What's In a Name?

Step 1 (optional): Listen to the First Round Capital podcast episode and watch Lillio’s rebranding video (see credits below).

Step 2: Listen to (subscribe to beta app below) or read the key points, case study and advisor’s takes below.

Step 3: Reflect on the questions below as a team then let’s talk!

Key Points:

The latest episode of The Review from First Round dives into marketing and branding for early startups. It says that they should stay curious and adaptable. Build a bottoms-up brand. Develop a clear point of view, prioritize consistent messaging across personas and products and invest in high-quality content. Once that point of view is clear the startup should consider its brand architecture. A Branded House architecture relies on the primary company brand. Whereas a House of Brands architecture features a collection of brands.

Advisor’s Take:

I’ve worked for a couple of large tech companies that I’d consider Branded Houses. I also use a lot of products that are from House of Brands companies. In a Branded House I typically think of the company when I use the product and sometimes forget the latest name of the product. I’ll share an example from my career. Since I productized Wave for Dreamforce the product has rebranded as CRM Analytics, Einstein and now Tableau Einstein. But when I think about it I still see it as one of Salesforce’s Clouds (their name for product areas). To contrast with a House of Brands I think about the product name and sometimes forget which company makes it. This is common with consumer packaged goods.

The podcast also takes the position that as a leader in an early stage company you need to have a hands-on approach to brand. I think this as a fitting application of founder mode. The recent talk, subsequent articles and parodies on founder mode have been Silicon Valley’s new favorite topic. I’ll put the broader debate aside and speak specifically to branding. When it comes to telling the story of what I’m about I do prefer to narrate in first person.

Case Study:

The company formerly known as HiMama was founded to help childcare programs engage with families through daily communication. The original name "HiMama" was chosen to convey warmth, joy and the feeling of seeing children's smiles through the platform. The company grew beyond family communication, becoming a comprehensive early education company.

It became clear that the name "HiMama" was perceived as exclusionary and that wasn’t the company’s intent. The company shifted to a new name and brand: Lillio. Lillio is meant to serve as an authentic voice for the early childhood education workforce.

This rebranding signifies Lillio's commitment to being a trusted partner for all early care and education needs. It centers around the company’s core values. The aim was to be more inclusive and embrace a more holistic approach to early childhood education. In doing this is leaned into one overarching brand for its various products and and personas. A classic Branded House architecture.

Advisor’s Take:

I’ve written about my experience with rebranding in my newsletter. The experience I shared was helping a founder rebrand her website. My advice was less about the name and more about the aesthetic. In fashion we see the concept of “core” where a designer defines their visual aesthetic around a sub-culture. Lillio is a great example of a brand with a playful aesthetic centered around the sub-culture of early childhood education. The new name tweaks the playful aesthetic by making it more tech-forward with the input output (I/O) developer reference.

^{_{Credits: Many thanks to First Round Capital and Lillio for the materials. We wrote the summaries and made some relevant comparisons across the materials for our readers and listeners. First Round and separately Lillio produced and owns their materials. We are readers of The Review, and users of the Lillio app. There are no affiliations.}}

Questions to Discuss as a Team:

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