What’s in a Name? For FME Ventures, It’s Part of Doing Business
Some business names come in a flash, as if by divine inspiration. Others are solid, simple, and straightforward. Some names sparkle with wordplay or echo an aesthetic. But, for Emily Truszkowski ’26, finding the right name was a matter of try and try again.
“We actually changed our name multiple times,” said Truszkowski, whose team eventually settled on the name Oh, Dam!, for its card-based game that incorporates the unique campus lifestyle and landmarks at Babson College.
“At first, I named it Beavers for Humanity, but, of course, there are legal issues there,” Truszkowski said, referencing the well-known creative card game Cards Against Humanity.
“Then, we had to pivot, and we tried Beavers for Babo, but that didn’t really make sense. But, then, Oh, Dam! came up. We wanted something that was punny and related to Babson, and it’s something I actually say while playing,” Truszkowski said. “I was reading through the cards, and I said, ‘Oh, damn,’ and the team was like, ‘Wait a second.’ ”
Oh, Dam! is one of 58 businesses created by Babson’s Class of 2026 as part of the College’s signature Foundations of Management and Entrepreneurship (FME) class. In the yearlong course, first-year students team up to create, develop, launch, and manage real ventures. The student teams showcased their ventures last month at the FME Expo (see TikTok below), where they also shared insights into their naming process.
The Name Game
“Can I interest you in the EvoHug?” Joshua Bell ’26 asked as many students, faculty, and staff stopped by his team’s business, one of 58 on display at the Len Green Recreation and Athletics Complex. Bell, co-creator Vish Modi ’26, and the rest of the team designed a weighted blanket using recyclable silicone beads to provide the secure, snug weight users are seeking.
The group included a mattress as part of their display so potential customers could fully embrace the EvoHug experience.
“I wanted to create something that was as effective as possible for everybody, and the name EvoHugs came up because this blanket simulates a hug at nighttime,” Modi said. “I think with Evo in the name, people sort of get an environmental sense, because the microbeads we use in the product are sustainable.”
Companies can spend thousands of dollars finding just the right name, seeking something catchy and simple while avoiding legal battles from similar businesses. Babson’s FME students, meanwhile, have only one school year and up to $3,000 to come up with a new venture that provides social or environmental value.
Keep it Simple
The amount of time students devoted to naming their new ventures varied wildly, especially because the businesses often changed multiple times over the course of the class.
“We started off by looking at single-use, biodegradable water bottles, which would reduce the plastic in oceans and the environment, but we ended up shifting because it just wasn’t feasible,” Finn Martin ’26 said. “We would have basically needed to create a massive company and order hundreds of thousands of water bottles. The scale was too big.”
The team turned to reusable water bottles with a twist. Inside the water bottle is a screened area to put berries, sliced apples, or lemons so the water is infused with flavor without the fruit getting in the way when you take a sip.
“We ended up using WhatsApp to chat about names, and we all just kind of threw ideas out there until someone mentioned Flaskmate,” Martin said. “That kind of general consensus has been the way we’ve handled the whole business.”
“The main reason we spelled the name differently as Ora, was because of its simplicity. We thought it was short, simple, and serene. It just rolls off the tongue.”
Anna Obrock ’26
Liya Chauvet ’26, meanwhile, knew right away she wanted to evoke a sense of simplicity and calm with her venture, Ora.
“When thinking about self-care, aura came straight into my mind because it’s all about your energy,” Chauvet said.
“The main reason we spelled the name differently as Ora, was because of its simplicity. We thought it was short, simple, and serene. It just rolls off the tongue,” Anna Obrock ’26 said.
Simplicity, above all, seemed to take precedence for many new entrepreneurs at this year’s FME Expo. Despite playful names such as Sole Saviors, a service that keeps your sneakers clean, most teams kept it simple. The Strap is a strap that allows you to carry your reusable water bottle over your shoulder, and Trip’d is a service that sets up rides and events for students taking a day trip to Boston.
“When we were thinking about our name, we were thinking about what screams going on a trip,” Henry Johnson ’26 said. The name Trip’d came pretty quickly. “It was like a five-minute conversation. Sometimes, the best names just come to you.”
Watch more from the FME Expo on TikTok:
@babson_college the day that it’s all about, first-year students 🤩💚 #babson #babsoncollege #businesschool ♬ The Good Part – AJR
Posted in Community
