First, we needed a name. I’m a big believer in having a unique proper noun for the company that can be owned completely. We started making sounds with our mouths—literally just expressing syllables that sounded remotely like telephone. “Teliph.” “Telefoo.” “Telapia.” Nope, that’s a fish. We kept making sounds. It must have been hilarious to listen to, but we didn’t care. After about twenty minutes, I said: “Twili. Tweli. Twilio.” The last one had a ring to it. Amazingly, Twilio.com was available for seven dollars, so I bought it. That was that. We’d named our company.
