✅ POLL: Do you buy the domain first or build the product first?
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Let’s settle this once and for all.
Do you spend 3 hours trying to find a clever .com before writing a single line of code? Or do you ship the MVP and slap on whatever domain wasn’t taken at the time?
Cast your vote and tell us why.
Bonus points if you’ve ever changed your product idea because the domain wasn’t available.
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Build first, domain after validation — but there's a nuance.
For Hello Aria, we built the MVP under a placeholder domain to avoid getting attached to a name before we knew what the product actually was. The name changed 3 times during early development. If we'd bought the "perfect" domain upfront, we'd have anchored to an identity too early.
The real cost of buying a domain first isn't the $15 — it's the psychological lock-in. You start making decisions to fit the name instead of the other way around.
That said: if you have a clear brand vision from day 1 AND you've validated the concept even loosely, grab the domain. Good .io and .com names disappear fast.
My rule: validate the problem first, then buy the domain the day you start building in earnest.