I believe a good domain name, and thus company name, is absolutely critical for a software/web-based business. The challenge, naturally, is that it is difficult and/or expensive to find a good name that isn’t already taken. Here are some rules I try to follow:
- 10 characters or less
- Must be a .com and not a secondary extension
- Should be phonetically spelled and easily spoken in English
- Always purchased and not rented/leased from someone else
- Ideally relevant to the business, but this is more optional
To meet these requirements I’ve generally found it takes a budget of $500 – $1,000 and the buying of an existing domain on Sedo.com. It is still worth trying a site like BustAName.com to find an unregistered domain, but I haven’t had luck going that route in several years.
What else? What other attributes do you look for in a good domain name?
David Cummings on Startups 
I also search for a prospective domain name on Google prior to purchasing it. The goal is to gauge the level of competition for that particular keyword. It’s best to pursue domains with limited competition on your brand term. I agree with your recommendations to find something short and easy to spell.
Thanks Benjamin. That’s a great point about Googling the name first as part of the decision making criteria.