Was this a branding blunder or does it not really matter since they still built a kick-ass product that people use, love, and recommend. I want to hear from you, comment and let your voice be heard!
