founders institute naming talk november 2012 final

Naming Your StartupThe How To Guide

Jay JamisonPartner, BlueRun Ventures

jjamison@brv.com

About Jay (2007-present)

Co-Founder & President English learning for children everywhere

Partner, BEMA Studios LLC Social sports betting game for the

Iphone

Partner

About Jay (pre-start-up)

Employee # 17146 PC on every desk, in every

home Public, $60B in revenue

Why is naming important?

Experience & lessons learned

Specific advice & tips

Show & tell

Not in scope: domain-hunting

Who The F*** Are You?

Do Names Matter?

Names matter It’s all the marketing you’ve got (for

now)

It sets your position relative to competition

It’s EVERYWHERE you are

Experience & Lessons #1

Lessons

CUSTOMERS matter

Less is more

Have a decider

Pass the “Human” test

X

Removed “.NET” >1 quarter before

RTM

Experience & Lessons # 2

Lessons

Learn about naming

Use naming process (described herein)

Work fast—2-3 hours

Pass the “Human” test

Experience & Lessons # 3

Lessons

Use naming process (described herein)

Work fast

Pass the “Human” test

Link: http://www.igorinternational.com/process/igor-naming-guide.pdf

! !

Specific “Must Do” Advice

Get Free Naming Guide from Igor Top Naming & Branding Agency in SF Published its naming guide online in

PDF Doc covers its process and approach

4 Types of Names

Name Types Example Pros Cons

Functional

Betonline.comBetus.comSportsbook.com

Know what it is Not distinct

Invented

AgilentAquientOreoGoogle

Easy trademarkMemorable (or not)

Difficult to know if you’ve got a winner or loser

Experiential

NavigatorExplorerSafari

Make sense to consumer

Becomes common

Evocative Virgin (v. BA)Apple (v. IBM) Strong for positioning

Non-linear, meaning committees hate them

Source: Igor International

Igor’s Process (Adapted)1. Analyze competitors’ names

2. Establish your differentiation & positioning

3. Brainstorm potential names

4. Assess names against specific criteria

5. Check GoDaddy.com for availability

Naming Moonshoot

Step 1 : Look at Competitor TypesFunction

alInvente

dExperien

tialEvocativ

eK12.com Club

PenguinBaby

EinsteinLeap Frog

Cappela University

Head Sprout

Berlitz

Kumon

Aeon

Step 2: Our Positioning

Connected to a world beyond the horizon

Global Fun Forward-looking & ambitious Human Confident Aspirational Different

Step 3 : Brainstorm names Leapfrog (reference) LearnNow Cumlaude Global Edge Moonshoot Boost Sunray Camo Orbit Yoko Butterflyeffect …

Write them all down…

No matter how stupid they sound

9 factors for scoring names

1. Appearance2. Distinctive3. Depth4. Energy5. Humanity6. Positioning7. Sound8. “33”9. Trademark

10 point scale for

each category

Source: Igor International

Step 4: Score names

NameLeapFrog 9 8 8 9 9 9 9 6 10 77Moonshoot 9 10 9 9 9 7 8 8 5 74Boost 9 8 6 9 7 6 10 7 5 67Sunray 8 8 7 8 8 7 7 7 5 65Camo 7 9 8 7 7 4 9 8 5 64Orbit 8 6 7 7 7 7 7 7 5 61Yoko 8 8 5 6 8 3 9 6 5 58CumLaude 7 7 7 7 7 6 6 5 5 57butterflyeffect 6 7 7 5 7 6 5 8 5 56Global Edge 6 7 7 6 6 9 5 5 5 56LearnNow 3 1 3 3 3 3 5 3 5 29

Source: Igor International

Naming Smackdaddy

Step 1 : Competitor Types

Competitor Types Competitor Names

Online betting & sports books Betonline.comBetus.comBetfair.comSportsbook.comYouwager.com

Social Betting Sites DotbluBragsterSmarkets

Fantasy Leagues Yahoo Fantasy SportsCBS Fantasy SportsESPN Fantasy Sports

Social gaming sites ZyngaPlaydom

Step 1: Analyze Competitor Names

Functional Invented Experiential Evocative

Betfair.com Dotblu Bragster Zynga

Betonline.com Smarkets

Sportsbook.com

Playdom

Youwager.com

Fantasy Sports Leagues

Step 2: Our Positioning

Free & fun i.e., NOT betting for real

money

Entertainment

Approachable & simple

Sports-oriented/ themed

Rated PG-13

Mobile

Step 3 : Brainstorm names Berman’s (Named after ESPN host) Betdom Betspark Betr Challenger DaaBears Gamespark Hippo Mobbetz Mobbet Overxunder Write them

all down

Smackdaddy Smackdown Smackking Smashyou Smackzz Smakken Smakkr Schwakd

Step 4: Score names

NameSmackdaddy 10 10 10 9 8 10 8 10 10 85Betr 7 9 7 10 10 9 10 7 5 74Overxunder 9 8 9 7 9 8 7 9 5 71Betdom 8 7 8 8 7 7 9 8 5 67Smakrr 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 5 53Schwakd 5 5 5 5 5 4 5 5 5 44Overundrr 4 4 4 4 4 5 4 4 5 38Mobbetz 2 3 2 3 2 3 3 3 5 26Mobbetz 3 2 3 2 3 2 2 2 5 24

Source: Igor International

Thanks!Contact Info

Email jjamison@brv.comTwitter @jay_jamisonBlog Jayjamison.com