HOO KOO E … what? — explaining our name
Article
HOO KOO E … what? — explaining our name
Article
Hoo’-Koo-e’-ko means roughly “this is us, people” in the language of the Hoo-Koo-E-Ko tribe that used to reside in the San Francisco Bay Area before settlers came. But that’s not exactly how it started for us…
Storytime!
North of San Francisco, just past the Golden Gate Bridge, there’s an incredible sequoia reserve, called Muir Woods. Matt Cyrankiewicz, our founder, went hiking there a few years back. He was given a map by a stranger and told he can reach an incredible view of California from the East Peak of Mt. Tamalpais.
The stranger said the loop would take about 2h. It turned out the trail would take over 7h to loop around. And so, by the time Matt reached the summit, the sun started to set. Running down from the mountain in pitch-black darkness, with a dead phone, using only his GoPro stick (it was 2014) to fend off bears (there are no bears there), he roamed around pitch-black sequoia woods, seeking a path back to the blue 1989 Cadillac de Ville his friend lent him for his post-Burning Man travels. Matt was just visiting from London at the time.
Anyway. Suddenly, he stumbled upon a trail of lights that marked the sides of the path. The trail of light has led him to a Muir Woods fundraiser party that happens only once a year. The trail that led him towards those lights, was called Hoo Koo E Koo.
Creating a new trail to light aka setting up a company
A year later, when Matt was removed from the California company he had founded in a hostile take-over, he remembered the story, and founded HOO KOO E KOO as his own way back to light — and he traveled around the world while building this company since.
It later turned out HOO KOO E KOO (the company) has become a trail to light for a few others who are now shaping a family of extremely talented creative problem-solvers calling the whole planet their home.
HOO KOO E KOO is the tribe of Silicon Valley and a new breed of a digital studio.
HOO KOO E KOO believes that now — more than ever — we all must consider the impact of what we design and build. We solve big problems and execute bold solutions to make a positive impact on the future: the future of transportation, health, governance, work, happiness, and more.