Naming a new technology company is no longer simply an exercise in creativity; it is now a rigidly defined legal and digital clearance process. Today’s entrepreneurs are in crowded markets where generic terms are protected vigorously.
To succeed, the entrepreneur has a different path—moving from massive lists of random tech startup names to tight, specific logical categorization. This article has outlined the steps an entrepreneur must take to create a viable brand identity.
This identity must stand up against the requirements of enterprise procurement, satisfy global trademark searches, and scale seamlessly across digital offerings (using the least amount of money on logos and branding).
The Modern Way to Name a Tech Startup
Most entrepreneurs waste their time on huge name generation lists of thousands of potential business names that they will never own. Creating a strong brand identity requires the perfect balance between being memorable immediately and being legally available.
The market requires names that relate to a specific category of business, can pass the oral test during sales calls, and do not fall into the trap of buzzword bingo.
Successful name generation requires the entrepreneur to create a shortlist of approximately ten viable options and to put these tech startup names through an intensive clearance process to increase the likelihood that they will be able to register the desired name as a trademark.
Category Specific Naming Criteria
While compiling a list of name options, it is far more critical to understand and consider who will be using your name than to focus on coming up with clever wordplay. Different types of business require different levels of trust, speed of delivery, and clarity of technical description.
While a name may be appropriate for a social app, it will be viewed as completely inappropriate within the B2B, enterprise software market.
Security and B2B Software
Those in the B2B space are looking for names that provide them with stability and a clear indication of the functionality of the products they sell. For this reason, names in the B2B, enterprise software space should have a serious and established tone.
Vanta or Loom are both good examples of businesses that have names that connote that they are secure and compliant. Vanta has a strong, solid sound. A strong name conveys the message that it is legitimate and credible.
The way to weave together media and collaboration is through the use of Loom. The name that works for Loom does not make any reference to an inexpensive pun based on technology, so it won't limit Loom to a single product line, as it can be expanded whenever necessary.
Artificial Intelligence Tools
As AI product developers rush to develop new products, there has been an explosion of unoriginal brand names that include 'AI' (e.g., an AI Hustler) at the end of an existing brand name, so there are many brands with similar concepts in the marketplace.
Companies that take a different approach from AI brands by concentrating on what AI tools really do for users will have a distinct advantage over the competition.
Jasper or Claude, both AI companies, are examples of companies using human characteristics to make it easier for potential users to understand how complex the underlying technology is and to make it feel secure.
This is a way to differentiate a company from other AI companies that focus mainly on technology and coding instead of the human element involved in its creation.
Financial Technology and Payments
Money is one area where trust and trustworthiness are paramount. Fintech companies need to be able to capture both the energy of new technologies as well as the security of traditional businesses.
Stripe, a fintech company, has chosen a unique, very short, quick word that can be said in less than one second while making a pitch.
Block (formerly Square), a fintech company, has chosen to use a familiar, strong word that produces a foundation for the building of a financial infrastructure. While these companies do not use traditional bank terminology, their names convey the appearance of legitimate financial institutions.
Consumer Brands and Marketplaces
Consumer technology is typically characterized by ease of use and universal appeal. The names for founding companies in this type of market must also be easy for customers to share by word of mouth.
The most successful consumer-based technology companies tend to have a memorable, short and simple name. However, instead of creating a nonsensical name, many successful consumer brands create a new identity that combines recognizable ideas and associations with each company.
The goal of these companies is to be able to recognize their names immediately when heard on a busy street or as an advertisement during a podcast.
The Danger of Generic Naming Trends
Generic trends are a risk to entrepreneurs repeating industry norms. Entrepreneurs often take shortcuts when it comes to brainstorming by using naming conventions that may appear clever at first glance but ultimately hurt their brand over time.
Removing Vowels
Ten years ago, with the growth of the internet, removing vowels from common dictionary words was a popular and inexpensive option to obtain a domain name.
Today, this practice has become stale and leads to accidental misspelling of brand names by potential customers. If you hear about a brand name while in a meeting, you should be able to type it directly into your browser without having to guess how to spell it.
Having an easy-to-spell name is critical for success in today's marketplace.
Suffix Pitfalls and Tech Locks
By attaching suffixes to root words (e.g., -ly, -ify, -io) you limit the growth potential of your business. Although Shopify has done an excellent job, countless smaller businesses often sound like imitations of larger brands.
Additionally, creating a name based on a specific technological trend means that you may need to rebrand later on as the market shifts. Selecting a name that will allow flexibility with your business model will keep you true to your brand as you grow.
Creating a Complete Validation Process
Having an idea is one of the first things to do, but testing all potential tech startup names through established legal and digital processes is crucial to being able to own that name.
The Spoken Test and Target Audience
Before checking available domain names, say the name to a stranger and have them write it down. When determining whether or not the intended name has failed at least as a brand name, consider the spelling of the name.
The name must sound believable to the particular customer. For example, a fun and silly name might work well for a consumer-based photo application; however, it would likely not be effective in a selling situation for serious enterprise-level software applications.
Digital Assets and Legal Clearance
Even an attractive name is worthless if someone else owns it already. Each of the founders should conduct all research on every strong idea using a stringent method of verification:
Search for identical or similar marks in both local and international trademark databases.
Search for exact-match domains before setting budgets for premium options.
Verify consistent brand representation across social networks’ profile pages of the main social platforms.
Examine app stores and developer directories to make certain no competitor currently has a product with a similar name.
Engineering and Developer Impact
With respect to technical products, companies often incorporate the name into the code of their programs. Engineers will type the company name in their terminal or into various application programming interfaces (APIs) and application packaging files.
If the name has elaborate or complex spelling, includes special characters or requires excessive keystrokes to enter, the engineers who are tasked with utilizing it will become annoyed.
Using a short, simple-to-type direct company name is beneficial for a technical end-user experience.
International Meanings and Cultural Checks
Software products have the potential to expand internationally by default. A company name may convey strength or positive connotations in the English language, but could describe something that would create an offensive or humorous perception when used in languages such as Spanish, German, or Japanese.
It is essential to verify pronunciations and slang usages across all target languages prior to the company name being included as such in order to avoid potential future public relations embarrassment. A quick consultation with native speakers could amount to many thousands of dollars saved later on.
Validating Your Startup Name Prior to Launch
Getting a strong brand name takes time and effort, and generally speaking, due diligence before you launch is very important if you hope to avoid costly mistakes.
However, many startup founders experience pressure from the marketplace to get their company up and running and will therefore choose the first available web address or social media name as their brand name. Choosing the first option they see may very well lead to legal problems or issues with customer confusion down the line.
All successful companies work through a naming process to narrow their options down to ten potential tech startup names, get feedback from potential customers, conduct trademark searches, and then only after that spend any money on creating domains and setting up the appropriate digital properties to support their brand's presence online.
A methodical naming process creates the foundation for a scalable, responsive, growing business capable of taking over the market or making pivots in strategy as necessary.
Questions and Answers About Brand Naming and Growth
How Does My Website Purchase Affect My Funding Rounds?
Buying a premium web address too early depletes the tight working capital all startups require until they can prove their core product.
While owning an ideal domain name indicates that the startup has committed itself to their success, the investor will prefer that all their funds be used to engineer and acquire customers as opposed to establishing a premium domain.
Most successful emerging technology companies have utilized a modified form of their company's name during the seed finance stage and once they raised substantial amounts of venture capital have purchased the exact match for their domain name.
What is the Cost of Rebranding an Existing B2B Product After Launch?
Attempting to present as a new name on an existing product that has been previously brought to market destroys any organic traffic (SEO) authority it may have earned previously as well as creates confusion among existing customers.
Additionally, the costs associated with changing the name include attorneys' fees associated with filing for new trademarks, purchasing new digital properties representing the rebranded B2B product, rewriting all technical documentation, and the cost of replacing all previously used sales materials.
All of the above provide an overwhelming distraction and will slow down the product development cycle and can take months to implement fully.
Why Do Companies With Trendy Names Struggle With Enterprise Buyers?
Generally, large enterprises purchasing software products identify trendy suffixes in company names with a lack of stability and growth. Companies purchasing enterprise software want to know that the software vendor will be around in five years.
The use of a generic technology-based word combined with a trendy suffix makes the company name sound like a toy and not something that will function as an enterprise infrastructure partner. A grounded and straightforward name will indicate to the companies that authorize large software budgets that it is a stable company.
When a Developer Builds Tools, What Effect Does the Name Have on Adoption?
The name of a developer tool will change from being a brand name to a command line utility or code package. If the name is difficult to spell or has a lot of capital letters in strange places, developers will continuously make errors writing code.
Companies that use a simple dictionary style and fall into the 'lower-case' approach experience faster developer adoption because their tech startup names naturally fit within developers' regular work routines and environment.