Brand-naming agency
An agency that names brands, products, and startups, monetized via flat project fees plus optional trademark research.
The idea, in plain language
An agency that names brands, products and startups, monetised via flat project fees plus optional trademark research, with MFM and Greg Isenberg carrying almost the entire conversation and one Starter Story-style founder revenue story absent. Quoted numbers are sparse — the closest is Sam Parr's $15K branding agency engagement for Hampton and his $25K naming-agency cautionary tale — with the rest of the videos debating naming frameworks, 'power letters', the 'telephone test', the 'quantity-leads-to-quality' brainstorm method and case studies of Windsurf, Swiffer, NGL, Somewhereilive, Boss Babe, You Probably Need a Haircut, Perplexity, Bump, Autopilot, AfterParty, PrettyPerfect, InvitationOnly and InCred. The customer is a startup founder or product team that wants a memorable, trademark-clear name; monetisation is project fee ($5K-$50K typical) plus optional linguistic and trademark research, or a free naming brainstorm as a top-of-funnel for a bigger brand or product engagement.
Where the sources agree
- Naming is partly science and partly gut: David the brand strategist's 'problem-solving propositions', 'power letters' and 'quantity leads to quality' brainstorm method give the videos their analytical spine.
- Phone-test, brand-promise-test and 'one word' association are the universal filters — Greg's framework calls out WhatsApp, GameStop and Google Bard as failures and Perplexity, Bump and Autopilot as wins.
- The names that win in 2024-2026 are short, slangy, one-word and ownable — NGL, Bags, Hallow, Locket all share that profile.
- Naming is a funnel to bigger engagements — Hampton's $15K branding agency engagement was a prerequisite for the larger community launch.
- Quantity beats quality on the brainstorm itself; the videos agree you should generate hundreds of candidates and judge only after volume.
Where they differ
- MFM dominates the brainstorm frame (David the brand strategist's live naming game, Jojo Hedaya's Unroll.Me origin, the Elizabeth Holmes 'developer startup ideas' segment, the Jack Carr author-branding riff, the Reddit IPO 'don't overvalue names' lesson, Sam Parr's Hampton step-by-step).
- Greg Isenberg carries the framework frame: Jq_yw6jFOXk's bad/good/bland name types and the Zach Pogrib 'one word' brand association; Hunter Isaacson's NGL/Bags playbook is adjacent but distinct.
- No Koerner and no Starter Story videos carry documented naming-agency revenue; the only operator math comes from Sam Parr's $15K branding engagement and the $25K naming-agency cautionary tale (which frames a $25K name as a waste of money, not a win).
- Reddit's IPO S-1 is treated as a cautionary lesson in not overvaluing names (hTcRmj-XLEs), which directly contradicts the MFM naming-as-science frame.
- Hunter Isaacson's 'NGL/Bags/Hallow/Locket' playbook (hyosynoNbSU) treats the name as inseparable from the product's north-star metric; the MFM naming episode treats it as a separable creative deliverable.
- Several videos are tangentially included: Brendan Schaub's comedy tour, Payal Kadakia's ClassPass pivot, David Senra on biographies — these appear because they touch naming or branding but do not present a documented naming-agency playbook.
What each source says
Codie SanchezI Built A Business With AI In 24 Hours
Codie's 24-hour AI business demo includes branding, copywriting, and domain selection tools used to launch the business end-to-end.
Watch on YouTubeMFMJojo Hedaya, founder @ Unroll.Me
Jojo Hedaya of Unroll.Me explains how a non-technical founder grew a company with zero marketing budget through unusual marketing strategies — the talk covers the idea, naming, growth, sharing, acquisition and lessons.
Watch on YouTubeMFMNaming billion dollar companies isn’t just vibes, here’s the science behind it.
An episode on the 'science' of naming billion-dollar companies with brand strategist David: a live naming game for a fiber startup, case studies on Windsurf and Swiffer, the 'quantity leads to quality' brainstorm method, 'problem-solving propositions' and 'power letters'.
Watch on YouTubeMFMElizabeth Holmes’ Pre-Prison PR Campaign (#453)
Sam and Shaan discuss Elizabeth Holmes' attempted rebrand, Jesse Itzler as Billy of the Week, Rakuten founder Mickey Mikitani, leadership, momentum and startup ideas for developers.
Watch on YouTubeMFMHow This Ex-Navy SEAL Turned A Book Into A $1M+ Empire | Jack Carr Interview
Jack Carr on turning books into a $1M+ empire, releasing 6 books in 6 years, branding, audience building, one-page planning, launch process and lessons from Navy SEALs — a publishing flywheel around disciplined output.
Watch on YouTubeside-hustle-school#521 - Man Earns $100,000 Serving Clients on $5 Website
A man sells services on a $5 website and earns $100,000, using a talent for naming things as his differentiator in a high-volume, low-ticket service model.
Listen on Side Hustle SchoolIsenbergHis 250M+ App Download Blueprint (Full Strategy)
Hunter Isaacson (NGL, Bags) on his consumer-app playbook: short slangy names, simple one-flow experiences, a single north-star metric (NGL = % share + replies), growth loops baked into the core action and adapting old ideas to new platform features.
Watch on YouTubeMFMCEO Lessons: Bulls**t Mission Statements, Firing People & Saying ‘NO' (#505)
Sam and Shaan discuss CEO lessons from 15 years of running companies, including mission statements, hiring, naming, trademarks, goal setting, firing, focus and pre- vs post-product-market fit.
Watch on YouTubeMFMReddit IPO: 8 Startup Lessons For Any Entrepreneur Starting Out
Sam and Shaan extract startup lessons from Reddit's IPO, including teaching to learn, showing up, trusting your gut, getting ideas, not overvaluing names, faking early traction, talent filters, early investor emails and Reddit's long path to profitability.
Watch on YouTubeIsenbergThe only startup naming guide you’ll ever need: my proven framework
Solo episode on naming startups: three name types (bad, good, bland/'tofu') and three winning strategies (descriptive like Somewhereilive, phrases like Boss Babe, funny like You Probably Need a Haircut); walks through bad-name failures and shares Greg's personal shortlist (AfterParty, PrettyPerfect, InvitationOnly, InCred).
Watch on YouTubeIsenbergI Met The Most Obsessed Man On The Internet
Zach Pogrib (Run Cult) on building a loyal audience in 2024: associate your brand with one word, three stealable business ideas, authenticity, long-form vs short-form, the future of online writers and the rule 'be strict with your message, flexible with your medium'.
Watch on YouTubeMFMLead Gen Businesses, Islamic Finance & COVID-19 Virality | My First Million Podcast 03-10-2020
Episode from March 2020 with Sam and Shaan on the Sequoia Memo from COVID-19, virality in startups and viruses, lead-gen business models, Islamic finance and rebranding actions and lifestyles.
Watch on YouTubeMFMMy Step-By-Step Process To Building a $1M+ Business
Sam Parr's step-by-step walk-through of launching Hampton: three failed earlier ideas, research step, naming step, the $15K branding agency, things he said no to, leveraging the founder story and a $25K naming-agency cautionary tale.
Watch on YouTubeIsenbergDavid Senra on How to Become a World Class Founder
David Senra (Founders podcast, 300+ entrepreneur biographies) joins Greg on becoming world-class — naming and branding, energy transfer in relationships and cities, biography recommendations, monetisation strategy behind Founders and career advice.
Watch on YouTubeMFMBrendan Schaub: From UFC Fighter To Selling Out Comedy Shows (#442)
Ex-UFC fighter and podcaster Brendan Schaub on building his podcast/comedy network, the size of his shows, his business goal, the 'Kool-Aid point', dealing with haters, the comedy rat-pack economics and the parallels between entrepreneurship and fighting.
Watch on YouTubeMFMPayal Kadakia | Hustle Con 2017
Payal Kadakia (ClassPass founder) on quitting her job, pivoting the product, rebranding the company, raising from a trusted investor, scaling fast, raising prices and eliminating the marquee product.
Watch on YouTubeMFMJames Freeman | Hustle Con 2018
No take is available for this episode.
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