LightSail – A Great New Name for Green Energy

When I first heard the name LightSail I thought it was a great, open, simple name, but perhaps a name for a company in stealth mode which did not want to reveal what they were really up to. My fellow naming colleague, Rosie, had the opposite position from the get-go. And because she gushed about what a great name it was for a clean energy company, I just had to write about it. She saw right away that an energy company puts the lights on, and a sail is powered by wind energy.

Now I am not sure this is the official story, but it sounds right. However, there is more to the story, which is why I am blogging about it here and not on NameAwards.com, our sister site – though indeed it does deserve an award. And the rest of the story is that a very learned engineering friend told me whatever I do, do not invest in this company. His strong opinion was storing energy via compressed air had been tried before and never works.

Though I know little about the technology, I do have an eye and ear for top management teams, and if I had a spare million or two lying around, I would have backed this team regardless. Turns out they didn’t need my help, not when Bill Gates, Peter Thiel, Khosla Ventures and some other VC’s ponied up $37 million to bring the solution to market. Thanks to some very bright, and one very young engineer, they have proven it can work. Ironically, it is a big heavy looking device…. despite the company name. See picture here provided by the company and via the Wall St. Journal Blog article on them.

(C) Copyright Brighter Naming

Posted in Branding, Domain Names, Name Origins, Naming News, Technology Names, Trademarks

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See his industry naming commentary (where he takes a critical look at names) via the blog on this site