How To Create An Impacting Startup Name
According to Juliet (Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet), a name should mean nothing, but for a startup, it’s a completely different story. Choosing a name for your startup can be one of the most important decisions you make in the beginning, and for a good reason: it is the most impactful choices you’ll take. That’s why it is pretty common, that startups before getting product-market fit change their names a couple times. Unfortunately, not every startup gets enough time and they realize too late that they chose a lame name. But what is in a name?
I’m passionate about finding names that make people connect with the brand. MailplusWeb — was a cloud security vendor focused on email and web security. With Cloudplace, I created a white labeled storefront for Enterprises and Telcos — for them to have “one place — for all cloud services”. Swaaag was a mobile social video app, born to take teens beyond the like (before Snapchat became what it is today)… or my latest gig called corpor8.fm an Invitation-Only Channel for Corporate CxOs to discuss Innovation in disrupted industries. And this, just to mention couple companies of mine in the past.
In a mentor session 8 weeks ago I helped a startup that seemed to be doing a lot right, but they couldn’t get their ecosystem hooked, nor get any brand recognition and interest from investors. They were active on social media, they put themselves out there as much as possible, and they were rolling out pretty smart go-to-market tactics to gain users. When we first spoke, I liked the problem they solved — but the name they chose sucked.
When they conceptualized their startup, three people were involved (for the story I call them Isaac, Pronav, Bjorn). All three of them felt like they deserved to be a part of the startup’s name since they were “the founders”. In result, they came up with the glorious — amazingly creative idea (!!) to just combine the first part of all three of their first names into one word. Hence the name was something like Bjispro (as per our example above). The startup name — which was a health and fitness app — ended up being a three-syllable word that didn’t have any meaning to anyone else but them, was confusing to spell, impossible to remember — and let’s face it simply BS.
After brainstorming what might be the reason for their market resistance, I led them to think how much easier it might be when having a name that resonates not only with their users — but their surrounding network. They came up with a new name that was short, related to what their app did, and was easy to remember. Now, after changing their name, they started to experience better brand recognition, and they caught the interest of several investors who they had spoken to before, but couldn’t remember what they were called so they lost interest. The fact of changing the name meant in this case, the difference between failure and keep moving ahead!
You’ve probably read plenty of articles that reiterate the importance of choosing a good name, but have you gotten any solid advice as to how to choose a name? Because it is challenging, you might want to keep reading for some tips and detailed steps on choosing a startup name you won’t regret and that will ultimately contribute to your success. These practical suggestions can be applied to nearly any industry, but it is based largely on my experience naming several tech products and trends I’ve seen in successful startup names. This guide should inspire your creative side and help you choose a great name for your startup.
Why is it important to spend time on choosing a name?
Startup founders agonize over what to name their creation, which is their dream. Is it necessary to spend so much time and energy on naming a startup, or would any odd combination do?
When you choose a name for your startup, you are essentially naming your brand. Will you be happy with the name once you’re more popular? Once you do become popular, it is difficult to change your name, because your startup’s brand becomes tightly associated with your name. It is not typical for startups to change their names once they are popular, so it does get obsessed about.
In fact, the name you choose plays a vital role in whether or not you receive investing, too. Early stage investors make their decision based on gut instinct, and they make up their minds in a couple of minutes whether or not they’ll write you a check. In that short amount of time, all you will be able to tell them is your startup’s name and a one-line pitch, so your name is crucial. Research done by Harvard says snap judgments are made even quicker — in three to four seconds. Your name is your first impression, and bad names are not as likely to get funded.
Preparing to choose a great name
Is there any specific way to go about choosing a name? Your best bet is to have a brainstorming session and spitball names back and forth. Write down the contenders, and just keep pumping out ideas until you find something that works. Crowdsource your name by asking peers for their opinion. If they don’t remember the name you chose after a couple of days, it’s an indication not to be the right name.
Your goal should be to choose a name that is strong and presentable. It doesn’t necessarily have to be “perfect.” Set a deadline for choosing a name, otherwise, you might never settle on anything. Your timeline should be anywhere from a few days to a couple of weeks, but no longer. Use other companies as inspiration while you choose a name. You’ll be able to see what a great name looks and sounds like, and you can get ideas about the type of wordplay other companies use.
Guidelines to follow while choosing a name
1. Keep it short
The current trend in startup names is the shorter the better. Ideally, you should keep the name down to two syllables and fewer than ten letters. Think of the most popular sites out there: Ebay, Yahoo, Google, Reddit, etc. All of them have short and memorable names that are instantly recognized.
2. Keep it simple
According to psychology, humans often fear the unfamiliar and are uncomfortable with what we don’t understand. Use this knowledge when you decide on a name. You don’t want your name to create barriers that keep investors from buying into your dream. Names that are hard to spell, difficult to pronounce, confusing in relation to your product, you’ve created a barrier by being too complicated.
3. Keep it relevant
Companies like Apple and Amazon have names that don’t necessarily reflect what they do, but they are memorable and well-known. As a start-up, it’s wise to keep your name relevant to what you do to avoid confusion.
4. Make it memorable
A short, simple, and relevant name will all help it be memorable, but throwing some emotion in the mix also helps. Memories are formed from data combined with emotion, and emotion is what makes the data stick. The emotion can be as simple as having a little bit of a shock value, or creating cognitive dissonance, or having positive connotations.
5. Make it sexy
People buy what the product does with them … aka — unleashes emotion! Hence NO, your name doesn’t have to be explicit. A sexy name is one that uses a little bit of wordplay, has a unique but easy spelling, or is delightful to pronounce. Think of the app Waze, which stands for “ways,” but just a little bit sexier.
6. Make it “verb-able”
How often do you “google” something or “instagram” your lunch? The names didn’t start off as verbs, but they can be used as one. Can my buyer persona make easily a verb out of my name? This is a relevant method on how to think when brainstorming your name … Imagine people saying: Let’s “your name” … “Your Name” it !!
Types of names
- Founder names
Founder names are tricky! A documented study showed that a hiring manager, when handed two resumes that were identical except for the name, was likely to choose the applicant based on their perceived race. Only 4% of female-led startups get funded in Silicon Valley, which is unfortunate, but still a fact. Using a founder as a startup name could have a similar effect on the initial impression made on investors, so unless you are already well-known in the industry, avoiding a founder name might be best.
- Descriptive names
Just like it sounds, descriptive names use what the startup does as name inspiration. This type of name is perfect if you want to tell people what your company does without a lengthy explanation. Here what you can do is take the word that represents most what you do, and write it the “phonetical” way … the way you “pronounce” it. Good examples are startups such as: “Houzz for House”, “Waze for Ways” … or “corpor8 for corporate”
- Unique handle
A good unique handle is tricky to come up with since it needs to be short and easy to pronounce, remember, and spell. It also shouldn’t be offensive in any other languages. Companies like Adobe, Tesla, and Zynga nailed the unique handle name. Many times when choosing a unique handle — you might want to ask a musician what’s their gut feeling on the name. Because musicians have a trained hearing for things that are out of tune!
- Acronym
You get an acronym when your company name no longer describes your business, like 3M or GMC, KPMG. This was a trend back in the days — but definitely not any longer nowadays — and especially not when you are a startup that is changing the world. In other words, starting with an acronym is a bad idea.
What to do after you pick a name
Since we live in the digital era, your name needs to make a good domain name, too. Also, it needs to be a domain that isn’t currently being used, which can be not only limiting but if too similar — you trying to get your word out there are driving traffic towards this other “similar named” URL. Once you have a name, you’ll ideally want to secure the .com for it. If someone already has the .com, you can choose a different extension, just make sure the existing .com is nothing like your business. Also, a sexy approach is to choose a Top Level Domain that is part of your name such as calend.ly, swaa.ag, youtu.be (which I personally find the most trending today)
Keep in mind that the most popular length of a domain name is eight characters. Consumers and investors don’t want to have to remember an excessively long string of characters to find you online. Be prepared to spend a few hundred dollars on a good domain name, since most of the good .com names for $10 are already taken.
You’ll also want to run a Google search when you choose a name. Your name can’t conflict with existing trademarks, and you want to be sure your name doesn’t bring up companies that are similar to yours. Your name is important for your discoverability, which is why it’s important it isn’t too hard to spell or too similar to something existing.
Your name is your brand
Branding is integral to your success as a startup. Since your name is a big part of your brand, you will want it to convey the right thing. Your brand isn’t what you say it is, it is what your consumers and audience say it is.
Having a good name is a conduit to an emotional connection with your consumers and potential investors. Good names will inspire a strong passion for your brand. Even if your features and benefits are similar to those of your competitors, a good name that starts to establish a good relationship with investors and consumers can give you a competitive edge.
One of the biggest reasons branding is important for startups is the fact that people have so many choices but hardly any time to consider their options and make their choice. Think about how many product options you have for something as simple as brushing your teeth. You might feel like your product is unique enough to set you apart from the competition, but in all reality, something similar probably exists, and that is why your brand is important. People base their buying decisions on trust, which is gained by relationships, and that relationship is fostered by your brand.
Once you develop authentic relationships with your audience, you have more than just a good idea or product, you have a business. You have a relationship! You deal with what people feel towards your brand — and NOT what your product does. Your brand is what helps people develop trust with your company, and that trust gives you value. Your brand tells people why they should care about you and do business with you.
TAKEAWAY
The difficult decision of choosing a name for your startup is hard for a reason. It matters a lot (!!) Your name is your first impression you make in investors and on potential consumers, so you want it to be strong and sexy. There are some guidelines you can follow to make sure your name will help you be successful including keep it simple, short, and memorable. Your name is the introduction to your brand, so make sure it conveys what you want it to convey, and you won’t regret it.
(!!) And, the most genuine way of showing virtual appreciation for a writer is to share & tweet. In case you haven’t done it yet … I’m looking forward to it! Thank you for reading/watching this and stay tuned for next week’s post.
Originally published at whatittak.es.
