Legit

Our name, a stunning new drama

We started working on this project in the beginning of August. Turns out that naming a new company is really really hard (or maybe we just made it hard?). Little did we know we were about to embark on an adventure (read: nightmare). Wish we hadn’t forgotten the trail mix and Shot Bloks! We nearly bonked.

Initially we called the project Quantifi. We thought it nicely encompassed the objectivity we’re shooting for. Ultimately, we decided that was a touch too analytical. We were shooing for ‘human.’

Then Lifeguy - never serious, just an internal code name while we waited for the perfect name to fall in our laps.
Portrait - cool, but too fluffy.
Passport - intriguing, people like their passports, but the URL is taken by Microsoft. Game over.
20 others… then, Cred. YES!

CRED. It felt meaningful and strong, but simultaneously informal and human. It reinforced our mission of helping people build credibility and trust. So we went to work on the brand, bought www.credproject.com and got @cred. Everyone we talked to loved it. Everything felt so good… the hard part was over! We bought aeron chairs (ok calm down, not really).

We made great progress developing the Cred brand with Fangohr.

Kred launches on 9/29

Fastforward to 9/29. A company called Kred launched as a competitor to Klout. 

Ever had your favorite candybar stolen in kindergarten? Yeah, waaaay worse than that. Remember the boxes of candybars you sold to raise money for a new computer in the classroom? It was like that whole box getting stolen and being pushed down by the class bully.

Did this seriously just happen?

Yes. Yes it actually did. 

We debated changing names extensively.  We talked to our advisors, lawyers, and friends. At first our gut repeatedly said “stay with Cred.” We always want to be focused on what we’re doing, not on other companies. 

But ultimately it was that focus that swayed us. Kred had already filed for the trademark. They’re also based in San Francisco and in the tech community. Sticking with Cred felt like it would be distracting for both companies.

So we switched, midstep.

Gulp.

This was not an easy choice. Everything we had done with the Cred brand, design, and development went out the window.  While it was hard, ultimately, we know was the right thing to do. We wish Kred nothing but the best in building their business.  

Legit is born on 10/11

Most great ideas don’t come when you’re trying. They come in the shower or while trying to fall asleep. In our case, we were in line to get burritos.

“What about legit?” (Matt)
[Silence. All hamsters spinning]
“Ooooo.” (Rob)
“Yeah, I like that.” (JB)

We were excited, but since our current team is predominantly male, our initial reaction was to gender check ourselves. We all texted a few from the opposite sex and received back an overwhelming liking for “Legit.”

Legit met our personality test. It met the test better than Cred. Legit is meaningful and strong, but simultaneously informal and human.

And it really reinforces our mission. Internal monologue in evaluating trust = “is this person legit?” Everyone we talked to initially about Cred loves Legit even more. Psheew!

Cred will forever be like an ex. Fun to think about, but there’s a reason you’re apart.

We’ll just say, Legit was out there, waiting and always meant to be.