A long time ago, we were going to change the world. We decided we had enough of that stuffy corporate world with its salary, benefits, and ample cash flow. We thought we had a good business plan, we thought we had completed the research – and we jumped. We started our own company, and damn it we were going to change the world.
Now, what to call this company?
Our brainstorming led us to German words.
The two founders of the company had strong ties to Germany – specifically Heidelberg, Germany. Alex Patton, Ozean’s co-founder, attended high school in Heidelberg (go lions!), and Ozean’s other founder was born in Heidelberg.
As a side note, Heidelberg, Germany is beautiful, and you should visit!
Ahh…inspiration was taking over.
Several rounds of brainstorming later, we came across “Ozean”. Ozean made PERFECT sense to us.
“Ozean” is the German word for “Ocean.” O•ze•an, pronounced Ozean!
THEN inspiration met cockiness – we were going to change the world by “making waves”….
BOOM! A company was named, a logo made complete with waves, and a brand birthed.
Fast forward years later, and I still get asked: “What is an Ozean?”, “How in the world did you come up with that name?”, “Can you spell that?”
At times, I wondered if we should have just named the company “AAAA Communications” and been done with it.
It begs the questions, “Do you name a company for personal reasons, name it for your potential customers, or does it really matter?”
In this case, every time I am asked, I explain the origin story. I would like to think it is somewhat memorable.
Regardless of whether it is memorable or not, the name is meaningful to us.
I’d like to believe we have matured from “making waves” to “Navigating to Victory – even the hard ones” but that evolution story is for another day!
Well, now you know….the origins Ozean. – a name inspired by Heidelberg, Germany, and cockiness (maybe naiveté).
PS. You really should plan a trip to Heidelberg, you’ll thank us!
