Stop Worrying About the Name of Your Business and Start Worrying About Your Product

You want to get recognized? Earn it!

As asked to me a few episodes ago on the #AskGaryVeeShow, somebody wanted to know the science behind coming up with a suitable business name. Science!?! This is business. There’s no secret formula. You gotta earn your keeps in this game, my friends.

A NAME IS MADE.

Yes, there’s a large part of me that believes in serendipity and good-timing, but there’s no such thing as luck without a whole lot of hustle and sweat. I have some friends that sit around and spend wayyyyy too much time trying to figure out the name for their startup. What did “Google” or “Facebook” mean to anybody when they weren’t the household names we know today? None of these words mean ANYTHING until they’re SOMETHING.

Some people even email me saying they don’t like their own last name. My response? You’re emailing Gary VAY-NER-CHUK. Let’s call it what it is, Vaynerchuk SUCKS. And yea, they’ll be those that tell me it’s unique and kind of cool, and I get that – BUT, my name is only “good” because I made something out of it.

And so, what does a name actually mean? To me? NOTHING.

I actually think a new trend in this short-form world we live in will be that most business names will start getting abbreviated. People used to call me “V-Chuk” because they didn’t want to call me by “Vaynerchuk,” and that became my slang last name. The moral here is that we will evolve our name to our convenience so long as what we’re delivering brings VALUE.

You want my $.02? Stop getting caught up on coming up with the next big name. Yes, there’s some marketing power behind a good name, but at the end of the day, if the product sucks, then the name means nothing. Start focusing on what you’re going to deliver and how you’re going to deliver it. When people hear your name they’re not going to think about how creative or clever it is; They’re going to associate your name with the experience at hand. So, stop worrying about the name and start worrying about the product. 

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Know somebody that’s starting a new venture? Show them this when they start hounding you over what they should name their business