Lenny's PodcastDavid Placek: Why a name your team likes is the wrong name
Through Lexicon's polarization test and sound symbolism research; Sonos was rejected as not entertainment-like before becoming a billion-dollar asset.
At a glance
WHAT IT’S REALLY ABOUT
Naming expert reveals bold, scientific process behind billion-dollar brands
- Naming legend David Placek, founder of Lexicon Branding, explains why a name is a product’s single most enduring and leverageable asset, and why great names almost always feel uncomfortable and polarizing at first. He walks through Lexicon’s three-step process—identify, invent, implement—showing how they blend behavioral insight, deep linguistics, and disciplined creativity to develop names like Sonos, Azure, Vercel, Windsurf, BlackBerry, and Pentium. Placek emphasizes that strong names create cumulative and asymmetric advantage by being distinctive, evocative, and easy for the brain to process, not merely descriptive. He also offers a lightweight framework and practical exercises founders and product teams can use to name products on their own when they lack time or budget.
IDEAS WORTH REMEMBERING
5 ideasA name is your most used, most enduring brand asset.
Design, messaging, and even products will change, but the name is repeated more than any other brand element; a distinctive, memorable name compounds in value over time (cumulative advantage) and can give you a head start at launch (asymmetric advantage).
If everyone is comfortable, the name probably isn’t strong enough.
Teams naturally seek comfort and precedent, which pushes them toward descriptive, forgettable names; Placek intentionally looks for discomfort and internal polarization as a signal the name is bold, different, and has real marketplace energy.
Don’t expect to ‘know it when you see it’—you almost never do.
Founders assume the right name will be instantly obvious, but in practice strong names (Sonos, Azure, BlackBerry, Pentium) are often rejected initially because they don’t match existing mental patterns; they require reflection, context, and imagining execution.
Start with behavior and experience, not mission statements or descriptors.
Lexicon’s discovery work focuses on how the company behaves today, how it wants to behave in the future, and what experience it wants to create, then translates that into rhythm, sound, and metaphor—rather than starting from values decks or literal descriptions.
Use disciplined, small-team creativity backed by linguistic science.
Instead of big brainstorms, Lexicon uses 2–3 tiny teams with different (sometimes fake) briefs, then layers in research on sound symbolism (e.g., V as vibrant, B as reliable, Z as noisy) and a global linguist network to refine thousands of raw ideas into a few viable options.
WORDS WORTH SAVING
5 quotesYour brand name, whether it's a product name or a company name, nothing's going to be used more often or for longer than that name.
— David Placek
If your team is comfortable with the name, chances are you don't have the name yet.
— David Placek
Most clients come to a naming project absolutely believing with full confidence that they're going to know it when they see it—and the truth is, it almost never happens.
— David Placek
Polarization is a sign of strength in the word.
— David Placek
You don't want to make a statement here. You want to start a story.
— David Placek
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