startup naming mastery

Names fall into three buckets: bad, good, and tofu (bland, forgettable).

Tofu names take on the flavor of whatever surrounds them and never stand out; they are not offensive but they are not memorable.

Why: A bland name forces you to spend extra marketing dollars to create recall, while a strong name self-propagates.

"I believe that there's three types of names, bad names, good names, and what I call tofu names, which are like mid names."

Descriptive names instantly signal value and attract the exact audience.

Example: Instagram account @somewhereiwilive gained 838k followers because the handle itself promises aspirational real-estate content.

Why: People self-select in when the promise is explicit, increasing conversion and retention.

"having a descriptive name is really important nowadays and just works really well because people see it and they're like, somewhere I would like to live, yeah, I could use some furniture, interior, house inspo in my Instagram. I'm going to click Follow."

Owning an emerging cultural phrase lets you ride a rising search wave.

A founder grabbed @bossbabe early, rode the Google Trends spike, and built a $5 M/year business; another coined @themostfamousartist and now outranks Picasso in search.

Why: Phrases carry built-in SEO and social momentum, giving you free distribution.

"a phrase could be something that is starting to take off in the cultural zeitgeist... if you own a phrase, it's super, super valuable."

Funny names trigger emotional contagion and free press.

Side project YouProbablyNeedAHaircut went viral on Good Morning America and drove millions of visits purely through humor.

Why: Laughter is the most shareable emotion on the internet, compounding reach without ad spend.

"humor goes a long way... all from making people laugh and smile."

If you can’t spell it for a friend over the phone, it fails.

WhatsApp fails because people hear “what’s up” and misspell it in the App Store.

Why: Friction at the point of install kills early traction.

"it just basically didn't pass the telephone test... they spell it wrong, WhatsApp, right?"

The name must semantically match the core action or benefit.

Gamestop subconsciously tells users to stop playing; Social AI is actually anti-social.

Why: Cognitive dissonance between name and product erodes trust.

"you don't want to stop. You want to... It should be game start of anything."

Choose a name that can become the verb users say.

Bump is both the app name and the action (shake to bump), making word-of-mouth effortless.

Why: When the product name is the action, organic usage loops form.

"picking the verb is a pretty smart way of naming an app."

A strong name must translate into a memorable logo or visual identity.

Test by sketching a logo; if you can’t, the name is too abstract.

Why: Visual memory is stronger than verbal, doubling recall.

"Can the name be transferred into a visual representation of what you imagine?"