Re:Ask HN: Review my startup, BeautyBloc.com
by IdeaGarage on Monday February 14, 2011 @12:13AM
(#2215385)
That makes a lot of sense - thanks so much for your thoughtful feedback!
I certainly didn't think of the negative Cold War implications, since I am originally from Ukraine and the Soviet Bloc was not perceived as a negative thing on our side of the world.
I will do some more research with others to see if this is enough of a deal-breaker to require a name change.
Thanks again!
I have been thinking that something like "beauty buying bloc" would probably be fine. It would clarify things enormously (ie not imply "this is a means to block out beauty"). And it's possible that changing the name like that wouldn't really require changing the domain name.
Also, women who are younger than me wouldn't be likely to have Cold War associations. So I think the demographic of your target market may impact this.
Good luck with this.
Re:Ask HN: Review my startup, BeautyBloc.com
by IdeaGarage on Monday February 14, 2011 @02:19PM
(#2218153)
That is a really good suggestion - we'll see how we can incorporate it! Thanks again for your feedback!
I also associate the term "bloc" with "Soviet bloc countries", which is a real negative thing historically in the US. So I wouldn't be very comfortable with joining a "bloc", even without subliminally wondering if joining this "bloc" would ensure I became uglier. (Edit: I will add that in that context, the idea of a "beauty bloc" brings to mind very unflattering cold war images of Soviet Bloc women. Not anything I would aspire to look like.)
However, my mind isn't normal. So take that opinion as a sampling of one, and no reason to think it is representative of your target market (since I don't wear any make-up ever as I am allergic to everything).
Good luck with this.