The name that boxes you in.

Strategy · 5 min read

A client came to me with an education app targeting apprentices in a specific trade. The natural instinct was to put "apprentice" right there in the name. It made sense for the MVP. Apprentices were the first users. The content was built for apprentices. Everything about the first version of the app was designed around apprentices. So why wouldn't you name it after them?

Because the app wasn't going to stay there. The long-term plan included licensed professionals needing refresher courses. International markets where the apprenticeship system works differently. Experienced practitioners who wanted to stay current. A name with "apprentice" in it would have communicated "this isn't for you" to every one of those future audiences.

The name that feels perfect today might be the thing that holds you back in two years. And renaming a product that already has users is one of the hardest things to do in business.

Your MVP audience is not your only audience

I talk a lot about starting small. Launch in one suburb, not the whole country. Target one user group, not everyone. That advice is solid for your product strategy. But it can be dangerous for your brand strategy. Because if your name is as narrow as your MVP, you'll outgrow the name before you outgrow the product.

Think about it this way. Your product roadmap has phases. Phase one might target apprentices. Phase two adds licensed professionals. Phase three goes international. Your name needs to work for all three phases, even though you're only building phase one right now. That doesn't mean the name has to be generic or vague. It means the name has to be flexible enough to grow.

Harvard Business Review research on brand naming showed that names tied too closely to a first target market become a ceiling. They work brilliantly at the start. Then they become the reason potential users in the second market look elsewhere. The name tells them "this isn't for me" before they ever open the app.

Test the name in two years, not just today

When I'm working with a client on naming, I ask a question that catches most people off guard. "If someone in your phase three market heard this name, would they think the product was for them?" If the answer is no, the name is too narrow. It might convert beautifully in the first six months and then become the biggest obstacle to growth.

We also learned to gather input from people outside the immediate market. One client was considering a name that sounded strong in Australia but had an unintended meaning in another English-speaking market they planned to expand into. Getting international feedback early saved them from a rebrand later. It's a small step that prevents an expensive problem.

The trick is finding a name that resonates with your first users without excluding your future ones. That's harder than just naming it after the obvious thing. But it's worth the extra thought. Because a name makes a promise, and that promise needs to hold up not just today but for the entire life of the product.

How to find the right level of specificity

Write down your MVP audience. Now write down your phase two audience. And your phase three. Look at what those groups have in common. The name should live in that overlap. For my client, the overlap wasn't "apprentice." It was the broader concept of professional development in that trade. A name built around that concept spoke to apprentices and licensed professionals alike.

You don't need to be so broad that the name could mean anything. That's the other trap. A name so generic it tells nobody what the app does. The sweet spot is specific enough that your first users feel seen, but flexible enough that your future users don't feel excluded. It's a narrow band, but it's worth finding.

So before you fall in love with a name because it describes your MVP perfectly, ask yourself: will this name still work when the product is bigger than the MVP? If not, keep looking. The name that grows with you is worth more than the name that fits perfectly right now but becomes a constraint the moment you succeed.

Sources
Brand Names That Won't Limit Your Growth (Harvard Business Review, 2020) - Brand names need to work beyond the first target market, or they become a ceiling.

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How to name your app without overthinking it →

When your app name makes a promise →

Start in one suburb, not the whole country →