Startups can be dark places. Founders can be both confused and manic in equal measure. The heroes journey is tempered with lack of cash and lots of uncertainty. Yet the joy and freedom of choosing to follow your dream is so rewarding. Incubators, universities and investors ask whether there is a better way to get to product/market fit? They ask how startups can learn to build their companies more efficiently?

Have you ever wondered how startups go about selecting a name for their businesses? Often it seems they choose a name that reflects what the product does. Seems to make sense – yes? Yet when you are an early stage startup trying to find product/market fit that can be tricky. What if you pivot to a new industry or application of your product?

Joe is CEO of a mid-sized software company that sells enterprise software to financial institutions. The sales cycles are typically 18 months and there are a lot of decision makers to convince. He is one of those CEOs that staff love most of the time. He runs a good business. There is a pace to it. The financials are always produced on the seventh day of the month. Products are always shipped four weeks after the product software goes to the quality assurance department. Joe is a doer and he expects others to do what they say they will do.