Scouta’s Private Beta

Along with the migration to our new domain, and quietly announcing the name, we’ve reached a stage with development where we’re doing some testing with a small number of members. We’re also hoping that over the next month or two we’ll be able invite a few more people into a private beta, so today Graeme added a form to our front page to allow people to add their email address. So, if you’re interested in potentially being added to the private beta in the coming months, then drop by Scouta and add your email address. When we’re ready we’ll drop you a line.

Scouting Out Scouta

Graeme mentioned the other week that we’ve finally moved across to scouta.com, our actual product name. It’s exciting to finally make even the smallest things public.

A few days ago I read a blog post, at Download Squad, that provided tips for web start-ups. No meteoric tips, just normal common sense items.

However, the seventh tip focused on the name and web address of the service: “Don’t let your four-year-old name it.” Which couldn’t be truer, but not as simple as you might think to follow.

Flickr got away with ditching the vowel–you won’t. We were through with double-Os long before Squidoo, Calgoo, or Zooomr (triple-O!) came along, and the same goes for your EEs. Domain name scarcity is not an excuse for stupid product names any more than improved traction is a justification for clown shoes.

Just try and register a meaningful name. These days it’s close to impossible unless you have thousands of dollars to spend. Graeme and I registered close to half a dozen names, and bounced probably over a hundred around before we settled on Scouta. What was amazing was that scouta was completely unhindered; not one domain extension was taken when we had a look.

In some respects I’d have preferred a name that was plucked straight from a dictionary, but in many other ways making up a new one also has benefits. Google searches and trademarks will certainly benefit from a name that no one else has used. Of course there is always the fear that scouta means something in slang in some obscure company. The meaning of Microsoft’s Zune is already being scrutinized. We tried as hard as we could to check and make sure–good marketing practice–but it’s next to impossible to check every country/language.

So far the feedback has been great, and we’re pretty pleased with the name. It’s simple, short, and we hope easy to remember and communicate, “You know, Scouta, with an ‘A’.”