The Quest for Yeti

Meet the newest rockstar on our squad: Zeti, the runZero Yeti! 🎉 This sub-zero hero is now our official mascot, and we’re excited to give you the lowdown on how Zeti came to be. Why a Yeti, you ask? Keep reading to find out!

The Trail to Yeti #

We set out on our epic journey to find the perfect mascot for runZero, with a big hairy goal (yeah, we went there) to find an elusive creature who could capture the personality of runZero. We wanted our mascot to reflect who we are as a company, and also provide a glimpse into the quirkiness, nerdiness, and kindness that permeates life in runZero land. We thought about the roots of our name, the mission that lights a fire in us every day, and what makes our product unique and special.

Our name. With a zero built right into our name, we started thinking about all things ‘below zero’ and ‘arctic’ and the creatures that inhabit these spaces. We’re also a remote-first company, and you can’t get much more remote than the places where temperatures are frequently below zero. The Yeti fits right into our arctic landscape and inhabits remote, farflung locations on the planet.

Our mission. runZero helps people find unknown things in their environments, and reveals the mysteries lurking on their networks so they can take action and improve their security. The Yeti has a mystical allure and knack for staying undetected and off the radar (just like all those unmanaged devices and shadowy subnets on your network), mirroring our mission of unveiling the unknown in networks.

Our product. We believe the runZero Platform is rewriting the story of what a CAASM is and should be. And we aim to bust myths left and right — forget the idea that full network visibility is a mythical beast that demands sacrifices like long setups, pricey gear, and annoying credentials. Heck, we’re even cool with you trying it for free without enduring a sales pitch! We’re all about embracing outlandish ideas and flipping the script. So, a Yeti who emerges from the shadows to the light to blaze a new trail? That’s the Yeti we want to hang with.

After some wild brainstorming (with a few detours involving narwhals and penguins), our Yeti was ready to hit the scene. Enter our amazing illustrator.

Bringing Our Yeti to Life #

We (kind of) love you, Generative AI, but this time we decided to tap into human creativity to help us put a face (and a big furry body) on our Yeti. Shoutout to Kennon James, the genius illustrator behind our Yeti’s makeover. Kennon has worked on all sorts of cool illustration projects over the years, including bringing Marvel superheroes to life, illustrating some popular games you know and love, and creating a pantheon of Cthulhu-inspired artwork. The rabbit hole of his Instagram can be found here — and you can thank us later.

With Kennon’s help, we explored Yetis of all shapes and sizes — short Yetis, tall Yetis, Yetis without necks, Yetis with big shoulders, scary Yetis, muppet-like Yetis, goofy Yetis, serious Yetis… you get the picture. And finally we found our match. This Yeti was a cool character, but also friendly, approachable, and ready to lend a big (really big) hand.

And speaking of hands, it took us a few weeks to realize our Yeti only had four fingers. We aren’t sure what happened to the fifth, but luckily with the magic of the marker, our Yeti now has all five digits. ✋ Check it out for yourself:

Giving Our Yeti a Proper Name #

Next up: picking a name for our Yeti. At our team summit in Austin during the Austin City Limits Festival (because why not?) – we unveiled our Yeti and handed out t-shirts worthy of the festival and the Live Music Capital of the World. Then, we challenged the team to brainstorm the perfect name for our new Yeti.

Our creative geniuses proposed names like Seymour, I.C Moore, and Prints. But the chosen one? Zeti. Rhymes with Yeti, memorable as heck, and totally runZero. And all runZero alums? You’re officially Zetis for life!

To jazz things up, we invited Kennon to join the party and illustrate live with creative input from the crew. Check out the artist at work!

This is just the start, folks! Stay tuned for more Zeti adventures—trust us, you won’t want to miss this! 🚀