Its our.in | India's Pride
The honest answer is no.
The experienced answer is more nuanced.
After working with founders across multiple cycles of the internet economy from the early dot com era to SaaS to today’s AI wave one truth has stayed remarkably consistent.
Your domain choice quietly shapes how seriously the world takes you long before your product speaks for itself.
Why Dot Com Still Carries Weight Globally
(.com) Dot com is not dominant because it is fashionable.
It is dominant because it is familiar.
For investors partners enterprise buyers and global customers dot com requires no explanation. It does not signal geography or experimentation. It signals maturity intent and long term thinking.
When a startup uses a dot com domain it subconsciously answers three questions:
Is this company planning to exist long term
Is this brand built for scale beyond one country
Is the founder making deliberate infrastructure decisions
That frictionless trust is why dot com continues to be the default reference point globally even in 2026.
The Reality for Indian AI Founders
Indian AI startups operate under very different constraints than Silicon Valley narratives suggest.
Capital is limited
Speed matters more than polish
Validation often comes before perfection
Most meaningful dot com domains are already owned. Many are expensive. Some are simply unavailable.
For a founder in Bengaluru Hyderabad or Pune building an MVP with limited runway spending a five or six figure sum on a domain name at day zero can feel irresponsible.
That instinct is understandable.
The mistake is not choosing a non dot com domain.
The mistake is pretending the choice is neutral.
Why Dot In Often Works Early On
Many Indian startups succeed initially using (.IN) dot in domains. In fact for India first products dot in can be a powerful signal.
It communicates local relevance
It aligns with domestic customers
It feels authentic rather than imported
For AI startups serving Indian enterprises government use cases or regional language markets dot in (.IN) can be an advantage rather than a compromise.
The problems do not show up early.
They show up later.
Where Founders Get Caught Off Guard
The trouble begins when ambition expands.
Suddenly customers are global
Hiring is international
Investors are cross border
Brand perception matters more
At that point the domain becomes visible.
Founders then discover a painful truth. Upgrading a domain is far harder than choosing correctly once.
Traffic leaks
Email confusion increases
Brand recall fragments
Trust needs rebuilding
What looked like a small infrastructure shortcut becomes an expensive operational reset.
The Smart Strategy Is Staged Ownership
The founders who navigate this best do not rush or ignore the issue.
They plan.
They choose a credible working domain early.
They build traction and momentum.
They keep the upgrade path visible from day one.
They treat the premium dot com as future infrastructure, not an ego purchase.
This mindset mirrors how companies think about cloud migrations enterprise tooling or compliance readiness. Not urgent today but inevitable tomorrow if success arrives.
Why Experienced Founders Monitor Before They Buy
One pattern consistently shows up among thoughtful founders.
They quietly track availability pricing and ownership of their ideal domain long before they intend to purchase it.
They understand market dynamics.
They watch timing.
They avoid emotional buying.
This is why marketplaces like DaaZ are used not just for transactions but for decision intelligence. Visibility removes panic. Planning removes regret.
What Investors Actually Think
Investors rarely reject a startup because of a domain choice.
But they absolutely notice it.
A dot com signals long term thinking.
A workaround domain signals constraint.
A defensive explanation signals insecurity.
Silence is not approval.
Lack of feedback is not endorsement.
The absence of friction is often mistaken for acceptance.
Final Perspective from Experience
A dot com domain is not mandatory on day zero.
But ignoring it entirely is a bet against your own success.
Great founders do not overpay early.
They also do not paint themselves into a corner.
The smartest Indian AI startups build with momentum today and optionality tomorrow.
That balance is what experience teaches.
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Tip: Choose a name that remains strong long after AI becomes invisible.
