Coming up with the right name for a company or a product shouldn't be treated as a science -- but it's not monkey business either. So argue the guys at A Hundred Monkeys, in Sausalito, California.
The Internet-startup boom has spawned lots of fast-growing companies, lots of high-profile meltdowns, and lots of really bad names. Some names don't really mean anything: Agilent, Aquent, Avilent -- ad nauseum. Some names merely attach the Internet's favorite letter to some obvious words: eSpeed, e-Steel, eToys. Perilous stuff, this question of corporate identity. All the more reason to make the process of choosing a name as surefire and scientific as possible: Bring on the marketing research and the linguistic analysis! Fire up the selection software and the naming databases! Right?
Not according to A Hundred Monkeys, a two-man outfit that's based in Sausalito, California. The best way to succeed in the name game, the Monkeys argue, is to scrap the pseudoscience and go with the gut. "Naming is completely subjective and creative," says creative director Danny Altman, 55, who started the business as a part-time venture in 1992. "Ideally, you want to find a name that taps into associations people have, either consciously or unconsciously, with words in popular culture that already have certain meanings or connotations."
Showing posts with label Experts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Experts. Show all posts
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Narrow Minded "Experts"
I'm not sure how many of you have come across this type of thing before but I cant for the life of me understand people sometimes.
A couple weeks back I had the opportunity to have an afternoon with who could easily be argued as one of South Africa's biggest residential property investors, someone I have been following for many years and to my absolute surprise I couldn't believe how narrow minded he was.
We got talking about various ideas one of which was the investment opportunity in the JHB CBD and he was absolutely shocked, "never really thought about it" were his comments. We then went through our actual figures, not research figures, real hard numbers from properties we own in the CBD and again, complete amazement.
The conversation continued and we eventually got back into talking CBD when he proposed a partnership where by he would invest cash as an injection and we would leverage this into bigger properties. We eventually agreed on a proposal and structure for the investment and over a few meetings agreed to get going.
We are now entering into a period were the first project is in sight and the investment is required and he is not sure if he wants to risk investing in this frightening territory of JHB CBD.
Now this is a man with many many millions of rands, many hundreds of properties and about a dozen businesses. How has he done it?
My point is this, as an entrepreneur you need to move quickly and be ready to investigate new ideas and take new opportunities, particularly when they are right in your "circle of competence" as Buffet puts it. You need to be honest with the people you deal with and above all have integrity when making commitments.
However there is a phrase for those who deliberate to long, its called "analysis paralysis" and its a killer of dreams and ideas. Do the research, make a decission to go for it and then put your head down and GO.
A couple weeks back I had the opportunity to have an afternoon with who could easily be argued as one of South Africa's biggest residential property investors, someone I have been following for many years and to my absolute surprise I couldn't believe how narrow minded he was.
We got talking about various ideas one of which was the investment opportunity in the JHB CBD and he was absolutely shocked, "never really thought about it" were his comments. We then went through our actual figures, not research figures, real hard numbers from properties we own in the CBD and again, complete amazement.
The conversation continued and we eventually got back into talking CBD when he proposed a partnership where by he would invest cash as an injection and we would leverage this into bigger properties. We eventually agreed on a proposal and structure for the investment and over a few meetings agreed to get going.
We are now entering into a period were the first project is in sight and the investment is required and he is not sure if he wants to risk investing in this frightening territory of JHB CBD.
Now this is a man with many many millions of rands, many hundreds of properties and about a dozen businesses. How has he done it?
My point is this, as an entrepreneur you need to move quickly and be ready to investigate new ideas and take new opportunities, particularly when they are right in your "circle of competence" as Buffet puts it. You need to be honest with the people you deal with and above all have integrity when making commitments.
However there is a phrase for those who deliberate to long, its called "analysis paralysis" and its a killer of dreams and ideas. Do the research, make a decission to go for it and then put your head down and GO.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
