Project 1: Introduction & Operations · Lesson 5 ·
Do you not already have a name for your company? There's no reason you need to fall back on Acme, Inc. In this video, we go over the resources available to help you choose a name, and some of the criteria it's important to keep in mind as you pick one.
If you're not sure about what you want to name your company, there are a few resources you can check out:
Paul Graham's Change Your Name; Start Up Names.
There's several characteristics Graham mentions you want to consider as you form a name: Evocability, or what a potential user will think about when they hear it; Brevity, which is the quality of its resisting length when a more succinct term will suffice; Greppability, or the amount which it does not consist of common words; Googlability, it's uniqueness in terms of search and domain names; Pronounceability, or how easy it is to say; Spellability, how easy it is to spell; and Verbability, or can it be turned into a verb.
You can also check out Graham's thoughts on why these factors matter.
As you settle on a name, you want to make sure you own the domain. Use LeanDomainSearch.com to narrow down your options. It also checks handles on Twitter.
Think about services you might use online, or great startups you've heard of - a lot of their names are unexpected combinations that evoke the service they offer: AirBnB, TaskRabbit, FancyHands. These aren't overly literal descriptions of the companies, but they do get across a sense of what their company is and does.
Also: there's no pressure. It is possible to change your name, and what you incorporate under doesn't have to be the name that market your service or product under.