At least we got one thing right…

Skott KLebe

Posted on November 4th, 2005 at 6:01 pm

One thing your site doesn’t seem to make explicit – is ZOPA a UK/GB-only enterprise? I’m guessing as much, from the snibs of regulatory data I eventually discovered and profusion of squiggly-L’s (pounds-sterling sign not being available on my Amurrican keyboard. I love the idea and I’m pretty interested, but I can’t tell whether you’re open to US folks.

Brett

Posted on November 4th, 2005 at 6:42 pm

I love the fact that you post negative thoughts, occasionally.

And you probably don’t need to be told that your website design is great — from my perspective. The copy is clever and clear. The design helps people quickly navigate to what they are interested in.

Makoto

Posted on November 4th, 2005 at 8:16 pm

About the site,
It will be easier to find what information is where if you have “site-map” and “search” function, but it may turn into Zopa’s site too ordinally.

About the name, I often find site about Mr Lama Zopa Rinpoche.
http://buddhism.kalachakranet.org/lama_zopa_rinpoche.html

Brett

Posted on November 4th, 2005 at 8:47 pm

Three potential names:

Bank-On-Us
Bankster
Lendster

Dave

Posted on November 5th, 2005 at 12:38 pm

@Skott – Yeah, I’m afraid we’re UK only right now. We’re working hard to get Zopa into the US (Let’s just say your regulation is pretty hardcore…) and we intend to be there as soon as possible! Then we can have those squiggly S things instead of the squiggly L things!

@Brett – Thanks – we thought it was about time we gave a ‘fair and balanced account’ of our feedback! And we’ll get back to you on the names!

@Makoto – They’re on the list of things to build! But it’s a long list I guess in an ideal world, we wouldn’t need those things as the site would be so well designed…maybe we’ll get there one day!

denzyl

Posted on November 5th, 2005 at 4:17 pm

The name Zopa is great don’t change it!

JOHN MCCARTHY

Posted on November 5th, 2005 at 6:16 pm

The name should be P2P Capital, because there is a firm, P2P Credit, out in California, which has received $8 Million from Accel Partners.

It is a more professional name, and tells people what it is, right in the name.

Dave

Posted on November 7th, 2005 at 11:28 am

@Denzyl – sounds good to me…but I like to keep an open mind!

@John – I think they might have nabbed that one…and the rumour on the grapevine is that they’re going to be known as CircleOne when they launch. Whaddya think about that as a name?

Dave

Posted on November 7th, 2005 at 7:12 pm

Oh yes – and as for the Lama Zopa Rinpoche…well, we thought about giving him honorary membership before we launched, but he didn’t return our emails Ah well…

Makoto

Posted on November 7th, 2005 at 7:50 pm

1.Wave = People need to borrow money because their income goes up and down like waves. Sounds a bit like a radio station though.
2.F/air = Combination of Finance, and Air. This is what Sony Bank (in Japan) though about their new bank product. They choose “Money-Kit” instead.
3.WA = In Japanese, it means (a) peace, (b) circle, and (c) a word to shout when you surprise someone. Does not link much with Zopa’s concept, but sounds deep, and it has as much impact as “YO!” sushi.

FYI. About the intra seach engine and sitemap, looks Google already offer these functionalities.
http://www.google.com/services/free.html
http://www.google.co.uk/webmasters/sitemaps/login
I have not read the full detail , so not sure if you can utlize them fully or not…

Chris

Posted on November 7th, 2005 at 9:45 pm

I hope you replied to that guy with some spelling corrections

Makoto

Posted on November 7th, 2005 at 10:10 pm

Thanks. I copied & pasted all my comment on MS word, and found many typo….
;-(

Dave

Posted on November 7th, 2005 at 11:18 pm

Makoto – I think Chris means the original email we got…and I really like some of your suggestions – where were you last August!?

Adrian

Posted on November 14th, 2005 at 9:41 pm

I’ve worked for 3 high-tech startups (2 as a founder) since I graduated. They’ve all been highly successful, and they’ve all had names which make Zopa sound great! So, IMHO, provided you do what you do very well, the name doesn’t matter. Unless of course you choose something obviously awful like “Moneydeath” or “Lendpoo”. My advice: Zopa’s a great name, spend all your brainshare on building a great business.

Ian

Posted on November 28th, 2005 at 1:26 pm

The name Zopa and the website design are the perfect brand for the product you have created. Look at your audience – they do not fit into the box, neither does your name, site or attitude.

You could go all stockbroker, and call it ‘The Society For Mutual Money Lending’.

Keep the name, keep the site and Keep up the good work.

Ian

John McCarthy

Posted on November 29th, 2005 at 1:06 am

CircleOne works, but I don’t think it’s nearly as catchy as Zopa. Both names work though.

Janice

Posted on November 29th, 2005 at 8:37 pm

Think the name is great because it makes people wonder what it is about and then once they know, they will remember it!! Maybe is stands for Zany Open-minded People Advise….. just a thought – I am looking into becoming a lender and cannot see a reason not to be!
J xx

Alan

Posted on March 18th, 2006 at 3:29 pm

The name ZOPA is great but how should it be said? It stands for Zone Of Probable Agreement doesn’t it? So it should be pronounced ZO as Zoidberg , PA as in PAPA. Most people I’ve spoken to pronounce it like “soapa” but with a Zzzz Are you lot just been posh???

Sarah

Posted on March 20th, 2006 at 4:55 pm

Hi Alan

we pronounce it as I think you’re suggesting – like ‘soapa’ but with a ‘Z’. Posh? No – I don’t think there’s any danger of that…