Why "Incognito"
Posted by Stephane Bourque on August 24, 2012
What's in a name? After 20 years in business, Incognito Software just wouldn't be the same if it was called anything else. Somehow, this adjective has created a unique personality, identity, and mentality for the company that we proudly represent.
20 long years ago, when I applied to officially register the company I started, I had to submit three name choices. The government agency would then choose the best legal name starting with our first choice. At the time, we had our hearts set on Dynamic Dimensions and I filled the others out haphazardly. When I was brainstorming other names, I looked around my desk and started naming objects out loud. One of the items on my desk was a label from a pair of sunglasses that my friend gave me the day before that said "Incognito". I thought it had a nice ring to it so I put it down as our second choice. I can't even recall what I put as the third choice anymore. As luck would have it, our first choice was not available so the company officially became "Incognito Software".
When you're given a name, you eventually grow into it. Luckily for us, we knew right from the start that it would be a good fit. The first tradeshow we exhibited at was in Boston and like any startup, we were short on money. A friend of mine who was helping with the company had his mom build a booth for us out of black PVC and felt. We spent money on ordering signage and eagerly waited for it to arrive on opening day. Somehow, the signage never made it to the stand and we were left with a completely black booth. The first passerby who came to the booth said, "Oh, you guys are very incognito!" and indeed we were. The second show attendee asked me what the company name was. I asked for him for a guess. To which he replied: looks Incognito". From then on, I knew we had the right name.
August 24th, 2012 marks the official 20 years of Incognito Software. When I started this company two decades ago in my spare bedroom, I never could have imagined that it would be where it is today. It's been quite the trip and I'm looking forward to what the future holds.
Stephane Bourque, the founder of Incognito Software, has built an elite team of dedicated engineers and championed Incognito's development of high performance, multi-platform provisioning software to meet the needs of service providers worldwide.
