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The One-Name Email, a Silicon Valley Status Symbol, Is Wreaking Havoc (wsj.com)
In Silicon Valley, first-name-only email addresses have long been the ultimate status symbol, indicating a techie was an early hire at a new company. Now that startups are growing, the one-namers are wreaking havoc -- and the competition to snag them is fierce. From a report on WSJ: When Peter Szabo heard he and his co-workers would receive new email addresses after his tech company was launched from an incubator, he ran to his boss and confirmed he would get the "Peter" first-name email address. After years of failing to arrive at companies early enough to bag the prized address, Mr. Szabo negotiated getting the single-name email at the earliest opportunity. "As companies get bigger, if you can be the original Peter, absolutely that's bragging rights," said Mr. Szabo, who is chief revenue officer of mobile-entertainment network startup Mammoth Media. "It's huge."
[...] Startups are growing faster than at any time since the dot-com boom thanks to a flood of venture capital. The system of using first names is leading to more email misfires at tech companies the more successful, and larger, they get. {...] Even techies are having a hard time figuring out how to disrupt the naming convention of corporate email. The growing pains usually set in when startups reach 25 to 50 employees, as names begin to overlap, according to Josh Walter, who has designed email services for companies for the past eight years. "That's when companies say, 'Oh no, what do we do now?'" Mr. Walter says. He is currently IT engineer at Second Measure, a Silicon Valley startup that analyzes consumer spending.
[...] Startups are growing faster than at any time since the dot-com boom thanks to a flood of venture capital. The system of using first names is leading to more email misfires at tech companies the more successful, and larger, they get. {...] Even techies are having a hard time figuring out how to disrupt the naming convention of corporate email. The growing pains usually set in when startups reach 25 to 50 employees, as names begin to overlap, according to Josh Walter, who has designed email services for companies for the past eight years. "That's when companies say, 'Oh no, what do we do now?'" Mr. Walter says. He is currently IT engineer at Second Measure, a Silicon Valley startup that analyzes consumer spending.
I had a "first name" email address with a common first name. I changed it pretty quickly as I got deluged with spam.
Probably better to sell shovels in a gold rush. Unless you're using the axes to murder miners and take their gold. But then you'll also need a shovel anyway...
I was in early enough to get "bill@company.com", but as the company grew I was constantly getting misdirected email meant for other Bills. So I added my last name. I had no idea that I was giving up a major status symbol and that women would no longer have sex with me. I just assumed that it was because of my receding hairline. Now I know.
First thing we've done after coming into a couple of startups was standardize the email addresses to stop this kind of thing. Everybody gets first.last name email (or something like that), no nicknames, no first names, no choice. Boring and formulaic, but efficient and eliminates confusion and status issues. The only exception is bofh@company.com, reserved for system ops.
"You break the build, you get the 'dumbass' email address for a week"
Please stand clear of the doors, por favor mantenganse alejado de las puertas
You can always request "dumbass" @yourstartup.com. While many may qualify, few will have the honesty to request it.
Reminds me of my Boss, a nice Chinese guy named Cho Sun. His email was Chosun@hissite.com
When we asked him why he chose that address, he replied "Many are called, but few are Cho Sun."
The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
Sincerely,
Zz!zyx Smith