It sure is a pleasure to meet new people, and it's even more intriguing to answer the several questions thrown at me during such occasions. What is ShimBi? What is its meaning? Why 'ShimBi Labs' and not 'Tech,' 'Softech' or 'Software' ? - these questions cover only some such questions I am faced with.
Today, let me tell you the story behind our company name and the thinking process that went behind the name “ShimBi Labs”.
As a child, I always dreamt of becoming a scientist and was always passionate about Science, experiments, and innovations; the Lab sessions were a treat to my passion. As I grew up and became an engineer, the craving scientist in me grew up with a lot of thirst for innovations and ideas. I went on to found a software company, and I instinctively knew the company name would include a word “Laboratories" or "Labs”.
As a founding principle, the company would also engage with experimentation and innovation than just providing customized software. Considering this was a baby step, I was ready to accept failures, but not ready to stop experimenting and learning to walk this field. So “Laboratories” or “Labs” was the perfect word to refer to this company over ‘Software,' ‘Tech’ or ‘Softech.' The name stayed.
Thus ‘Labs’ was finalized, but we still needed a name before it. And that takes us to the other question:
Why ShimBi? What does it mean?
Following Steve jobs quote said it all, what we believe in and what is the vision of ShimBi Labs.
“Design is a funny word. Some people think design means how it looks. But of course, if you dig deeper, it’s really how it works. The design of the Mac wasn’t what it looked like, although that was part of it. Primarily, it was how it worked. To design something really well, you have to get it. You have to really grok what it’s all about. It takes a passionate commitment to really thoroughly understand something, chew it up, not just quickly swallow it. Most people don’t take the time to do that." Steve Jobs
We started our company as a Web and Mobile Application development company.
Therefore, it was vital to us that the design of the application should not only look great on any browser but also be the code behind the screen. I would be bragging and being honest by admitting to our adamancy in pursuing aesthetic beauty, both upfront as well as back. Everything should “Just Work.” This was the philosophy that we were going to follow and we did.
Hence started our hunt for a word that would reflect all these elements ….
Here again, we needed to be careful about a company's name. We wanted a name that would be easy for our Japanese clients to remember and familiarize with it. Ideally enough, we wanted a name which would be easy for everyone outside of Japan as well. If you were wondering at this unexplained requirement, it was because our first market was focused on Japan and even today, 80% our businesses come from this Land of the Rising Sun.
So I consulted with my wife (who is a native of Japan) and after 20 minutes of consulting with a Japanese dictionary, she picked up a word “ShimBi” (審美).
ShimBi (審美) stands for the esthetic sense of beauty
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It was easy to pronounce and easy to remember as well and I took an instant liking to the name.
On 12th June 2005, ShimBi + Labs = ShimBi Labs (審美ラボ) was born!
www.shimbilabs.com
We were ready to experiment with esthetic, beauty and simplicity in all our Application and Products.
Everyone liked the name and every time it generated a curiosity in people's minds, we achieved a part of what we wanted.
Later when we registered the company as a private limited company, we needed to explain this name to Company Registrar of India and to comply with Indian Company Act, it eventually became “ShimBi Computing Laboratories Private Limited”. However, we and all our customers call us “ShimBi Labs”.
So that is the story behind a company name.
We are proud to be 'ShimBi Labs'.