Posted in Bad Names, Company Names, Metaphor, Names, Startup Names, Tweaked Word Names on June 12th, 2007 4 Comments »
Duncan Riley has posted on TechCrunch about Incuby, a social network where inventors can promote their inventions. The Name Inspector thinks this is a great idea for a web business. But not a great name for one. Clearly it’s intended to be a fun tweak of incubator, which is what we call organizations that help [...]
Posted in Bad Names, Company Names, Large Names, Names, Phrase Names, Startup Names, Types of Name on May 24th, 2007 3 Comments »
Most company names consist of just one or two meaningful parts. That makes sense, because brevity is important in a name for several reasons: memorability, simplicity of pronunciation, ease of writing and typing, and graphic compactness in a logo. So crowded is the space of names, however, that people have been forced into three-meaningful-part territory. [...]
Posted in Bad Names, Company Names, Iconic Names, Large Names, Names, Phrase Names on May 7th, 2007 3 Comments »
Have you noticed that your local Kinko’s has become FedEx Kinko’s? Kinko’s is known for having a laid-back corporate culture. Maybe a little too laid back. The Name Inspector once went to a 24-hour Kinko’s in Manhattan, and there was no one there. Not only were there no other customers, but there were no employees, [...]
Posted in Bad Names, Company Names, Metaphor, Names, Phrase Names, Startup Names on March 2nd, 2007 12 Comments »
If you found the title of this post a little confusing, then you have some idea what’s wrong with the name Tenacious Offense. This name belongs to young Seattle-based company that seems to be a kind of rent-a-bizdev team for small startups trying to land big clients. Thanks to Brant Williams for writing and sharing [...]
Posted in Bad Names, Naming Stories on February 5th, 2007 1 Comment »
The Name Inspector would like to thank Michael Laine and Brian Dunbar for their gracious responses to his critical comments about the name LiftPort. Brian links to the critique in a good-natured post. In a comment Michael vows to impress the world with results rather than words. That’s really what matters, isn’t it? In the [...]
Posted in Bad Names, Company Names, Compound Names, Names, Naming Stories on February 2nd, 2007 10 Comments »
Some of the Name Inspector’s readers have commented that the posts so far have all been pretty positive. While he has made a conscious decision to play nice until people get to know him, the Name Inspector is not all bunnies and butterflies. Here’s a story about a name that doesn’t work, bravely submitted by [...]
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