My First Million · Video summary

This guy names billion dollar startups for a living, here’s his exact 3-step formula.

The right name provides an asymmetric advantage, leveraging high frequency and compounding value. It must capture attention, hold it through processing fluency, and be surprising, not comfortable.

My First Million · March 13, 2026 · 58-min episode · 6-min read

This guy names billion dollar startups for a living, here’s his exact 3-step formula.

Key takeaways

🎯A company's name is used more often and for longer than anything else in its brand, making its selection a high-leverage activity that compounds over time.01:28
💡The 'right name' achieves three critical functions: capturing attention in a noisy market, holding it via processing fluency (easy to pronounce and understand), and being surprising, not comfortable, to stand out.02:51
🚀When naming, focus on capturing attention, ensuring processing fluency, and aiming for surprise rather than comfort.02:51
📈Names like 'Swiffer' and 'Impossible Burger' demonstrate the power of a surprising, benefit-oriented name to create a massive market advantage over comfortable, descriptive names like 'ProMop' or 'Natural Farms'.04:48
🔍The naming process involves a 'creative curiosity' approach: understanding the landscape, the product, consumer needs, defining 'winning,' and then articulating a strategy before generating names.10:40
🚀Generating a large quantity of diverse names (thousands, not dozens) is crucial, as quantity leads to quality, and this 'treasure hunt' phase involves exploring many unrelated concepts and linguistic roots.17:18

Chapters

0:00🎯 Introduction and importance of naming
0:22🎯 Examples of successful names
2:10🎯 The power of a good name
2:49🎯 Three key functions of a name
3:49🎯 Case studies: Swiffer vs. Ready Mop
5:20🎯 Factors influencing name success
6:05🎯 Creating instant value with a name
17:03🎯 Name generation process
27:20🎯 Managing creativity and team dynamics
45:00🎯 Presentation and testing of names
47:11🎯 Handling polarizing names and the 'comfort trap'
48:31🎯 When to change a name
50:50🎯 Naming in politics and branding slogans
51:59🎯 Recommended books on marketing and creativity
53:43🎯 The impact of AI on naming
55:00🎯 Pricing and services
56:50🎯 Encouraging creative freedom
57:12🎯 Wrap-up and insights

The digest

High-Level Overview

This discussion demystifies the art and science behind naming billion-dollar startups, emphasizing why selecting the right name is crucial to building lasting brand equity and competitive advantage. The conversation unpacks a structured naming process, highlights key criteria for effective names, and shares real-world examples and creative strategies. It is essential viewing for entrepreneurs, marketers, product managers, and branding professionals seeking to understand how a name can shape a startup’s trajectory from launch to market leadership.

Keep reading in The Digest

The full 6-minute article, 14 more sections, and every new episode from My First Million and the creators you follow.

The Critical Importance of Naming [00:20–03:30]
Distinguishing the Right Name from the Merely Good [07:30–10:00]
A Detailed 3-Step Naming Process Illustrated with a Hypothetical Fiber Brand [10:00–23:00]
Tools, Linguistics, and Cognitive Science in Naming [32:00–35:00]
Managing Creativity and Encouraging Courage in Naming Teams [27:00–31:00]
The “Comfort Trap” and the Value of Polarizing Names [46:00–48:00]
When and How to Change a Startup’s Name [48:30–50:30]
Real-World Naming Examples and Scoring Current Tech Brands [38:00–43:00]
Naming Beyond Companies: Political Slogans and Marketing Wisdom [50:30–53:30]
AI’s Impact on the Naming Industry [53:30–54:40]
Practical Pricing and Client Engagement [54:40–56:00]
Key Framework: The 3-Step Naming Formula
Practical Implications & Takeaways
Action-Oriented Summary: How to Name Your Startup Effectively

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