What’s in a name? Nothing? Everything? If Apple was called Banana, would they still be the most valuable company on Earth? I think they would. I think a name is what you make of it. Sure, having the right name makes life easier, but as Johnny Cash suggested in his song, ‘A Boy Name Sue,’ having the wrong name can make you stronger.

I’ve had the misfortune of trying to come up with a name for various bands, song titles, and companies. It’s a painful process. Nine times out of ten, the correct name is spoken and everyone in the room knows it. It’s an exciting moment. Then the problem is making sure no one already has the domain name.

Considering everyone still wants a domain that ends in ‘.com,’ finding the right name is exponentially harder. Common words and phrases disappeared long ago. Words being combined to create new words are also hard to find. Even words that are spelled phonetically or missing vowels are becoming extinct.

As Olivier and I worked on our software, I started to worry about the name. Olivier was making great progress on the development side, but I didn’t know what it might be called. I sat down and with pad and pen and started writing down words, mashing them together, and trying to spell them in clever ways.

Layouts...diagrams…fast…easy…

I finally had my “chocolate and peanut butter cup” moment when I put the words diagram and Shazam together. A boyhood memory of the DC Comics character Billy Batson came back to me like a bolt of lightning. Suddenly, ‘diagram’ was transformed into DiaZam.

Now you know what’s in our name.