You're building something genuinely new. You know what it does. You know why it matters. But when someone asks you to explain it, you're reaching for analogies, caveats, and a lot of "well, it's kind of like..."

Here's what most people get wrong: they think the name needs to solve the explanation problem. So they pick something descriptive. Something that tells people what the thing is, as if clarity now will make up for the category that doesn't exist yet.

It won't.

A name that tries to explain itself is still just explaining. It anchors to today's understanding instead of tomorrow's positioning. And when the market matures and the category forms around you, you're stuck with a name that tells the old story.

The brands that win in ambiguous markets name the idea.

Think about what Salesforce did. "The cloud" wasn't a category people recognized in 2000. But the name didn't try to explain their new approach to CRM solutions. It planted a flag. It gave the market something to orbit. Over time, the category grew toward the name, not the other way around.

That's what a strong name does in a space without guardrails: it creates the guardrails.

When there's no category, you're not positioning against competitors. You're positioning against confusion. The name has to do something harder than stand out. It has to stand firm. It needs to signal authority, invite curiosity, and hold its meaning even as the market around it shifts.

That's a different ask than naming something in an established space. In a crowded category, you're differentiating. In an undefined one, you're declaring.

The declaration has to come first. The explanation follows.

So what does that look like in practice?

Stop asking "does this name describe what we do?" Start asking "does this name signal what we believe?" Belief is a more durable anchor than description. It gives early adopters something to buy into. It gives journalists something to write about. It gives the market a way to talk about you before they fully understand you.

A name that captures your point of view will outlast any explanation. And when the category finally catches up, people will point to it as a great name.

That's the goal. Not recognition on day one. Respect over time.