How to find a cool name for your start up…from a certified brand name-aholic.
I have a problem. I have a habit of starting companies and then quickly losing interest in them. It’s ridiculous I know. I get super excited about creating the name and the brand (you have no idea how much I love this process) and then….the excitement fades.
Turns out, I love the process of creating brand names, logos and type faces, more than I love the idea behind the company. That said, I’m happy to report that I am currently working on a project that I am fully engaged in (more on that in another post — it has a great name too.)
When I need a name I spend countless hours looking for inspiration and ideas everywhere. I flick through magazines or blogs, hour after hour, looking for that word that might spark something that leads to the name.
Then, eureka! lightning strikes and the brand name is born.
Next step? Get a realy good designer. Working with a designer is fun for me, I like to come to the discussion with concrete ideas. Surprisingly, I settle on the perfect creative quickly. It’s as if the brand name and its creative cues arrive bundled in my head as one complete solution.
Then, when the brand and creative is done….the work is done for me. If you’re running a start up this is pure stupidity. If you are serious about your start up, do not do this. Leave it to someone else to come up with the name and get busy solving your customers problems. Hey, call me ☺
One thing is clear, I live for this stuff. It’s fun for me, and I’m pretty sure I’ve fulfilled my 10,000 hours quota on the process of creating brand names. So, here are a few quick tips I’ve picked up over the years:
- Understand clearly who your customer is and what problem you solve for them. This is obvious, but key.
- Decide what kind of a company you want to be. Do you want to be irreverent, classy or strictly corporate (not recommended)? What emotions or vibe do you want to convey to your audience?
- Find a company you look up to, with a name you absolutely love. Now stay the hell away from names that are just like your fav brand. IF you love Apple, don’t call yourself Mandarin Inc (although, I’ve heard much worse come to think of it..). Go for something completely at the opposite end of the spectrum. Go for, Zettle or something equally stupid. Actually, also not that bad..
- The argument for long vs short names: Go short. No argument.
- Use a thesaurus: If you want to convey ‘speed’, get the thesaurus out and look for ‘like’ words. I looked up ‘Speed’ and got the following words: Celerity, Clip, Headway, Pace and Velocity. All of which could be OK brand names. Then, pick one of those names and do a thesaurus search on those also.
- Pick up an industry specific magazine, or trawl websites related to your industry. Look for words that jump out at you and make you go “Hey, cool word.” This approach worked for me when I found the name BEAMS for a video app project I was working on.
- Make a list and throw any word that comes into your mind onto your list. Keep this list, don’t delete anything from the list. You never know when you need more name ideas. You also might find the name you hated originally, starts to grow on you over time.
- Use namecheck.com to check your names availability. Namecheck.com will tell you if the domain name is taken. It also tells you if the social handles for this name are available.
- Combine words or phrases. An example: A few years back I co-founded an app company called Pocketry. I had two phrases that I liked 1. Pocket science 2. Artistry. I felt that our company had to sit somewhere in the middle of those two. One day after staring at those two phrases for an hour, the word Pocketry (get it? Pocket Science & Artistry = Pocket — ry, which becomes Pocketry) jumped into my brain and the rest is history.
- Song names or album names are a good place to start as well. Bands or songwriters are always looking for cool names to name their songs, what better place to steal a cool name? Would you call your company Nirvana? Probably not. But you might call it LoveBuzz (OK, not one of my best…) or something along those lines.
- Try as hard as you can to be original. But also consider Google search results. If people are searching for your brand name, but no one has that URL…take it to the bank.
Finding a cool name for your start up doesn't need to be a chore. But it also shouldn't detract from your real job of solving problems.
Don’t get too caught up in the process, if you’re funded, get someone to do this for you. If you’re bootstrapping, use these simple tips to build a list of 10 names, then share those names with your friends, colleagues etc. Note: always watch peoples reactions face-to-face, you can see it in their eyes when they know you’ve found a good name.
But, most importantly, go change the world. Leave a legacy that matters. The name is important but not so important that it should delay you from achieving your dreams. Momentum is king, don’t lose it over a name.
Good luck. Come find me on Twitter @akaDanJones or email me on dan@fanlabs.co, tell me how its going.
