How to name your startup. 1.2K Flares Filament.io 1.2K Flares × This is the sixth article in our new series with advice on building a business, company culture and life-hacking from Joel, CEO here at Buffer.
You can grab all posts here. Choosing a name is one of the parts of a startup I find the most difficult. It’s also something you can easily get hung up on. We all know that the key thing is to move on to actually building something we can put in front of users. Here are 3 steps I would take if I was naming a new startup: 1. Often constraints are good when undertaking a creative process like naming your startup. GoogleTwitterFacebookFoursquareDropBoxPocketTumblrFlickrHipChatSparrowTweetbotReeder All great startups. SquarePathBox. Before naming your startup, read this. I’ve learned a lot from the development of NameLayer, and I’m ready to divulge every trick in my arsenal.
In this guide, I provide realistic solutions to the frustrations encountered when naming a company. Plus, I’ll have some fun analyzing both good and bad company names. This guide is divided into three, independent sections: Why Bad Names Hurt You, Coming Up With Names, and Examples of Strong and Weak Names. Why Bad Names Hurt You If you don’t need to be convinced that a good name is important, skip to the next section. Almost every bad naming decision can be traced back to one or more of the following attitudes. Mobile: “It’s a mobile app. All these excuses are valid to varying degrees, but they’re ultimately just that – excuses. A lack of self-awareness: The company didn’t realize that their name was too lousy to settle on. Before we get carried away with these abstractions, let’s be clear: A mediocre name will not blatantly signal these red flags. Let’s get to it. Weak Examples. How to Name Your Startup. This post originally appeared on the American Express OPEN Forum, where Mashable regularly contributes articles about leveraging social media and technology in small business.
Whether it’s your product, company or rock band, choosing the name is inevitably the hardest part. Hunched over the screen typing URL after URL into GoDaddy, you cross your fingers that your seven-hundredth attempt will finally unlock that magical, unclaimed word that fits your new startup to a T. Instead of repeatedly bashing your head against the wall, here’s a simple approach to naming things that uses a score of free online services to make the process a bit less painful.
We've left out the auto-refreshing random word generators, too. 1. Finding the right name begins by harvesting your natural materials: all of the words that are in any way related to your product, company or death metal band. 2. Often when naming things, your best friend is the portmanteau. 3. 4. Five years ago, checking your URL was enough. Domain Search.