Naming Your Startup is a Strategic Decision, Not a Scrabble Game
We’ve watched (and helped and fixed) more than a few seed-to-Series A+ startups burn precious runway by going with names that are unspellable, un-Google-able, hard to remember, or already trademarked in three countries. Yes, you can brute-force any name into a brand—if you’ve got lots of budget and time. Most founders don’t.
The Hidden Costs of a Bad Company Name
SEO black hole – dollars in paid search go to teaching buyers how to type your URL or fighting fake competitors with the same or similar names.
Sales friction—awareness–branding is 10x harder if no one can pronounce or remember your name, and your BD and sales reps lose 30 seconds on every intro call spelling the company name. Multiply that across 1,000 calls.
Pivot penalty – a product-specific or market-specific name that boxes you in when the roadmap (inevitably) shifts.
Legal whiplash – rebrands chew through legal fees, design costs, and hard-won mindshare.
R&D’s 5-Point Early-Moat Naming Framework
1️⃣ Demand-Signal Fit – start with the customer’s problem, not the founder’s pet pun. If the name doesn’t hint at the job-to-be-done, it’s out.
2️⃣ Elastic Edge – room to stretch from v1 feature to platform vision without sounding off-brand. Think “Slack” vs. “TeamChatMessengerPro.”
3️⃣ Friction-Free Recall – two-syllable test. Hard-stop on silent letters, forced capitalization, or hyphens. No-go if it's a generic name that people can recall, but not in your favor. If your parents can’t pronounce it on first glance, move on. Recall is really important; you're competing for mindshare writ large, not only in your category.
4️⃣ Ownable Real Estate – .com (or .co) + clean social handles + clear trademark path. No, “we’ll just use a dash for now.”
5️⃣ Story Fuel—your name should tee up a narrative—an origin story, mission, or metaphor—that investors and podcasters can repeat without a brand guide.
How We Apply It
Rescued a clean-tech startup from a Latin phrase no one could spell to a re-brand with a bold, single-word name that doubled direct search in 90 days.
Helped a hardware/software energy-tech tool pivot from leak detection to a complete field-ops platform by choosing a name elastic enough to cover the expanded TAM.
Takeaway
Your name is the first pitch slide, the first ad impression, the first investor search. It's expensive and vital real estate. Make it earn its keep. If you’re still A/B-testing vowels on a whiteboard, DM Diana Kaul or Rachael Shayne . We’ll pressure-test your shortlist—and save you six figures in future rebrand angst.
Next, we'll tackle the Brand ID (logo and color) mistakes we always see.
