Company Naming

Should you spend time on your company's name?

After completing the earlier sanity checks, if your big idea still holds, then comes the question of naming your company. How much time and energy should you put into it? I used to think that at such an early stage of a company's history, it did not really matter. Just find a name you feel comfortable with, make sure you can use it legally and online, and then get on with validating your grand plan and building the first iteration of your product. You will have time to work on your name and brand further once you have achieved the necessary milestones.

However, my experience has taught me otherwise. If your product targets end-consumers, it is obvious that you should aim for a memorable and inspiring name. Achieving this takes time, research, and a dose of emotional intelligence. What sounds cool and memorable to you may not be the same for others (and for Google).

Naming also matters a lot in a business-to-business environment. As a founder, you will spend a considerable amount of time positioning your company in your target industry and with top influencers within that industry. You want to ensure that your company's name is easily remembered by these people, and ultimately, that your company's name becomes synonymous with the industry. You have only one opportunity to stand out from the crowd, and naming plays a significant role in achieving this.

The name "flyiin" was decided upon very quickly, probably too quickly. It came to me during one of my runs in the mountains. At that time, I was concentrated on developing our concept for an Air Travel Marketplace and needed a short, yet inspiring name for our company and flagship product. Since "flyin" was already in use, I opted for the "ii" variation, wrongly believing it would be effective. After all, many well-known brands feature two vowels, so why not us?

We were unable to determine if the brand would have resonated with travelers because our Air Travel Marketplace was never launched. However, during that time, we began to establish "flyiin" as a potential partner for airlines. It was during this process that I realized the name wasn’t optimal. Each time, it took many rounds of emails for our airline contacts to spell it right, if they ever did.

When we changed course in 2018, I considered transitioning to a more business-friendly name. However, most larger airlines already knew us (albeit misspelled) as "flyiin." Therefore, I decided against it. Although the confusion persisted, it ultimately didn't matter since we sold the company.

Takeaway #4

Spend the time required to come up with a company or brand name that people will remember. Use any of the GenAI tool to help you with this process. Check a few online resources to learn the basics of brand development and test it extensively with your network. If you realize that people have a tough time referring to your brand correctly, change it immediately.