Ryan and I have been going back and forth about starting a business for a while, and it seems that we are equally in the dark about the whole thing. Luckily, up to this point, we have not been doing much of anything that one might call business-like. That’s not to say that we do not behave professionally as software engineers, just that so far we have not really thought in terms of money.
Recent events, though, have forced the issue into the front. Ryan has been becoming more and more popular as a regular at various web guru meetups in San Diego. He has promised for a couple weeks now to put up some postings about some of what he has learned. From what he tells me, our work on Obsidian Portal has drawn some attention. Besides the content of the site, people have questions about how we designed our software, how Ryan is handling the layouts, and various other technical aspects of the site. Assuming people like what the answers we give, I want them to be able to remember us and make contact in the future, if they have further questions or ideas for us.
So, the basic need right now is to get some business cards printed that we can hand out at various events. Seems simple enough, right? Well, sure, but what to actually put on them? We needed a name!
For several years, Ryan has been sitting on a domain name that he has used for his personal e-mail address and some other small projects. I never thought much about it, but just the other day, he suggested it for our company. In truth, I was quite flattered that he would do this. As a namer of all things (goldfish, house plants, bicycles, you-name-it), I know the value of a good name. If you use your best name on a goldfish, and it dies the next day, then not only have you lost your pet, but you have also lost a great name. So, for Ryan to offer the name like he did, it shows he actually has some confidence in what we are doing. Plus, it is just a really great name.
So, without any fuss or agonizing or complicated domain-name mangling, we made the decision to name ourselves…AisleTen! It has a great sound, is easy to remember, and even has a pseudo-definition.
To sweeten the pot, Ryan has been working on a logo and a business card design. Take a look for yourself:
All we need to do is find an inexpensive print shop and crank a handful of these out. From there, we can start to build an identity as a couple of sharp guys trying to make the web a better place.
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