This seems like it may be a frivolous topic for discussion, but it has been weighing on my mind lately:
For those of you who are working as 'independent developers,' have you found that it makes more sense to simply do business under your own name, for example "Jared Haworth L.L.C.," or to come up with a clever business name instead, such as "Code Fusion Studios"? (Apologies if someone is actually using that as their name, I just grabbed some buzz words and mashed them together.)
I started out as Fischer Venture Management Corporation, which worked just fine as long as I was just another independent consultant code monkey. When I started trying to brand myself and find gigs beyond writing code, I created the Smokejumper Consulting assumed name. That name quickly communicates my niche, and it's certainly more memerable than my old company name (which you've already forgotten).
Robert Fischer IT Firefighter Smokejumper Consulting
Jared Haworth wrote: > This seems like it may be a frivolous topic for discussion, but it has > been weighing on my mind lately:
> For those of you who are working as 'independent developers,' have you > found that it makes more sense to simply do business under your own > name, for example "Jared Haworth L.L.C.," or to come up with a clever > business name instead, such as "Code Fusion Studios"? (Apologies if > someone is actually using that as their name, I just grabbed some buzz > words and mashed them together.)
Here is my take, for what it is worth. Don't have a long name. I chose:
A. King Software Development and Consulting, L.C.
It is way too long. Now I have filed for a fictitious name that is shorter. It sounded good at the time because it is informative and from the name you know exactly what I do. I used my name because I think A. King is catchy and has some great logo possibilities. If I had to do it over again I would use A. King Software, L.C. which is my fictitious name.
Amos
On 6/7/07, Jared Haworth <jared.hawo...@gmail.com> wrote:
> This seems like it may be a frivolous topic for discussion, but it > has been weighing on my mind lately:
> For those of you who are working as 'independent developers,' have > you found that it makes more sense to simply do business under your > own name, for example "Jared Haworth L.L.C.," or to come up with a > clever business name instead, such as "Code Fusion Studios"? > (Apologies if someone is actually using that as their name, I just > grabbed some buzz words and mashed them together.)
Jared Haworth wrote: > This seems like it may be a frivolous topic for discussion, but it has > been weighing on my mind lately:
> For those of you who are working as 'independent developers,' have you > found that it makes more sense to simply do business under your own > name, for example "Jared Haworth L.L.C.," or to come up with a clever > business name instead, such as "Code Fusion Studios"? (Apologies if > someone is actually using that as their name, I just grabbed some buzz > words and mashed them together.)
I didn't like the idea of using my name either. I went with Big Room Technology, a nod to the White Stripes song "Little Room" ( I didn't think the sound of Little Room Technology).
On 6/7/07, Myles Braithwaite <my...@monkeyinyoursoul.com> wrote:
> I have chosen "Monkey in your Soul" because I really don't like using my > name (as in Myles Braithwaite). Nothing else to it.
> Jared Haworth wrote: > > This seems like it may be a frivolous topic for discussion, but it has > > been weighing on my mind lately:
> > For those of you who are working as 'independent developers,' have you > > found that it makes more sense to simply do business under your own > > name, for example "Jared Haworth L.L.C.," or to come up with a clever > > business name instead, such as "Code Fusion Studios"? (Apologies if > > someone is actually using that as their name, I just grabbed some buzz > > words and mashed them together.)
I picked "Elevated Rails" because I'm in Chicago and it seemed fitting.
I'm moving to philly in a year, so the name will be a little silly then.
I would recommend incorporating under a generic name, and then picking a DBA name for something that you will use. It's nice to have a layer of abstraction in naming.
> I didn't like the idea of using my name either. I went with Big > Room Technology, a nod to the White Stripes song "Little Room" ( I > didn't think the sound of Little Room Technology).
> On 6/7/07, Myles Braithwaite <my...@monkeyinyoursoul.com> wrote: > I have chosen "Monkey in your Soul" because I really don't like > using my > name (as in Myles Braithwaite). Nothing else to it.
> Jared Haworth wrote: > > This seems like it may be a frivolous topic for discussion, but > it has > > been weighing on my mind lately:
> > For those of you who are working as 'independent developers,' > have you > > found that it makes more sense to simply do business under your own > > name, for example "Jared Haworth L.L.C.," or to come up with a > clever > > business name instead, such as "Code Fusion Studios"? (Apologies if > > someone is actually using that as their name, I just grabbed some > buzz > > words and mashed them together.)
+1 for Mike's comment on having a DBA (or, in the case of Minnesota at least, registered alias): my FVMC corporation actually has two brands beneath it -- Graphic Karma Web Design (http://graphickarma.com) and Smokejumper Consulting. These are businesses with drastically different target audiences, and it'd be awkward to try to sell both at the same time.
Robert Fischer IT Firefighter Smokejumper Consulting
Mike Mangino wrote: > I picked "Elevated Rails" because I'm in Chicago and it seemed fitting.
> I'm moving to philly in a year, so the name will be a little silly then.
> I would recommend incorporating under a generic name, and then > picking a DBA name for something that you will use. It's nice to have > a layer of abstraction in naming.
> Mike
> On Jun 7, 2007, at 10:14 AM, Michael Breen wrote:
>> I didn't like the idea of using my name either. I went with Big >> Room Technology, a nod to the White Stripes song "Little Room" ( I >> didn't think the sound of Little Room Technology).
>> On 6/7/07, Myles Braithwaite <my...@monkeyinyoursoul.com> wrote: >> I have chosen "Monkey in your Soul" because I really don't like >> using my >> name (as in Myles Braithwaite). Nothing else to it.
>> Jared Haworth wrote:
>>> This seems like it may be a frivolous topic for discussion, but
>> it has
>>> been weighing on my mind lately:
>>> For those of you who are working as 'independent developers,'
>> have you
>>> found that it makes more sense to simply do business under your own >>> name, for example "Jared Haworth L.L.C.," or to come up with a
>> clever
>>> business name instead, such as "Code Fusion Studios"? (Apologies if >>> someone is actually using that as their name, I just grabbed some
We choose 8th Light because it was as generic and simple as we could think of. All the longer candidates would have put me one step closer to carpal tunnel syndrome. Also, you don't know if you are going to grow (or move), so it is better to have a generic brand. Otherwise your brand is your name, even if others are working with you.
We had a list of 50 possible names, and not one was "cool" though, so good luck.
> This seems like it may be a frivolous topic for discussion, but it > has been weighing on my mind lately:
> For those of you who are working as 'independent developers,' have > you found that it makes more sense to simply do business under your > own name, for example "Jared Haworth L.L.C.," or to come up with a > clever business name instead, such as "Code Fusion Studios"? > (Apologies if someone is actually using that as their name, I just > grabbed some buzz words and mashed them together.)
Paul Pagel wrote: > We choose 8th Light because it was as generic and simple as we could > think of. All the longer candidates would have put me one step closer > to carpal tunnel syndrome. Also, you don't know if you are going to > grow (or move), so it is better to have a generic brand. Otherwise > your brand is your name, even if others are working with you.
> We had a list of 50 possible names, and not one was "cool" though, so > good luck.
> On 6/7/07, *Jared Haworth* <jared.hawo...@gmail.com > <mailto:jared.hawo...@gmail.com>> wrote:
> This seems like it may be a frivolous topic for discussion, but it > has been weighing on my mind lately:
> For those of you who are working as 'independent developers,' have > you found that it makes more sense to simply do business under your > own name, for example "Jared Haworth L.L.C.," or to come up with a > clever business name instead, such as "Code Fusion Studios"? > (Apologies if someone is actually using that as their name, I just > grabbed some buzz words and mashed them together.)
Paul Pagel wrote: > We choose 8th Light because it was as generic and simple as we could > think of. All the longer candidates would have put me one step closer > to carpal tunnel syndrome. Also, you don't know if you are going to > grow (or move), so it is better to have a generic brand. Otherwise > your brand is your name, even if others are working with you.
> We had a list of 50 possible names, and not one was "cool" though, so > good luck.
> On 6/7/07, *Jared Haworth* <jared.hawo...@gmail.com > <mailto:jared.hawo...@gmail.com>> wrote:
> This seems like it may be a frivolous topic for discussion, but it > has been weighing on my mind lately:
> For those of you who are working as 'independent developers,' have > you found that it makes more sense to simply do business under > your > own name, for example "Jared Haworth L.L.C.," or to come up with a > clever business name instead, such as "Code Fusion Studios"? > (Apologies if someone is actually using that as their name, I just > grabbed some buzz words and mashed them together.)
> This seems like it may be a frivolous topic for discussion, but it > has been weighing on my mind lately:
> For those of you who are working as 'independent developers,' have > you found that it makes more sense to simply do business under your > own name, for example "Jared Haworth L.L.C.," or to come up with a > clever business name instead, such as "Code Fusion Studios"? > (Apologies if someone is actually using that as their name, I just > grabbed some buzz words and mashed them together.)
I registered the name PLANET ARGON with the State of Oregon in 2002 when I was starting to do some freelance stuff in the evenings. I skipped the whole process of selling myself with my name and went straight into using a name for a company.
As far as picking a name... that's a very personal decision. This is our chance to be creative, clever, and hope it stands out amongst a crowd of names. My company was named after a fictional place in a Tom Robbins book... and it's now become part of the culture of PLANET ARGON. New employees are handed a copy of the book and encouraged to read the book.
At RailsConf, I learned that TextDrive was a play on "sex drive"... so we all have our own formulas for this stuff. ;-)
If you think naming a company is hard... try naming a band. I can come up with new company names much easier than I can come up with my next music project name.
Good luck... and remember... have fun!
-Robby
-- Robby Russell Founder and Executive Director
PLANET ARGON, LLC Ruby on Rails Development, Consulting & Hosting
