Branding an open-source URL shortener: Zip1.io

A few months ago I forked an open-source URL shortener, slapped a name and a domain on it, and shipped it as Zip1.io . It is now a real, free product: custom slugs, emoji URLs, password-protected links, per-link analytics, and a free REST API . Why bother? URL shorteners are the most saturated category on the internet. Bitly, TinyURL, Rebrandly and a hundred others already own the SERPs. That’s…