The art of building legendary brands | Arielle Jackson (Google, Square, Marketer in Residence at First Round Capital)
August 18, 2022
AI Summary
5 min readArielle Jackson, a marketer who scaled Gmail at Google and launched Square Stand at Square, now advises First Round Capital portfolio companies on branding. Drawing from naming over 30 startups and refining brand strategies for early-stage teams, she outlines processes to clarify what customers think of a product, emphasizing positioning as the foundation for naming and broader brand work.
Naming process and criteria
Start with product positioning to inform a naming brief: specify what to name (company/product), desired communication (e.g., youth for Seesaw edtech, expertise for Maven courses), avoids, competitors, and unique constraints like pronunciation for non-English markets. Apply seven universal criteria post-brainstorm—trademark, domain, distinctiveness, timelessness (avoid trends like vowel-dropping), reflection of messaging/emotion, sound/pronunciation/spelling, appearance for design, and length (one-to-three syllables often ideal)—rating red/yellow/green.
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What you'll learn
- 1 **[00:42] Arielle's background and favorite project: Square Stand launch**
- 2 **[09:38] Role at First Round Capital**
- 3 **[12:19] Naming startups/products: criteria and process**
- 4 **[28:33] Why names matter (but aren't everything)**
- 5 **[34:12] Brand development framework: purpose**
- 6 **[51:23] Brand framework: positioning**
- 7 **[62:36] Brand framework: personality**
+ Full timestamped outline available in the app
Show Notes
What makes a great brand? After working at Google and Square, Arielle Jackson has spent the past eight years consulting startups on how to create powerful messaging that works. In this jam-packed episode, she shares how to pick a winning name for your company, create a brand purpose that excites your team and customers, and position your company and its products for success. You don’t want to miss this one!
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Find the full transcript here: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-art-of-building-legendary-brands
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Where to find Arielle Jackson:
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/hiiamarielle
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ariellerjackson/
• Course: https://maven.com/arielle/startupbrandstrategy
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Where to find Lenny:
• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/lennysan
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/
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Thank you to our wonderful sponsors for making this episode possible:
• Flatfile: https://www.flatfile.com/lenny
• Unit: https://unit.co/lenny
• Athletic Greens: https://athleticgreens.com/lenny
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Referenced:
• Positioning Your Startup Is Vital—Here’s How to Nail It: https://review.firstround.com/Positioning-Your-Startup-is-Vital-Heres-How-to-Do-It-Right
• Three Moves Every Startup Founder Must Make to Build a Brand That Matters: https://review.firstround.com/three-moves-every-startup-founder-must-make-to-build-a-brand-that-matters
• What I Learned from Developing Branding for Airbnb, Dropbox, and Thumbtack: https://review.firstround.com/what-i-learned-from-developing-branding-for-airbnb-dropbox-and-thumbtack
• Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind: More from this podcast