Launch First, Name Later

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I spent two days on a name and shipped zero code. Domain searches across a dozen tabs. Then I stopped, deployed on a subdomain and started shipping. The name came later.

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Dru Riley

Founder of Trends.vc

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One mental model each day in a few minutes. Habits, business, building products and thinking clearly. From Dru Riley, founder of Trends.vc.

I spent two days on a name and shipped zero code. Domain searches across a dozen tabs. No progress on the thing that mattered.

Then I stopped. Deployed on a subdomain. Started shipping.

The name will come. A product with users and revenue pulls the right name toward it.

Over 5 years ago I started publishing weekly reports on my personal site. Once readers kept coming back, I registered the trends.vc domain.

The naming decision feels productive. It feels like building. But you're naming a thing no one has used yet.

Now I deploy on a subdomain before I have a name. The decision is reversible. I can keep shipping. If users keep coming back, the naming decision gets easier. If they don't, I don't waste more time on it.

Naming is one version of the larger trap.

- You compare tech stacks for weeks before shipping
- You design a logo before the landing page exists
- You debate a podcast format for weeks before recording the first episode

Each is a delay disguised as preparation.

What reversible decision are you delaying?