So I’m working away on my startup, and because it’s in stealth mode I don’t have a finalized company name yet. People keep asking me, “Well…do you have a name yet?” A good friend posed an interesting question, “Does the name make the company, or does the company make the name?” Now, I’m a black and white type of guy, but this question definitely leads to some grey area. I can think of countless failed companies that had “great names,” and I can think of countless more successful companies with “nontraditional names.”
Company names in the tech arena go with the trend. When I started Paragon Lake, the trend was to match up two words that had nothing to do with each other, and call it a day. Heck, it was great at first! Paragon Lake…fun, original, provocative…the paragon of company names (pun intended). Looking back, however, the erratic pairing of two random words may have been more trouble than I bargained for. Almost every time someone asked me what my company’s name was, they got confused. Paragon Link? Paradigm Lake? And my personal favorite…Taragon Lakes? So then I would end up spelling out the letters. They, in turn, would end up mixing ‘P’ with ‘T.’ You get the point. Did I make a mistake by choosing Paragon Lake as my company name? Ultimately, no. The name succeeded because the company made a powerful dent on the market.
Trends, by definition, veer in a different direction. The trend now is to make company names as short as possible with some kind of misspelling. Insttant (an instant news site partnered with Twitter) and Clixtr (an iPhone app that allows photo sharing), are two that come to mind. Personally, I like to think a fellow dyslexic misspelled his company name, and the trend picked up.
As a tech entrepreneur, my job is to come up with the “perfect” company, quickly followed by the “perfect” company name. I am not saying that company names don’t matter. Merely, I am saying the business itself matters more. (Otherwise, I’d be in the business of solely coming up with company names.)
So…in answering the question, “Does the name make the company, or does the company make the name,” I say…
Don’t stress out about your company name. I promise it won’t matter if your company is making an impact on the market.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
I agree and disagree– the name is nothing without the company behind it, but the company is better with a good name in front of it. The less you have to think about the meaning (while remaining creative), the better. A company name serves best when it is creative, intriguing, yet relatively easy to see what the purpose of the company is. If you can’t make it a name that’s very easy to remember, at least have a catchy abbreviation/acronym and captivating logo.
Ross - We are on the same page
If you have a rock solid business name and a rock solid business you chances of success are higher than if had a crappy business name and a rock solid business.