Two marketing professionals don’t like the name of his app – that’s why “super founder” Vincent Betz creates new branding for his brand at our Gründerzene summer camp.
His app now has a name: Bettie. “I think it’s just a cool name. It’s short. You’ll remember it,” says Vincent Betz. “Bettie” also sounds like the English word “bet”. So “Bettie” describes the product that Vincent is currently building: an online game in which people bet on future events.
The platform works like an online betting game for sporting events. The 25-year-old has expanded it to include news, celebrity and everyday topics. The Polymarket betting app with hundreds of thousands of users serves as a model. Except that on “Bettie” they bet with game points instead of real money.
Vincent developed the app in our summer camp “Start-up scene is looking for super founders”. For ten weeks, eight participants will build their own consumer apps using various AI models.
“Startup scene is looking for super founders” is a ten-week startup fellowship from Gründerszene. Eight selected fellows develop consumer startups in Berlin using artificial intelligence – from the idea to the first product. During the program, the fellows work together in the Axel Springer high-rise and are accompanied by experienced entrepreneurs, investors and experts. Partners like OpenAI, Vercel, Dash0 and DHL support them with technology, know-how and mentoring. Gründerszene documents the entire journey with articles, videos and social media content – and shows up close how the next generation of startups is being created today. All resulting products belong to Axel Springer.
A startup name reflects the goals of the founders
Shortly after the “super founders” launched, the test version of the platform had 500 users. It is still called “Prediqu” – because of “prediction”. In week three of the project, Vincent is looking for a new name. Two advertising professionals advise him to do this: Kai Lentering and Simon Knittel from the Jung von Matt Start advertising agency. They specialize in logos, design and names for startups. They now further develop the fellows’ marketing in individual coaching sessions.
“Prediqu” as a name doesn’t convince the two of them. “It’s too difficult to pronounce – everyone says the name differently,” Vincent later summarizes the feedback. The experts recommend a name that rolls off the tongue more easily. Because Vincent develops for the German market. So the name should catch German users. They spontaneously suggest “Bettie”.
“It’s cool that everyone associates it with something different. Some people know a Bettie. I could also associate it with my last name Betz,” says Vincent. “I think you can spin a lot of puns with it.”
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“Bettie” thus fulfills the rules that Kai and Simon give our founders to help them find a name:
- People have to remember the name. The consultants have a tip for this: Read three name suggestions to an outside person. Ask which suggestions they remember first. This shows which name stays in your head.
- Future proofing: The name doesn’t just have to match the current product. It should also cover future developments of the company. Netflix is an example of this. The company initially sent DVDs by post. Nevertheless, it decided against a DVD-related name. Instead, it chose a name that fit its long-term vision.
- What should your own brand stand for? What goal does the name aim to achieve? Finding the identity is more helpful than trying to perfectly fulfill the other theoretical requirements. More important is the courage to think unconventionally and go your own way.
The experts also recommend using special techniques to find a brand name.
- Some names directly describe what a company offers. Others are abbreviations, such as BMW for “Bayerische Motorenwerke” or MAN for “Machinery Factory Augsburg-Nuremberg”. Still others arise from combinations of words – Microsoft, for example, from “microcomputer” and “software”. A fourth possibility is neologism, i.e. a completely new creation.
- Descriptive names have a clear advantage. They explain themselves. Customers immediately understand what it’s about. This saves marketing budget and explanation effort. The catch: Good descriptive names are almost always taken. That’s why Kai and Simon recommend using neologisms with descriptive overtones. The name remains unique. Nevertheless, it transports some of the product.
New apps need small target groups
For Vincent, the new name initially brings technical problems. He has to change the domain of his website. The technology is on strike. Authentication processes and the connection between backend and frontend sometimes no longer work. A lot of it is tied to the old domain name. The platform is temporarily unavailable. A large part of the week goes into troubleshooting and technical adjustments. “But you first have to find out what doesn’t work,” he says.
In addition to the start-up problems, Vincent has to develop the concept further in order to get people excited about his bets. The learning app founder Maxim Nitsche gives him a tip: At the beginning, the whole world doesn’t have to like the platform. 1000 users who like the product were enough as the first goal. Vincent keeps the app simple. And he puts a football question at the top of the homepage: “Will Jürgen Klopp become national coach?”
“Sure, I’m definitely not going to answer everyone with this question right away, but maybe a thousand people,” says Vincent. “Then I can look: How do I get the next 10,000? What do I have to change for that?”
He is also pushing monetization forward. Vincent designs leagues in which users can compete with each other. He also wants to tailor leagues to potential future advertising customers, with specific brand colors and logos. “If I entered into a partnership with a chocolate bar company, for example, I would set up their own league tailored to the brand,” says Vincent. Users who place bets in the league would ideally return to the website again and again and see content from the respective brand.
Vincent has retail in mind for future advertising partners. Like supermarkets or electronics stores, “Bettie” is aimed at society at large, he says.
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Vincent’s top learning after three weeks
Vincent’s most important learning: “I looked around a bit at competitors. Many betting providers have a white and clean layout. When people play with stakes, it doesn’t necessarily just have to look exciting, but clean. But for me it’s more about play and social aspects than about money. That’s why you can also bring in a little color.”
Conclusion of the week: If I am not familiar with an area and someone has already done something successfully many times – such as startup branding in this case – then I briefly question the recommendation. If the person is very confident in what they are doing and has proven experience, I am happy to take the advice and implement it.
Goal for the fourth week: “We have built an AI agent system that automatically searches news and social media channels for trends and uses them to create possible bets or surveys. These suggestions are sent to our website or our database. There I can manually review, edit, accept or reject them. When I approve a suggestion, it is published directly on the website.”
Do you have questions or want to talk to the fellows about their product? Write to them here.
“Start-up scene is looking for super founders” powered by Dash0, DHL, OpenAI & Vercel.