Naming: Win from the Starting Line
Of all the founders Lei Jun has met, 99.9% picked their company name at random. Yet names like Lenovo, Baidu, Tencent, and Huawei are all excellent. This is no coincidence: "How much time you spend on a name tells you how much time you'll spend on the business." This lesson traces how the name "Xiaomi" was forged.
Lei Jun genuinely wondered: why do successful companies all have great names? Is it just because we've heard them so often? On reflection — no. The names themselves are simply good.
With the rise of the internet era came the move to "ditch the grandiose." Names like Kingsoft and Joyo were fine in their day, but feel distant in the new era. Whether a name is good or not changes with the times.
Lei Jun defined a "great name" as: has a trademark, has a domain, good meaning, and easy to pronounce. Pick a name and watch it pass through each gate (analysis based on Lei Jun's own verbal account).
Trademark available
…
Domain available
…
Good meaning
…
Easy to pronounce
…
The name Xiaomi was not a stroke of inspiration — it was forged step by step. Click "Next" to walk through the naming journey.
If you can't get the domain, don't use the name
"Can you acquire the Pinyin domain for Xiaomi? If I can't, I won't use the name. We're building a world-class, great company. Can you imagine xiaomi.com being some nobody's website? Then you're done for." Get the domain from day one — this is a hard requirement.
Make it pronounceable for foreigners
Xiaomi's one regret: foreigners can't pronounce "xiaomi." "We have a massive task of teaching everyone in the world how to say Xiaomi." Looking back, Zimi (zimi — just 4 letters) would have been less work. When naming, try to choose something foreigners can pronounce.
A solo company has no brand budget — the name is your cheapest marketing asset. When investing, Lei Jun "always pushed them relentlessly to find the best name." Independent developers should be equally demanding of themselves.
- Copy the four gates — the tools are all there: check .com / .app at a registrar, check trademarks on China's Trademark Office and USPTO. You can clear the first two gates in half an hour. Check first, then write code — not the other way around.
- A weekend is worth it: how much time you spend on a name tells you how much time you'll spend on the product. A name picked carelessly usually means a product built carelessly.
You have no marketing department to explain your name — the name must spread on its own.
- The Fifth Gate in the AI Era: users now ask ChatGPT directly, "What's that tool that does XX?" If your name is a weird invented spelling, AI can't spell it, can't find it — you've blocked a free referral channel.
- The "plain rice" standard: a solo product name should be encountered daily and universally liked, so users can repeat it verbally without stumbling. Before launch, have three friends who speak different languages say it aloud — if it doesn't flow, change it.
Four criteria for a great name: trademark available, domain available, good meaning, easy to pronounce.
Effort is the key: How do you come up with a great name? The most critical factor is simply how much effort you put in.
Brute-force effort is sincerity: Checking domain and trademark for Red Rice, Black Rice, Blue Rice, Purple Rice (Zimi) one by one — that's how you earn "Xiaomi with a rifle." Putting in grunt work on a name is the first act of sincerity toward the business.
Source material: compiled from Lei Jun's public startup course talks