“Start Ya Bastard”
In April 2024, legendary fund manager, Lee Ainslie told a conference in Melbourne about one of the biggest problems with his business’s name, Maverick Capital.
He was 28 when he founded the business and at the time thought Maverick was a “cool name”.
Investors on the other hand, thought the name was so alarming for a business in capital markets – think gun-totin’ Texan – he used to spend the first 40 minutes of every meeting talking about the name and the safety of their money.
A friend of his has since launched a business called Steadfast Capital…
Names have power.
And so do decisions.
The challenge is knowing when to trust your instincts and leaning into this for decision making, or in the case of Lee, riding out the challenge and proving the doubters wrong.
Standing Out in a Crowded Market
I found this can of ‘Start Ya Bastard’ in the workshop at the farm over Easter and did a double-take as I must’ve walked past it a thousand times. It’s obviously well used and according to my sources is a cracking product, with many farmers shouting, “Quick, go and get the Start Ya Bastard!”
Can you imagine the focus groups when planning this product and the executive agony over the decision of the name?
But proof is so often in the pudding, and when someone had his head under the bonnet of a truck, said, “Start ya bastard!” and sprayed this onto the engine, a brand was born.
There’s a cracking take on this if you feel like a laugh (Start Ya Bastard) Only in Australia!
With any branding decision, and many project decisions, you need to find a way to be memorable and to stand out – for the right reasons. This product does an excellent job of it, but it’s never easy to get to this point, a huge amount of thought will go into the process and you may need to take a leap of faith to get an outcome.
The secret is keeping things simple, and sometimes stating a fact is the best way to do this.
Naming a Business
I was talking to some business owners recently who, while trying to decide on a name for their business, found themselves saying, “That’s a good idea” so often, they called the company just that.
It’s perfect in its simplicity, memorable and aligns with what they’re trying to achieve.
We’re all so overloaded with information and busyness now it can be hard to stand back, see what’s staring you in the face and listen to your instincts. Instinct in decision making is important for major decisions, sometimes in spite of the pressure.
At the end of the day, you’ve got to be able to sleep at night.
I once had a QC (now KC) ask me if he could have five minutes to think about something. I was taken aback. He could have 15, 20 minutes, even take an hour. His thinking time was gold and I was very happy to give him the space to think.
It changed my behaviour too and I often use this approach with clients when something needs deeper thinking. No-one ever minds.
Yet, I don’t see that many people doing this in their decision making.
When you’ve been in industry or business for a long time you see patterns, cycles and will have a feel for things. It can take some time for things to fit or to think through the possibilities and pitfalls.
In high pressure business environments, the challenge here is two-fold:
- You have to find ways to back up those decisions with more than gut feel
- It’s important to train and support team members to listen to instinct as a part of decision making without ending up in analysis paralysis.
Creating a safe culture and building trust is really important in this process. People will hide behind the data if they think they’re going to be shot down if they say something doesn’t feel right or make a mistake.
Beer: Green Bottle vs. Brown Bottle
Years ago a beer company set about creating a low calorie beer. When it came down to packaging, all the focus groups said a green bottle related better to the product category and audience than a brown bottle. So off they went designing packaging, branding and getting ready for launch… until the absolute last minute when the CEO said the bottle had to be brown.
He just had a feeling green wouldn’t sell.
And he was right.
Turned out people didn’t want to look any different when drinking a healthier beer and that social acceptance was more important than a healthier choice.
It makes you wonder how often people will tell you something is a good idea and fits when in reality a tweak of the status quo creates a better result.
Positive vs Negative
With branding, sometimes you need to choose between a positive association or a negative association. Or even a trojan horse brand, as one marketing director said to me last week.
(This is a marketing strategy where a company or product disguises its true nature or intent to gain acceptance or recognition from consumers.)
It’s an interesting approach or consideration.
When I launched my business 12 years ago, it was called Anderson Advisory. And because of the proximity in timing and the name to Andersen Consulting, it was a memorable play on words and made sense at the time.
When it came to rebranding to Harmonic Advisory, there were a million considerations, but ultimately I wanted to flip the association to a positive association and one that wasn’t attached to a name so it could grow.
When you apply this to decision making, it might be a case of choosing the lesser of two evils or thinking through the pros and cons.
You will need to challenge your biases.
Surround yourself with experienced people to test your thinking before signing off.
And before you press ‘go’ anonymise your situation and find someone unrelated to the decision but who might have a view to test it outside your industry and circle of associates.
Remember the decision to bestow a knighthood on Prince Philip…?
Isolation is probably the biggest bubble to burst in decision making.
It might have made sense in a closed circle, but failed the pub test as it was not understood by the community and grated against their instincts.
Finally, take some time to think things through, but put a limit on that time, say overnight or three days and see where you land.
It may be the best thing you do for your business, brand and growth.
Got a question? Just reach out and ask.
Nina