Matt Wolf

🚨 The former CFO of Dropbox, Sujay Jaswa oversees the investment and operating activities as a founding partner at WndrCo, alongside media vet Jeffrey Katzenberg. He joins us for VC Wednesdays.🚨 🖋️  You recently closed a $460 million VC fund. Where are you looking to deploy that? Everything we do is around the idea of the future of work and helping people optimize how they get work done. That’s why we're investors in companies like Airtable, Figma, Databricks, Deel, 1Password and others. That won’t change, but now, you'll see us really focus on the applications of AI that will meaningfully disrupt how work gets done, like in finance, HR and customer support. 🖋️  Why should founders work with WndrCo? One thing that we do that's different is starting one to two companies a year in areas that we think have the potential to yield big returns. So, when we talk to entrepreneurs, our operating experience stays current, and that angle on venture is fairly unique. The second is that each partner at WndrCo has built something, so we have the empathy that comes from that experience. Third, we do only five to seven deals a year, versus bigger firms that do hundreds. Because we have a smaller portfolio, entrepreneurs can get a hold of literally every partner within a couple of hours, 365 days a year. 🖋️ Which startup pitch sticks out the most in your memory over others and why? My favorite is one that’s not a household name yet, even though the business is absolutely on fire. It’s Aura, an all-in-one product to protect you and your family online. The idea is that unlike the physical world, you have no idea what your kids are doing on their phones and devices. Aura gives parents the tools to navigate raising a kid in our mobile-first and digital-first world. When the founder, Hari Ravichandran, walked me through how he would take it to market, it was love at first sight. He's an extraordinary entrepreneur and the best go-to-market person I've ever met when it comes to consumer products. 🖋️ What’s one investment you regret passing on and why? At the end of the day, this whole business is built on being part of monster companies as early as possible. One of the best enterprise companies of the last decade is Databricks. The founder and CEO, Ali Ghodsi, is a very good friend of mine, and for whatever reason, it never occurred to me in the early years to twist his arm to try and let him take our money. We invested in Databricks later than I’d have liked to. 🖋️  What’s the biggest thing you’ve learned working with Jeffrey Katzenberg? The biggest thing I've learned is that you can't be him, and it’s impossible to keep up with him. He's relentless, and I have never met someone who works harder than him. If he says he's going to do something, no matter how hard, if it's within his capabilities, he'll do it. He's a doer, and he just gets stuff done. I admire that so tremendously. #VCWednesdays #vc #venturecapital #startups #TechonLinkedIn

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Big News: Peloton Interactive now does rental! 👀 Here's why I think it's a super smart play: One of the biggest issues Peloton faces? High price, high commitment product ($1,000s up front + monthly membership) And selling this in a notoriously fickle, flakey market (gym memberships and diet books go unused All. The. Time) Committing to owning a Peloton bike is a BIG decision for most people. However: 💡 Bringing in a rental option significantly increases the "conversion pool" of people who are willing to become a customer. Now, they're able to service three different types of customer: 1/ Those who are 100% committed and KNOW they'll use the product all the time. These people will still buy from new. 2/ Those who are committed, but are on the fence with regards to price. These people will still buy refurbished for a discount. 3/ Those who've heard of Peloton and like the idea, but are worried it'll just be another failed fitness attempt along with the unused diet books and gym memberships. Until recently, the only options for that third group were: 😤 Suck it up and pay 😭 Don't buy at all I'd guess that A LOT of people chose the latter. But now? Instead, you can: Rent a bike. Cancel anytime. Get the membership included. Buy your bike at any point. It's effectively a paid "try before you buy" that opens up a whole new world of customers for Peloton. Plus, they can now position themselves against a gym membership in a much stronger way. Why join a gym when you can get the equipment and classes in the convenience of your own home for a similar price? Overall, a super exciting move from Peloton. Seeing brands like this shift towards usage-based billing is incredibly validating of our vision for Supercycle 😎 P.S. I have thoughts on how Peloton has gone about pricing their offer. Would this be a useful separate post? Let me know in the comments. 

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Boston is one of the best cities in the world for sports AND startups. How many others can say that?? When I started MGMT Boston I wanted to explore the relationship between sports and startups in this city. Last week we co-hosted a breakfast with  Kristen Craft from Fidelity Private Shares to meet some startups and operators building (and interested) in Sports, Gaming & Wellness around the city to uncover some of these insights. If you’re a growing startup evaluating your cap table management tools, you need to get in touch with Kristen asap! Jon Von Deylen from Drive by DraftKings brought his learnings & investment perspective to the breakfast. Drive is a multi-stage venture fund that invests in SportsTech & Entertainment with founding partners who include DraftKings, General Catalyst, Accomplice, and Boston Seed Capital. Jon shared... 70% of people in the U.S. say they are sports fans which implies 180M adult fans 124M people watched Super Bowl LVIII and 68M of that audience gambled on the Super Bowl per the American Gaming Association This implies ~60M Americans did not gamble on the Super Bowl and that number would be upwards of 100M+ if you extrapolate to the broader sports fan figure of 180M As of their Q1 ‘24 filing, DraftKings Inc. had roughly 3.5M monthly active users. So even this $16B+ market leader only serves a small (albeit high value and growing) portion of the broader sports fan base. ❗🤸‍♂️ 💡 There’s a good argument to be made that there are some big businesses to be built catering to 100M+ casual fans. 💡🤸‍♂️ ❗ Ahead of the breakfast, I chatted with some members of the professional sports community to hear about their relationship with the local startup ecosystem. In short? It’s varied. Professional athletes get a ton of inbound interest across a variety of requests so they’re often playing defense and choosing from the myriad of opportunities in front of them (or not at all) with agents, managers, and advisors playing gatekeeper. It’s hard to audit quality and often “too hard” to figure out what is worth spending time on, especially with a high performance job where so much of your attention needs to be on the playing field. At our breakfast we had representation from Cephable, Ekkobar, eSki, WurQ, WHOOP, Mementix App, Modulate, SportsVisio, Shift Group and more. Thanks to all who made it.

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My Business Partner Samantha Rufo asked the Google AI what the future of the Ski Industry would be in a post. I thought it would be interesting to see what ChatGPT would "think". A much more thorough answer for sure although I think this all falls into the "Duh" catagory. What is the future of the ski resort industry? ChatGPT The future of the ski resort industry is shaped by several key trends and challenges: 1. Climate Change and Sustainability Impact: Warmer temperatures and reduced snowfall are major threats. Resorts at lower elevations are particularly vulnerable. Adaptations: Snowmaking: Increased reliance on artificial snow. Diversification: Expanding summer activities like mountain biking, hiking, and festivals. Sustainability Initiatives: Reducing carbon footprints and investing in renewable energy. 2. Technological Advancements Impact: Technology is enhancing the customer experience and operational efficiency. Innovations: Mobile Apps: Real-time information on weather, lift status, and wait times. RFID and GPS: For tracking skier movements and enhancing safety. AI and Big Data: Personalizing marketing and improving snowmaking efficiency. 3. Demographic Shifts Impact: Changes in the population and interests of younger generations affect demand. Strategies: Youth Engagement: Targeting younger generations through social media and school programs. Diversity and Inclusion: Creating more inclusive environments to attract a broader demographic. 4. Economic Factors Impact: Economic downturns and changes in disposable income can influence the number of visitors. Responses: Flexible Pricing: Dynamic pricing models to attract visitors during off-peak times. Value Packages: Bundling services to provide better value for money. 5. Health and Safety Concerns Impact: The COVID-19 pandemic has heightened awareness around health and safety. Measures: Enhanced Cleaning: Strict cleaning protocols for shared spaces. Contactless Services: Minimizing physical contact through digital solutions. 6. Competition and Consolidation Impact: The industry is seeing increased consolidation, with large companies acquiring smaller resorts. Outcomes: Economies of Scale: Larger companies can invest more in technology and infrastructure. Standardization: Improved consistency in service quality across locations. 7. Environmental Stewardship Impact: Growing environmental awareness among consumers. Initiatives: Eco-Friendly Practices: Reducing waste, protecting natural habitats, and promoting eco-friendly tourism. Certifications and Partnerships: Engaging in environmental certifications and partnering with conservation organizations. The ski resort industry is at a crossroads, requiring innovation and adaptability to navigate these challenges and capitalize on emerging opportunities.

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Growth-stage DTC brands know that scaling is a financial tug-of-war — every department is pulling for its share of the (budgetary) pie 🥧 In our most recent expert guide, Matt Weiler, founder of Second Star Ventures and interim CEO of Wells Group of New York, shares five tactical tips on strategic cross-functional finance: 1️⃣ Decide between tangible growth and buzz Balance investments in short-term ROI with hard-to-quantify activities. Collaborating across teams to align on needs will help you measure intangible results and focus on net profits per initiative. 2️⃣ Assess your decision risk Evaluate each business decision by mapping out assumptions for probability and measurability. Then consider how easily it can be reversed if it fails, and * only * proceed if the cost of failure is manageable. 3️⃣ Prepare for success just as you plan for failure Whip your ops into shape before you action on strategy. That way, when growth occurs, you can deliver what you promised your customers. For example, a successful product launch can still fail if you don’t have enough stock to meet demand. 4️⃣ Pay back your CAC quickly Tracking your LTV, CAC, and payback periods helps you monitor customer growth at all times. If you can’t pay back your CAC quickly, you can’t drive near-term ROI, making it tougher to increase LTV. 5️⃣ Use Drivepoint for cross-functional strategic finance Drivepoint enables you to easily create and compare financial scenarios, build accurate forecasts in minutes, and sync sales, accounting, and marketing data across all sales channels — for a holistic understanding of your business. Want to learn more? Matt breaks it down here: https://lnkd.in/gXc-f_5x

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Interesting take on the JWP Connatix merger and the state of things in online advertising....

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It’s a match! ❤️ 🚀 It’s very rare to find a company at the exact right time with the exact right team solving a problem everyone knows is big, in a way that is novel. I still remember feeling this “click” from my first ever interview at a SaaS company, 10 years ago when I joined the early team at Gainsight for what later would become a career-shaping ride. But that, exactly that, was my feeling with meeting Yaniv Makover and the amazing team at Anyword; As we were considering the path forward for Entor in the past couple of months, I met Yaniv through one of our shared investors: a fellow AI founder in a crazy market. Early to predict where the wind is blowing, Yaniv formed his first AI company a whole decade ago, working with the biggest publishers in the world - later leveraging this forward-thinking knowledge to establish a true leader in the AI for Performance Marketing space - growing organically in an amazing pace true to their unwavering focus on “AI that truly knows what works”, the highest bar for security and privacy, and true domain expertise rooted in years of data and experience. Meeting the team solidified it for me: these people are going to do something amazing, and their journey is only getting started. This summer, I’m proud to join Anyword as a Co-Founder and CRO and help the biggest brands in the world find their voice through the best AI platform for marketing ever created - all through an unwavering focus on *Performance* 🔝 If you’re a Marketer or a CEO looking to leverage the power of AI, but do so with a partner focused on business metrics, security, performance and science - not just hype, give us a call. I promise you’ll be hooked just like myself, and just like the marketing leaders of some of the biggest companies in the world already trusting Anyword with their tone of voice, and their AI strategy. And to team Anyword - thanks for granting me a seat in the front row on the rocketship. Can’t wait for the adventure ahead!

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I distilled 𝟭𝟯+ 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 of my go-to-market experience as a CMO/VP/Head of Product into this 𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲👇 So, if you need help building a go-to-market plan, this resource is for you. I originally built this for myself for my consultation work. → I wanted a template that covered all of the key considerations in an effective and efficient go-to-market engine. → While also still being lightweight enough to be completed quickly (and no more than ~2 pages if printed out). Here's a summary of what the template covers: 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝟭 - 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆 • 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗳𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗼 - what you stand for, the change you're championing, why you should be trusted • 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁 - the urgent & important problem you're solving and how you're solving it better than alternatives • 𝗧𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿 - segments, ICP and buying committee 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝟮 - 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗕𝘂𝘆𝗲𝗿'𝘀 𝗣𝘀𝘆𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆 • 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆'𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝘂𝘆 - jobs to be done, buying triggers • 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝘄𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝗯𝘂𝘆 - objections, fears, alternatives • 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗹𝘀 they trust - where they learn and make decisions 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝟯 - 𝗣𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝗠𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 & 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 • 𝗣𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 and 𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 - per customer segment • 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 strategy - how you price vs the market 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝟰 - 𝗚𝗼-𝗧𝗼-𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁 𝗙𝘂𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗹 • GTM 𝗠𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 - sales-led, PLG, etc. • 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗪𝗲'𝗹𝗹 𝗪𝗶𝗻 - one sentence statement uniting GTM teams • 𝗗𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗱 Gen - how you'll generate demand • 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗚𝗲𝗻 - how you'll collect demand • 𝗦𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀 - how you'll prospect, nurture and close • 𝗖𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝗦𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 - how you'll grow revenue 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝟱 - 𝗠𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗦𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 • 𝗢𝗯𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀, 𝗧𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗲𝘁𝘀 and 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘀 - for Product, Marketing, Sales and CS As I said, it is comprehensive. But as you can see below, it's all done in a lean package. ___ Want the FREE template? 👉 The 𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗮𝗻 𝗲𝘅𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲 using a fictional company to help guide you through it. 1. CONNECT with me    ❗don't miss this step, I can't send you the post without :) ❗ 2. LIKE this post 3. COMMENT "GTM" And I'll share it straight with you :) Plus all my future training videos on it. ___ So why am I doing this? → Help better define what a GTM strategy consists of → Help others get a head start building theirs → Get your feedback to make the template better :) So what are you waiting for? ___ ✍️ Connect with me, like the post and comment "GTM" to get the template. ♻️ Reshare if you found valuable. #B2B #B2BMarketing #B2BMarketingStrategy #GoToMarket #Marketing #SaaS #Enterprise #BrandAwareness #DemandGen #LeadGen  #Sales #Data #ROI

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April was a big month for the Everything Marketplaces community! Here's a few highlights from our monthly roundup & recap post that I shared: -We're now 2,300+ marketplace founders & teams in the community -We had really incredible group chats with Casey Winters, Sara Mauskopf from Winnie, & Marco Zappacosta from Thumbtack -We had lots of other online events like our female founders meeting, fundraising meeting, & weekly office hours -We had meetups in New York City (at FJ Labs) & San Francisco (at Craft Ventures) -We had lots of founders share wins like launches, closing funding rounds, & also hitting major growth milestones + lots more Looking forward to another big month in May and also sharing some exciting news for the community soon!

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🚀 Venture debt covenants might sound like a small part of the deal, but they carry huge implications for your startup’s future. 📈 You need to be strategic in your negotiations to avoid any pitfalls down the road. It’s all about setting yourself up for success, not stress. Dive into more details in the original Kruze Consulting post. The link is in the 1st comment. 👇

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Excited to announce that Stigg has raised $17.5M in Series A funding! 🎉 Stigg is revolutionizing how software companies build and manage pricing models by introducing the first unified monetization platform for engineers. On a personal level, the story of Dor Sasson and Anton Zagrebelny is super interesting and inspiring, all the way from early ideation and co-founder search, to the exceptional product Stigg is today, and the exceptional team that makes this magic happen!

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A lot of board directors don't understand marketing -- much less the art and science of it. This isn't surprising since only 4% of Fortune 1000 board directors have marketing roles in their bio. This dissonance can make it difficult for CMOs to engage effectively with their board and harder still to secure a board seat themselves. Join me on Thursday at 1pm ET along with an amazing group of executives, investors, and board directors (Steve Byrne, Sandra Lopez, Matan Hazanov) to share insights on how CMOs can successfully manage the board expectations and nail every single meeting. Link to RSVP in the comments. #CMOLeadership #BoardroomStrategies #Mavuus

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Last night, while in town for GAI Insights #GenerativeAIWorld, I co-hosted a dinner with long time friend Dave Balter and True Ventures, gathering top minds in AI, VC, and entrepreneurship in Boston. BrandRank.AI CTO Matt Cox (based in Boston w/our tech team) and investor Bill Hildebolt of gen.video joined us. We dove into how AI is revolutionizing productivity across industries. The consensus? AI literacy is becoming as crucial as digital literacy was a decade ago. Our discussion centered around four key themes: - AI'S IMPACT ON BUSINESS: From automating tasks to enhancing decision-making, AI is transforming how companies operate and compete. - HUMAN-AI COLLABORATION: We explored the potential of AI as a creative partner and decision-making tool, and the implications for various industries. (Perfect timing for CincyAI for Humans (CincyAI) one-year anniversary celebration today.) - THE FUTURE OF WORK: We debated which jobs might be displaced, which new roles will emerge, and how to prepare for an AI-driven workforce. - ETHICAL AI AND BRAND PERCEPTION: Our work at BrandRank.AI is showing how AI can reveal uncomfortable truths about brands, raising questions about transparency and authenticity. (Are LLMs are too smart for BS!) What jumped out in the conversation is that AI isn't just a tool – it's becoming a collaborator, creator, and potential competitor. Are we ready for AI in boardrooms, creative processes, and as the primary interface for brand interactions? The entrepreneurial energy was palpable as we explored opportunities in AI-driven health monitoring and human-AI creative collaboration -- this balanced with ethical considerations and the responsibility we bear as leaders in this space. The future of business is AI-collaborative. Are we prepared to be good partners? This discussion echoed the conference's sentiment, bolstered by outstanding presentation by MIT and HBS faculty: we're in an unprecedented moment of disruption. It's not just a technological shift, but a fundamental reimagining of work, creativity, and interaction. (Amazing conference so far Paul Baier, John Sviokla Liz Vanzura) Great time to be an entrepreneur! And the ultimate test for leadership! Thanks Dave, Gus Coldebella and True team for great and timely conversation. Kelly Cohen Hank Hudepohl Carl Fraik Aftab Pureval Kendra Ramirez Christopher Brock Jon Salisbury Helen Todd (Human) Jon Salisbury Jack Wyant MJ Price 🌱Lauren Morgenstein Schiavone Judy Zitnik Christopher Morse Christy Page Jocile Ehrlich Lee Beech Tracey Cooke Sherrie Kinderdine Adriana Altuve Chetan Parekh Diana Takach Jonathan Carson

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Bravo to Julie Crabill and the team at Fathom.org for this eye-opening, nuanced take on #AI's impact on American society. The research indicates not just the business and productivity impacts of AI we like to talk about, but also impacts on public policy, bipartisan viewpoints, and the growing lack of trust in the tech companies who are on the forefront of AI development. A great read and something for me to keep in mind as I work with organizations grappling with AI. Marie Gill, Gina Jeneroux, MBA FLPI, Mark Wayman, Allie K. Miller ORG AI Download the report from the Fathom site. https://fathom.org/

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What makes someone a thought leader? The answer is inside the WSJ's review of Bill Simmons' Book of Basketball. (Pictured here, in my bathroom, to the left of Pete the Cat) 1. Develop strong differentiated opinions that "gush out of you". If you're an expert in your space, you probably already have these. But maybe they're so obvious to you, you don't recognize them as strong opinions. Identify the ideas that make you want to yell and punch things. Those are your spicy opinions. 2. Back up your opinions with "serious research." This ensures your strong opinions don't make you sound crazy - but instead sharper and more tuned into reality than everyone else. 3. Extract the takeaways from events or stories that no one else can see using "offhand observations". If you know the space well, youre probably good at understanding the meaning behind the trends and stories in your industry. These observations reveal that you're more than your opinions. You're a lens that helps your audience see important industry matters in 20/20 as they happen. 4. Use your "provocative arguments" to stir up audience conversations. People are drawn to tension, change, controversy. They tend to pay closer attention and react more passionately when they come across an opinion they haven't heard of or accepted before. Lean into that tension - it will spark the type of conversations you want to lead. And you will be seen as a leader for it. And one thing I'lll add to the list - Write like you talk. Bill Simmons' is a beloved sports writer because he makes you feel like he's having a conversation with you. Master this and you won't just have followers, you'll have friends.

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I hopped on with Adam LaGreca at 10KMedia to go deep on incident response. We covered a variety of topics: 🛳️ Why pragmatism is important 📊 The fact that leadership want fewer, severe incidents, and don't view them as 'opportunities' ✨ How we're thinking about AI in incident response 🔮 Where we're headed in the future 🎧 Listen more in the link below!

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Top 5 Strategies for Growing Your Podcast Audience, an interview with Chad Silverstein Some really good nuggets in here... many, for what it's worth, are equally applicable to building any brand -- not just media or personality.

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🎧🍌 New podcast out today with Austin Rief, Co-founder and CEO of Morning Brew, WSJ for the next generation. Austin and co-founder Alex Lieberman started the company in 2016, and grew it to 6 million subscribers and $70 million in revenue in six years. We talk through the early days of Morning Brew while students at the University of Michigan, and Austin's playbook for starting a new media company from scratch today. We get into the creator economy, early stage investing math, ad based business models and how agencies work, acquiring subscribers for two cents as the first advertiser on Instagram Stories, advice for hiring, and his secret for hiring remote talent in Sri Lanka. Link to full episode in the comments!

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Every company & every product has a name. Yet, few folks truly know how to name one. I’ve named companies and products for startups and big brands. I wrote a post this week about naming the Uber One subscription, and Paul A. responded with a request to write a post about the process. Challenge accepted! Let's start by saying that there are plenty of successful companies and products with bad names. Facebook (so lame), Spotify (what), and even Instagram (now everyone just calls it IG). But a good name is a tailwind. And building a business is all about generating tailwinds. Scrub Daddy - instantly makes it fun Shark - a vacuum that looks like a shark and a name you won’t forget Airbnb - fun and easy to remember—unlike VRBO Apple - for a computer! Love it Skims - so simple So, how do you name a company or product? Here are steps to a simple & comprehensive naming process. Step 1 - Brainstorm A well-structured brainstorm is key. You need the right people in the room, with the right prompts, in an environment comfortable enough for all ideas. The goal is to generate as many names as possible. This is a good opportunity to include stakeholders so they feel part of the input. Step 2 - Evalutation criteria Be specific about your needs, and exhaustive. Your criteria will generally have things like: Trademarking - can we own the trademark in our category? Domains available - if a company, what domains can we get? Internationalization - does this word have meanings in other languages? I recently heard about a startup named Corva, a very bad word for anyone who speaks a Slavic language. Don’t make this simple mistake! Alternate meanings - does this name have multiple meanings? Connotations test - Positive or negative connotations? Relatedness - does this communicate a key aspect of our product? Differentiated - how different is this from our competitors? Etc. Make sure your stakeholders approve the criteria! Your criteria will likely remove 90% of your ideas to help you filter. I recommend using a spreadsheet with your criteria as columns. This creates a simple tool to filter names by criteria easily. Step 3 - Picking a name The hardest part of the process is buy-in. Naming is more of an art than a science. I've generally used a voting process. Some tips: - Put the final names into a deck with the finalists used on the website, packaging, ads, etc., so your team can see it in situ. - DO NOT include the internal code name. It will always win the top votes as it is the most familiar. Even your smartest, most discerning colleagues will fall for the familiarity trap. I saw it at Uber many times. Step 4 - Sell it Unveil the name with a splash! We often did this by creating fun campaign examples with the new name. We made social media posts, billboards, and even ad campaigns to show the team how the name would bring their work to life. Happy naming!

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