Avalaunch Media

Confession: When I planned this story, I intended it to be a bunch of short blurbs about how different founders came up with their company names. It was going to be a no-brainer to write. I posted a poll, and so many of you were willing to contribute your stories. 🙏 Then Aaron Skonnard sent me a DM about a mysterious button on the wall of Pluralsight's lobby, and a narrative started forming in my head. Chris Crosby and Chris Mann of Goal jumped on a call to walk me through brand naming best practices. They were incredibly generous with their expertise. We still feature blurbs about how six other Utah companies landed on their names, but the story ended up having so much more meat on it than I expected—do's and don'ts, a list of names Pluralsight *almost* selected, and some tactics to take into the brainstorming process. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Thanks to Aaron, Chris, Chris, and all of you who answered my poll, including Brad Plothow of Intergalactic, Brock Richards of Mayflower Construction Group, Crystalee Beck of Comma Copywriters, David Mink of Avalaunch Media, Robert Sweeney of Facet, and a spokesperson from Vivint, who all contributed to this story.

Unlocking Team Superpowers: Insights from the Kolbe A Test The Avalaunch Media Executive Team (most of us are pictured here on our annual Alaskan fishing trip!) knows 4 digits about each other that shine a lot of light into how we individually work. My Kolbe number is 3-3-9-3 and my colleagues use this knowledge to communicate with me in effective ways and to cover my blind spots. Intro to Kolbe A Test: The Kolbe assessment measures an individual's natural instincts and problem-solving approaches through four distinct scores: Fact Finder, Follow Thru, Quick Start, Implementor. Our Team Averages: Fact Finder: 6.56 Follow Thru: 4.78 Quick Start: 5.22 Implementor: 3.22 My Superpowers: With a 3-3-9-3 score, my 3 in Fact Finder makes simplifying complex matters a superpower, allowing me to stay focused on the forest rather than the trees. While my 9 in Quick Start shows my high preference for initiating action and dealing with uncertainty. In short, I can bring innovation, an adaptive mindset, and encourage our group to be comfortable taking risks. The Power of Diversity: While I excel in brevity and directness, my colleague Andrew Melchior (guy in the middle with the black hat), with an 8 in Fact Finder, seeks a lot of context through rapid-style questions. Our dynamic interplay sharpens our collective approach. Push and Pull: The occasional stress between Andrew and me is not a drawback; it's the necessary push and pull that prevents analysis paralysis and ensures projects are navigated with both depth and efficiency. Balance is the Key: Teams need a mix of strengths. Too much detail or a need for "all of the facts" can hinder progress. However, If all you ever get are bulletpoints, you'll overlook important data and make expensive mistakes. Effective leaders curate teams that strike the right balance. Takeaway: Consider the power of leveraging diversity in problem-solving styles when assembling a team or task force. And use a tool, like the Kolbe Corp test, to measure everyone's conative abilities so that you know you are building a complementary group, capable of achieving remarkable results! #TeamDynamics #KolbeATest #LeadershipInsights #TeamBuilding