How we outgrew our name.
We had created a problem and felt the need to solve it.
Back in 2005 our small team (inside Graphisoft at the time) needed a way to manage 3D models.
So we created a scale of LOD 100, 200, 300, 400, 500 (yes you can blame us).
That original approach had pitfalls however it was adopted as a kinda wonky worldwide BIM standard nonetheless.
Throughout the years members of our team worked in many projects and experienced the same “wonkiness” so… we decided to create a company in an attempt to fix it.
Anyway — apparently there are three ways to name a new company:
- About what the product does
- After the founders
- Something completely abstract
With Lean in mind and to reduce confusion(?!) we chose option 1 and named the company “LOD Planner”.
Three years ago it felt like the perfect name — it stated exactly the problem we are trying to solve for.
But on reflection — especially when hearing this reaction from one user — maybe we royally screwed up on that. 😅
When we told this user about the rebranding he said:
“ that’s brilliant — I love the new name! “
“but I have to be honest, “LOD Planner” was a little like having a Dentist called “Root Canal Surgery” “ 🦷
Whilst I laughed a lot it was painful that for some people this name was an instant detractor — even though we actually shared the same desire to solve this exact industry challenge.
Since starting we have always stood for better planning and information management and thankfully we have used an agile development approach.
This has meant thousands of users have provided feedback for lots of new features.
With this we were quickly able to solve the original challenge (thank you everyone — you know who you are) and these requests have since dramatically broadened our mission!
But, as we focussed on our customers and product, the name stuck around.
However(!) now with our largest ever product update (adding two new modules this week) and also being able to implement the whole BIM management platform without any mention of the old LOD scale we thought it was time for a rebrand. 🎉
We’re still a planning tool — laser focussed on simplifying planning and collaboration so the “Planner” part of LOD Planner still fit very well.
We also strive to make planning fun …so obviously we just added “ly” to it like all of the other great startups out there ;)
Joking aside, “Plannerly” is kind of a hybrid between what it does (being “The BIM Management Platform”) and something a little fun.
There is also a cool hidden meaning too — maybe you’ve guessed it but we’ll certainly write about that in the future!
We LOVE ❤️ our new name “Plannerly” and all new branding and all new BIM management software just launched!
What do you think? :)
