Suggestion for a startup name
I'm looking for a suitable startup name. The purpose of the startup will be to close the gap between people and technology.
Any suggestion will be appreciated.
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Welcome to the site. Sorry to have to close your first question here, but this type of question is outside the scope of this site. Feedback on ideas, websites, names have been deemed off-topic. – Zuly Gonzalez 13 years ago
1 Answer
My top suggestion is don't waste too much time on it. I mean, it is important to not pick too dumb of a name, or one that has bad connotations, but it is really easy for people to spend too much time focusing on a business name, and neglect the actual product/service development, where your time is really needed.
As an example, look at Fog Creek's product Trello. Dan Ostlund describes the long process they went through to choose a product name, and talked about how mostly it was wasted time.
Another thing to point out is, if you pick a name and you don't like it, it's not impossible to change. (Though, the more customers you have, the harder it will be to change, of course. But large companies do it all the time.)
So I'd suggest keeping your process simple, and to a relatively short amount of time. What I've done in the past is just start by keeping a list somewhere where any of your partners can add possible names to it as you think of them. Maybe on a whiteboard or in a Google Doc. Maybe have a brainstorming session, if you want. Don't eliminate any ideas at first, just let it grow as you think of them.
Then at some point, sit down with your team and eliminate any of the ones that are especially bad, either in terms of not representing your company well, that have hidden meanings that you don't want associated with your business, or that one of your founders just hates.
Show the same list to other people as well. Family, friends, whatever. Be sure to put it in front of a pessimist and a cynic at some point. As well as in front of someone who... err... has a dirty mind, and can point out things that you may have missed.
Then just pick one. You'll spend far more time, later on, building your brand. The feeling people get when they see your business name is less about what the words say, and more about the company and product you've built.
