The Name

When I named Lifeboat, I was working for another company while knowing I would soon be fired. I could feel all of my effort being wasted and knew I needed to finally start something of my own if I was ever going to escape the rat race, and I needed to do it fast. Lifeboat was my literal lifeboat. I never explained the reasoning for the name and I never really knew if people got it or not. But the brand was a success and garnered a lot of respect from my peers. Time was of the essence, and I just picked a name that felt right because I had to start.

When I named Syndicate, it represented a movement within the industry. Most of the larger successful companies making good money in the industry were not owned by scooter riders. At the time, I was becoming very vocal about how important it is that riders step up and take back control of our own industry. I had a bit more time when naming Syndicate and went through the usual spirals over weeks and months as one would expect. But eventually, somehow, the name came to me and I looked up the meaning just to double-check I had it right. "A group of individuals combined to promote a common interest". Yup, perfect!

The business partner I later brought into Lifeboat thought the name was lacking and wanted to brainstorm other options. Minimum, Lyfe, and Empire were some of the names on the list already when he blurted out "What about NATIVE". He didn’t know that years earlier a friend of mine started a brand called NATIVE that he was no longer working on. I’d always loved the name and knew so many others did too. I called my friend and got his blessing to carry on the name and that was that.

Lifeboat and Syndicate were a mix of very literal names that also, kind of, sounded cool. At least to me and the friends I was asking at the time. While NATIVE had some equity in our community already and just worked.

When it comes to names, I think one should focus mostly on not picking a bad name, as annoyingly subjective as that may sound. I would avoid incorrect spelling too.

You should like it, and if it can make sense by association to the thing you specialise in then that's an obvious bonus.

But after that, it’s something that you add value to over time with quality product, service, content, etc. You have to make it good.

 

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