Why "Erggo"?

I've been asked about Erggo's name a lot. "Where did you come up with that? Why Erggo?"

The truth is this: When we were still in wireframes, I was fixated on an awful name: Kubervu. I started with what I thought was an etymological coup. "Hey! What's wrong with "cybernetic"? Exactly what we want! It comes from the Greek verb for "steer," κυβερνάω. That's what we helping users to do, right? We're steering people toward each other, helping team leaders steer projects to orderly completion, and steering messages into neat channels." 

And then there was the retro-techie feel of "cybernetic." Right out of a '60s sci-fi novel. I liked that, too. Philip K. Dick stuff. Cyborgs run wild. (On second thought, maybe not such a great association.)

But the death of Kubervu lay in "vu." I wanted it to be a cute, orthographically-challenged spelling of "view." Kubervu--as in "steering view." Get it? Our platform would give you the perspective on your projects of a seasoned helmsman, driving his vessel through the sea. Not only cybernetic but cybernautic. Couldn't lose. 

Our lawyer was the first to annoy me by pronouncing our product "Kubervoo." 

"Voo?" I'd say in frustration. "Really? It's view! Not difficult. Just say it." But he (and everyone else, frankly) persisted in their voos. Thus, we chucked Kubervu.

Being a good Jesuit product, however, I couldn't shake the Greek angle. What were we trying to do? Improve people's work lives, in a variety of ways. Work. That's the focus of our platform. Greek for "work"? á¼”ργον (ergon).  Throw in the English "go," and we could convey forward motion and drive, as in "go to work." And what about "ergo," the Latin for "therefore"? With that in the association in the mix, we had logical necessity on our side.

So Erggo is our brand's way of communicating, "If you really want to get to work on something, here's your choice." 

 You had to ask . . . .