What does Vuzo mean? We get asked this one a lot.
When Vuzo’s founder started the business in 2016 he wanted a name that had no meaning attached to it. So the business could find its own fit in the world, and adopt the meaning it found along the way.
After 5 years of deploying our tools and talent for big retailers, insurers and film studios, we have decided as a team that Vuzo means ‘Comfort in Uncertainty’.
It’s ok to be uncertain. It’s ok to not know the answer to a difficult question. In fact, it’s an essential step in the process of answering the question well. So instead of running from uncertainty, run towards it. Run towards the smoke. Beyond the cloudy mist of uncertainty are some really interesting possible solutions to your question. Don’t become certain too early, or you might miss out on a much better answer.
Weigh the options. Ponder. Review the data. Find some better data. Question the question. Then get right into the testing and measurement, full throttle.
You’ll come to a better decision and reduce waste, remove friction. Enjoy the whole process and create profit and momentum as the fruits of your labour. That is a feeling, a state of mind. Hold onto it and see how quickly it makes things easier.
Hold away your assumptions and biases for a moment, be comfortable in uncertainty, it’s the first step towards making things better.
That’s what Vuzo means. And for 5 years we were OK with not knowing that.
Bonus question: What is the Vuzo Logo supposed to be?
The logo was designed for multiple interpretations. It’s called a Tangram – they were a huge puzzle trend in Europe in the 1800’s, a little while before instagram caught our collective attention. Rearrange the 7 tiles to make hundreds of different birds, beasts, and machines.
In the Vuzo logo, some people see a bird, some see a fish or a flower. A pilot saw it and thought it looked like a DC9 aircraft. We humans are built to look for patterns. Vuzo’s logo is a reminder that a lot of the time things come down to interpretation. So it’s pretty important to be clear in your communications and rewrite the question a few times until it’s hard to mis-interpret.