What does your startup name say about you?

I had a very interesting discussion with a old and good friend of mine, Sajid Farooq — Founder at Ra’ed Entertainment about the name of his company. To provide some context to our discussion I am working with Sajid on strategy and marketing.

Finding the name a little awkward, our conversation began when I asked him if he was open to changing the company name to something more ‘sexy’, ‘buzzy’ (and perhaps generic?) like most digital agencies, start-ups and design studios out there. Its a trendy thing to do, I thought, so why settle for anything else?

As I mentioned this to Sajid, he replied thoughtfully that he was open to the idea, but perhaps I should hear him out first, since he had been asked this question many times and he went on to explain that there was a lot of thought that went into the name and what it should stand for. A lot of companies in Pakistan tend to select names that are ‘western’ or ‘sexy’ but without substance — something I agree with. With Ra’ed, he wanted a name that had purpose. Not only should it reflect the company values, but also its roots in the subcontinent.

Ra’ed is derived from an Arabic word which means Pioneer. This reflects Ra’ed’s ambitions to become a leading game development and creative studio.

The name itself, being a cross between read and raid, is meant to be awkward enough to encourage an unwitting memorization: It sticks in your mind. I am familiar with that, being with a company called Organimi, and correcting people almost every time they try to say the name.

The R in Ra’ed pays tribute to the company’s subcontinental heritage. If you look closely enough, it bears resemblance to an elephant, a very common image associated with the subcontinent of the Mughal Era, the golden-age of the Islamic-Indian empire.

The R is placed within a box to symbolize a screen. Ra’ed after all is in the business of digital games and entertainment.

The R itself is sectioned so that it can be moved around to spell out Ra’ed. I haven’t tried this myself but that’s pretty neat if I say so myself.

Most of all, the the company’s name reflects the companies value’s that are derived form the Islamic heritage, tradition and values, and a yearning to return the glorious days of the past of being a leader.

All this made my think deeply about what a company name means. Names like Google, Apple & Samsung have become household names. But what do the really mean? Do the names have a historical significance, and do they reflect the companies’ values and purpose? Admittedly Apple, Google & Samsung have become associated to certain values and bring forth an image in our head due to the products they make. : Google is omni-present in the digital universe, while Apple & Samsung make great hardware and software. However, those are brand-values, not values in the moral and philosophical sense of the word. I am trying to drive at the core “philosophy” behind the company name. With online name generators that play on synonyms and letters to auto generate a company name for you to cherry pick — to see a company putting such thought behind the philosophy behind a company name is refreshing.

As for our conversation — all I could manage to say after hearing him out was, well…’Lets keep the name’.