We were drowned with customer interviews right from day 1. Whatever was left of the time in the day, we spent it discussing interviews/planning follow up questions. By the time we got to naming ourselves (which was probably 2-3 weeks in), our thoughts had crystallized on what values we wanted to drive when our customers thought of us – intelligence, innovation and excellence. With these in mind, we set to name ourselves and went about noting just about anything that represented these ideas. Eventually, we shortlisted 3 names on the following themes:
1. Spirit Animal: Having spent some time in auto space, I had seen motorcycles designed around different spirit animals. Think of Dominar 400 as Tauras (dominating and powerful), Pulsar 200 as Cheetah (sleek and fast)
Some brands use their spirit animal directly in their names; for ex – Redbull, Puma, Jaguar, Survey monkey, Mail chimp, Task rabbit etc. Whereas some brands like Lacoste, Swarovski etc. use their spirit animal in their logo (crocodile and swan to convey their values – tenacity and elegance respectively). We decided of translate similar thought in our name and that led us to two options:
a. Orca (or Killer whales) – Orcas come from dolphin family and are considered very intelligent. They are known for their innovative hunting techniques and unique vocal patterns they use to communicate. In short, killer whales are killer smart! We were psyched by the prospect of naming ourselves ‘Smartorca’ among others.
b. Raven – Ravens are considered very intelligent and a higher order bird (no wonder Game of Thrones used it to convey intelligence as a trait). Their cognitive capabilities rival apes, have immense social learning and problem-solving skills, and are meticulous planners. We thought of naming ourselves ‘Sharpey’ and use a raven in our logo (‘Sharpey’ being the name of our mascot), in order to convey the idea of a sharp raven!
2. Sanskrit word: Staying true to our Indian roots, we wanted to come up with a name that translated to the values of excellence and if possible, came from Sanskrit. Several home-grown brands have also used this strategy – think Krutrim, Vistara, Lakme, Myntra etc. And that’s how we landed on ‘Asama’ (असम) – Asama, in Sanskrit, translates to ‘that which does not have an equal’ or ‘that which is beyond comparison’. The word ‘Asama’ really augured well with us and resembled closely with what we are trying to build – unparalleled solution to modern infrastructure problems. That’s how we are – Asama.ai now.
General trivia – The word ‘Asama’ also seems to have played a role in naming India’s state of ‘Assam’.
Want to know what we are upto? Let’s connect at manish@asama.ai / sg@asama.ai.
Until then.
Keep Slaying,
Manish
Sharpey Speaks 