Startup names tend to sound a little odd. Sometimes that's simply because they haven't become household names yet. I mean, if you think about it, Pepsi, Costco, and Walmart are all pretty weird names, you're just really used to hearing them. As much as many startups' names sound like somebody just threw a bunch of random letters together, they almost always have a good story behind them. We hooked up with three startups with interesting names and asked them to explain just what they were thinking when they came up with their names. Here’s what they had to say:
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Scott McDonald, CEO and Co-Founder at Lumenati
What is the story behind your name? The name Lumenati comes from Lumen, meaning light. Cameras work by using light and we use a lot of cameras. Of course we also played off the illuminati. And we’ve had plenty of people mistake us for a secret society. Really we are just a not so secret society of filmmakers.
Were there any mishaps surrounding the name or things that required name changes along the way? Other than the occasional uneducated person mistaking us for the illuminati, we have had a pretty smooth ride. Most people love the name and get it right away…others can sometimes have some issues. But we welcome the controversy.
What does the name stand for now? Has it changed over time? The name stands for our community. We have over 10 members who are incredible at all things creative. Ranging from writing to animation to design, we’ve got a pretty close crew that live to be Lumenati.
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Kelsey Cullen, Marketing Specialist at Wayin
What is the story behind your name? Since our inception Wayin has always valued the power to persuade large audiences through social trends and content to drive marketing results. So, as a platform designed to curate and display real-time sentiment from target audiences, it was natural to pick a name that suggests the process of offering an opinion, or "weighing in."
What does the name stand for now? Has it changed over time? Originally Wayin allowed its users to create their own polls to elicit opinions from their own networks of friends and followers. Since that time, we've grown to offer a platform which allows large brands to source the best content from any network. Either way, the point remains the same, to allow everyone, everywhere, to weigh in. The name stands for the persuasive power of speaking your mind and sharing your opinions on what matters to you.
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Nicholas Rellas, CEO and Co-Founder at Drizly
What is the story behind your name? Coming up with a name was the toughest part of building Drizly. My co-founder, Justin Robinson, and I wanted the name not to be an actual word and we were stuck on the idea of a 6 letter domain, for some reason. Looking back, I can’t even begin to tell you why! Despite being in the alcohol industry, we wanted the name to be unrelated to alcohol in any way, and we wanted to make sure we weren't seen as being childish when selecting that name. After a few different names were proposed, we ultimately chose Drizly because it felt right, it didn’t have any negative connotations to it, and it was easy to remember.
Were there any mishaps surrounding the name or things that required name changes along the way? Fortunately, none! In large part because of the steps we took in choosing a name that I previously mentioned. A lot of founders can’t say that, so we certainly don’t take that for granted.
What does the name stand for now, has it changed over time? For us, Drizly means the best, most reliable way to buy alcohol. When we started the company it meant "alcohol to your feet in as little as 20 minutes” and we were just focused on the speed aspect. We look at the company now as the entire process of having alcohol delivered, which certainly still includes speed, but just has other important factors as well like convenience and reliability. As companies grow, like people, who they are and what they stand for matures (hopefully), and that has been the case for us here at Drizly.
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