Naming expert shares the process behind creating billion-dollar brand names like Azure, Vercel, Windsurf, Sonos, Blackberry, and Impossible Burger

David Placek is the founder of Lexicon Branding, a firm that pioneered brand naming and created names such as Azure, Vercel, Windsurf, Sonos, Blackberry, and Impossible Burger. In this conversation with Lenny Rachitsky, he walks through Lexicon's three-stage naming process (identify, invent, implement), the role of linguistics and sound symbolism, and practical exercises founders can use to find a strong name quickly.

01Key learnings

• Expect that you won't recognize the right name immediately; Placek says clients almost always believe they will, but it rarely happens, so plan for iteration.
• Treat a strong brand name as a long-lasting asset, since it is used more often and for longer than design, messaging, or products, creating cumulative advantage over time.
• Seek distinctiveness over descriptiveness; a descriptive name like 'Cloud Pro' blends into a crowded market, while a distinctive one can create asymmetric advantage from day one.
• Be wary of team comfort: if everyone loves the name, it may be too safe. Look for polarization, which Placek treats as a sign of energy and strength in a name.
• Run naming work across several small teams with differently framed briefs, including disguised or unrelated product categories, since Lexicon found the best names often came from these freer groups rather than large brainstorms.
• Use a diamond exercise with your team: define what winning means, what you already have to win, what you need to win, and what you need to say, then generate hundreds of names without evaluating them yet.
• Test names by asking how the name makes people feel or what it could do for them, not whether they like it; a good reaction is 'they're not like the other guys.'
• Prioritize the right name over a .com; domain availability matters less now, and a prefix, suffix, or alternate domain extension can work if needed.

02Frameworks mentioned

Summary and takeaways written by PM Atlas; quotes are short excerpts. © the original author.