Lenny’s Podcast: David Placek shares the process behind creating billion-dollar brand names like Azure, Vercel, Windsurf, CapCut, and more.

In this episode of Lenny’s podcast, David Placek reveals the process behind billion-dollar names like Azure, Vercel, and Windsurf. He breaks down Lexicon’s 3-step creative process, shares why domain names don’t matter anymore, and introduces the Diamond Framework – a practical tool any founder can use to create a valuable brand name.

What you’ll learn:

• The three-step process that generated names like Windsurf and Vercel.
• How a name can give you the edge that no marketing budget can buy.
• Why you won’t “know it when you see it.”
• Why Microsoft called Azure “a dumb name” before it became their billion-dollar cloud platform.
• Why polarizing opinions are the strongest signal you’ve found the right name.
• How every letter of the alphabet creates a specific psychological vibration.
• The Diamond Framework: A 4-step process any founder can use to find their perfect name.
• Why domain names don’t matter anymore in the age of AI.

Listen to the podcast episode here: Spotify | Apple | YouTube