Why is my personal company called Kizito?

The company is named Kizito because my parents lived in Africa, and Kizito is my second name. It is also my baptismal name and originates from Swahili. The name is associated with a well-known martyr in Uganda.

Kizito (c. 1872 – June 3, 1886) was a young Catholic convert who served as a page at the court of King Mwanga II of the Kingdom of Buganda (now part of Uganda). At the age of 13 or 14, he was burned alive on June 3, 1886, in Namugongo because he refused to renounce his Christian faith and submit to the king’s immoral demands.

He is known as the youngest of the 22 Catholic Martyrs of Uganda. Kizito was beatified in 1920 and canonized on October 18, 1964, by Pope Paul VI. Today, he is recognized as the patron saint of children and primary schools.

Why was my first company called Mbuyu?

My first company was called Mbuyu, named after the Mbuyu tree in Tanzania. The Mbuyu is one of the oldest and largest trees in the world. In many Tanzanian villages, markets are traditionally held under its wide canopy because it provides generous shade from the hot sun.

The tree is also famous for its distinctive appearance. It often looks as if it is growing upside down, with its branches resembling roots reaching into the sky.

The name Mbuyu also had a second meaning for us: “M – buy – you.” We believed it was a strong concept to reward both people involved in a transaction — giving commission to two individuals when a product or service was purchased based on one person’s recommendation to another.

This idea was later widely recognized and implemented as what is now known as affiliate marketing.

Why did we change the name from Mbuyu to M4N?

We decided to change the name from Mbuyu to M4N because many people had difficulty spelling “Mbuyu” correctly. As a result, they struggled to find us online, particularly when trying to visit our website at mbuyu.com.

We discovered that there were around 60 different variations in how people attempted to spell the name. This made it harder for customers to reach us and limited our online visibility.

To make the brand simpler, clearer, and easier to remember, we chose the shorter and more accessible name M4N.

What where the different spellings of Mbuyu?

1. Mbuy

2. Mbyou 

3. Mebyou

4. Mbayou

5. Mbuyuo

6. Embyou

7. Embuyou

8. Mboyu

9. Mbooyu

10. Mbouyo

11. Mbouyu

12. Mbuyuu

13. Mbayu

14. Mbuye

15. Mbuijo

16. Mboye

17. Mbeuyu

18. Mbeuyu

19. Buyu

20. Byyou

21. Mbuiu

22. Mbuyou

23. Mbuyyou

24. Mbuyou

25. Mubyuu

26. Mubyu

27. Mbuuyu

28. Mbouyoo

29. Mbuyuh

30. Mbuju

31. etc...

Why did we choose the name M4N and what did it mean?

M4N originally started as a project name. It was inspired by the song “Money for Nothing” by Dire Straits — specifically the well-known line, “money for nothing and chicks for free.”

The name was short, powerful, and easy to remember, which made it stick with people. We also secured the domain name M4N.nl.

Unfortunately, we did not think to purchase M4N.com at the time. Most likely, this was because M4N was initially intended as a temporary project name, and we did not anticipate that we would continue building the business under that brand long term.

What is behind the name ZEEF and why did we pick this name?

ZEEF is the Dutch word for “sieve” (or “sift” in English). The name was chosen to represent the idea of filtering and organizing information on the internet.

Just like a sieve separates what is valuable from what is not, ZEEF was designed to sift through the vast amount of online information and highlight the most relevant, useful, and high-quality content.

How did you come up with the name LinkPizza and why?

We created LinkPizza while building a platform that competed with VigLink and Skimlinks. We felt that those company names sounded quite technical and not very playful or approachable. We wanted to create a brand that felt more friendly, memorable, and likable.

Pizza is a universally positive product — it brings people together and has a strong association with sharing and enjoyment. That made it a powerful metaphor for our business model.

The LinkPizza logo featured a pizza with one slice taken out. The pizza symbolized sharing: when you share a pizza with friends, everyone gets their own slice. In the same way, our platform was built around sharing revenue — everyone involved would receive their part of the commission, their “slice of the pizza.”