There’s quite a bit wrapped up in a reputation: emotions, feelings, connotation, unconscious bias, private historical past. It’s an identification — it offers one thing which means and significance.
In main advertising and marketing and model at High Alpha, I take into consideration naming fairly a bit. As a enterprise studio, we co-found and launch 5 to 10 new software program startups yearly. It’s my group’s duty to create and construct out the manufacturers for all the brand new firms we begin, together with all the things from naming and area acquisition to model identification and web sites. Over the previous 5 years, we’ve named greater than 30 software program startups at Excessive Alpha.
Over the previous 5 years, we’ve named greater than 30 software program startups.
As a soon-to-be first-time guardian, the concept of naming has taken on a complete new which means and significance in my life. Though I assist title new firms for a dwelling, I now absolutely perceive the paralysis that always comes when confronted with the duty of deciding the title for somebody or one thing that’s particularly necessary to you.
Due to this, I’ve at all times tried to take an goal, pragmatic strategy to naming an organization with our CEOs and different startups. Naming is an extremely tough and nuanced course of. It’s fraught with subjectiveness and private choice. And to high all of it off, most founders have zero (or little or no) expertise in naming.
The reality is that enterprise names fall on a bell curve — you’ve got a small variety of outliers that actively contribute to your success and a small variety of outliers that actively impair your means to succeed. The overwhelming majority, although, fall someplace within the center of their affect on what you are promoting.
So, how ought to a founder go about successfully naming their child startup and never selecting a reputation that may harm them? I’m sharing my very own standards and classes for methods to go about naming your startup, methods to consider an organization title and what makes for firm title.
Is the title ownable?
As a founder, one of many first standards to take a look at is ownability and URL availability. These days, you’ll be hard-pressed to discover a title the place the .com remains to be obtainable. I oftentimes will take a look at .io, .co, get_______.com, or _____hq.com as my high options to a .com, however I at all times nonetheless want if the .com is probably attainable sooner or later. It could be parked by a site investor or somebody asking a ridiculous value, however that’s at all times higher than a longtime enterprise utilizing your .com. If not, you’ll at all times be combating a search battle with another model that owns your .com.
This goes a lot additional than simply the provision of the coveted .com area, although. It’s best to consider the competitiveness and search congestion round your branded key phrases. An organization named “Apple” or “Lumber” goes to have a very arduous time competing for search placements, even when they don’t promote computer systems or constructing provides. A longtime title and phrase can also be going to come back with current connotations and former experiences in your viewers’s thoughts. You desire a title free from as a lot baggage as attainable so you’ll be able to simply construct your personal connotations and recollections.
