I spent the first 8 years of my career in enterprise software, mainly in finance and payroll systems. The extensive travel was adventurous, but it was also highly stressful. Being accountable for every penny that goes from the system to pay checks, banks and irs, it’s definitely THE way to die young of a heart attack. 3 years ago, I said goodbye to the enterprise world and ventured into consumer web which offers more room for creativity. Both worlds are in technology but the lifestyle and experience are so different!

Diet
Enterprise: Fine dining experience
Web: Pizza and beer (pizza hut is considered gourmet)

Attire
Enterprise: Suits or business casual
Web: Mostly in PJs or T-shirt & jeans

Learn
Enterprise: Get a big company to pay you to learn and get certified!
Web: Buy a book, watch a screen cast! Search engine is your best friend!

Data Integrity
Enterprise: You screw up, you’re fired!
Web: Oppss…we messed up, that’s why we are in beta!

Testing
Enterprise: Development -> Unit test -> User Acceptance Test -> Test Environment  -> Live
Web: Development -> Live (let the consumers be testers!)

Design & User Experience
Enterprise: As long as every penny tallies, who cares about design and user experience?
Web: A cluttered and confusing site is your worst enemy. Good, intuitive design is an ART!

Features
Enterprise: Features are dictated by business rules and processes. 0 creativity needed!
Web: Let’s build and pray our users will like it!

Coming up with a company name can be an exasperating experience. Firstly, creating a name that is short and hip that reflects the nature of the business isn’t easy. Then it has to pass the crucial test of getting the domain name!

So, I came up with this Naming Test. If a name can go through all the following stages, it should be good to go :)

1) Name should be short, hip, easy to spell and pronounce.

2) Domain name availability

3) Not being used by any existing or similar trademark and/or servicemark US Patent and Trademark Office

4) Got to make sure the business name is available within the State. For me, it’s California and the business name search is here - CA Business Entities

5) Lastly, search “the name” on google, yahoo or any other search engines and see what kind of search results show up relating to the search term. If too many results appear, then is ‘the name’ unique enough?