This is one of those wild stories out of the Silicon Valley TV show, except it's real life.
Jim Manico, founder of Manicode Security at manicode.com, reached out to us on Monday after our launch. He teaches software security practices.
(We also share the same first name. Is he my alter ego??)
He says he's been running his Manicode business for more than a decade, and asked to speak with our CEO in a pointed email.
I didn't realize how serious his claim to the Manicode name was, but I fired off an email to our lawyer, and soon got on a call with a Trademark expert.
She said the fact that we have Manifold, Manifund, and Manifest as well could help our case, as there is an exception for trademarks if there's a bundle of products with a common prefix or suffix.
Unfortunately, however, the products have to be marketed together and be seen as related to consumers. We had been planning for Manicode to be independent, so this angle didn't seem likely to work.
She further explained that since both our businesses deal with writing software, one could be mistaken for the other. Add to that the fact that Jim clearly got to the name first, and it wasn't looking good.
The only option left was to talk to the man.
On Oct 24th at 11:30pm PT (he's apparently not in the continental US), my cofounder Brandon and I got on a zoom call with Jim.
The first words were tense. But slowly, he realized we were not intending to fight him for the name.
He shared his screen to show us a demo of what he's working on. It's security prompts you can paste into ChatGPT along with React code to generate new code with improved security.
We take our turn and show him a demo of Manicode, where, starting with a blank web app, you can ask it to add anything you want ("unicorns", he asks for — and a unicorn emoji appears in the header).
We decide on a path forward. Jim offers to use his network to promote our product, and invites us to do a live demo over a webinar. We tell him we intend to pick a new name.
And so it goes, the saga of Manicode is at an end, at least for me and Brandon.
Now, we need your input. Help us pick a new name -- one that Jim will be happy to promote!
1,000
3.00We renamed to Codebuff!
Check out our Hacker News launch! Currently #1:
@JamesGrugett On your linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-grugett/ page there is an old name: "Cofounder of Manicode (prev. Manifold)" and url https://manicode.ai
Should this resolve, given that you posted on HN as Codebuff? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42078536
I think "codabra" is growing on me. Pronounced like "co-dabra" but evocative of "code" + "abracadabra".
To review my old onomastic criteria:
🟢 EVOC: "code" + "abracadra" 🪄
🟢 BREV: 7 characters 🤏
🟢 GREP: 👍
🔴 GOOG: domain not available 😭
🟢 PRON: not obvious whether to emphasize syllable 1 or 2 but seems fine
🟠 SPEL: not obvious but not super surprising as a spelling
🟢 VERB: "let's codabra up a prototype" works I think
🟠 MELL (mellifluidity): no rhymes or alliteration but fun to say?
Trying this for "codebuff" just for fun:
🟢 EVOC: strong code, polishing code 💪
🟢 BREV: 8 characters 📏
🟢 GREP: 👍
🟢 GOOG: codebuff.com 🎉
🟢 PRON: 💯
🟢 SPEL: 💯
🟢 VERB: "let's codebuff up a prototype" ✔
🔴 MELL: 🤷
It's really about as good as one can do, name-wise, and I think it will just keep growing on me if it's what y'all go with.
@JamesGrugett
https://vscode-docs.readthedocs.io/en/stable/tools/yocode/
vs
https://www.shello-ai.com/
Who is more likely to get upset...
@PaulBenjaminPhotographer Oh no haha. Yeah the shello ai thing might be enough to kill that name. I think yocode is more defensible since that was just a random tool, rather than a company.
Time to sello all the shello
I think yocode sounds a bit childish. I imagine a UI like Mimo / DuoLingo. I'd be put off by that name, I'm afraid.
I just remembered (because I have an old sticker) that glitch.com was originally Hyperdev, back when Joel Spolsky kicked it off, and I don't think they have any further use for that name. Probably not actually realistic to negotiate getting the name from them, but I'm mentioning it just in case.