The name matters much less than the words next to it. Nobody bought Slack because of the word Slack, they bought it because the line underneath said what it replaced. You need a name that is easy to say, spell and search, that is legally clear in the markets you sell in, and that will not trap you when you add a second product. The decision that actually deserves your week is the category word you put after the name, because that word tells a buyer who you compete with, what you should cost and what features you are expected to have. Get the name good enough, then spend the real time on the category.
4 hand-picked resources, 1 India-specific, 4 link-checked. Pick how you want to dig in.
Why we picked it Explains why the category word next to your name does more work than the name itself: call yourself email and you inherit email's competitors, price and expected features. This is the argument for spending your effort on the descriptor.
From aprildunford.com by April Dunford 8 min read
Open aprildunford.com →Why we picked it A practical checklist for the mechanical parts of naming: trademark and domain screening, pronounceability, cultural checks across markets, and not picking a name so specific that your next product cannot live under it.
From Stripe 14 min read
Open stripe.com →Why we picked it Dunford's rule that you build for the champion rather than for every persona in the account settles the buyer versus user argument faster than any framework. It also stops teams building four sets of messaging they will never maintain.
From aprildunford.substack.com by April Dunford 14 min read
Open aprildunford.substack.com →Why we picked it Walks an Indian SaaS team from positioning through story, style guide and proof, with Keka and Chargebee as worked examples rather than American ones. Useful for seeing where brand work sits relative to the positioning decision.
From Inc42 by Komal Ahuja 10 min read
Open inc42.com →How positioning and messaging reads from a different seat.
The same ground, over in Understand your customers, our Starting Up track.
