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Rap Genius was originally called RapExegesis.com. Then they made a public post asking for better company name ideas- http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/19/high-

Rap Genius was originally called RapExegesis.com. Then they made a public post asking for better company name ideas- http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/19/high-stakes-pl-nl/ot-help-me-pick-name-my-rap-website-614162/ http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/19/high-stakes-pl-nl/ot-he... I always thought this was fascinating and makes me think of the implications of happenstance. A company called Genius whose first domain had the word rape in it, which was promoted by a poker player who once created his own personal TV commercial and ran it via Google TV ads- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocekqhrmPNo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocekqhrmPNo But give them $20 million and say they are pioneers in a general space that's decades old, and suddenly Genius is pioneering annotations and redefining fair use.

tamana 10y ago
You seem surprised that marketing drives culture
galistoca 10y ago
> I always thought this was fascinating and makes me think of the implications of happenstance. A company called Genius whose first domain had the word rape in it, which was promoted by a poker player who once created his own personal TV commercial and ran it via Google TV ads- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocekqhrmPNo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocekqhrmPNo So what? > But give them $20 million and say they are pioneers in a general space that's decades old, and suddenly Genius is pioneering annotations and redefining fair use. $20million came after they got traction. Sure, maybe some of the founders are annoying characters, but that has nothing to do with their business. They built a popular website, people came, they promoted well. More people came. Investors got interested because of their traction. So they invested. Now they're doing better. I don't see anything wrong with this story. You just sound jealous man.
- mirimir 10y ago
  Well, it's a commonplace that complaining about what happens on the Internet is useless, and typically counterproductive. So hey, "fair use". But as Glenn Fleishman notes, fair use tends to get tested in court. But whatever. For me, it's mostly about pigs and mud ;)

tamana 10y ago

You seem surprised that marketing drives culture

galistoca 10y ago

> I always thought this was fascinating and makes me think of the implications of happenstance. A company called Genius whose first domain had the word rape in it, which was promoted by a poker player who once created his own personal TV commercial and ran it via Google TV ads- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocekqhrmPNo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocekqhrmPNo So what? > But give them $20 million and say they are pioneers in a general space that's decades old, and suddenly Genius is pioneering annotations and redefining fair use. $20million came after they got traction. Sure, maybe some of the founders are annoying characters, but that has nothing to do with their business. They built a popular website, people came, they promoted well. More people came. Investors got interested because of their traction. So they invested. Now they're doing better. I don't see anything wrong with this story. You just sound jealous man.

mirimir 10y ago
Well, it's a commonplace that complaining about what happens on the Internet is useless, and typically counterproductive. So hey, "fair use". But as Glenn Fleishman notes, fair use tends to get tested in court. But whatever. For me, it's mostly about pigs and mud ;)