Hilarious Random 'Startup Generator' Spits Out Fake Tech Names That Will Fool You

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- Offendy ... VariationValue ... Smartrot... you've heard of these companies, right?

Wrong.

They are actually fake startup names randomly generated on Startup Generator, a website a couple of Georgia Tech computer science students built over Spring Break. You know, the kinds of startup names you hear about after some venture capitalist sinks millions into a concept you wished you were smart enough to understand, but pretend to anyway, because -- well, it's worth a lot of money.

Mike Bradley and Tiffany Zhang created Startup Generator to hone their web programming skills according to Network World.

It "serves as a parody of startups that have websites full of vague praise and little information about their actual business, often because they have little to show in that regard," explains Bradley on his website.

Bradley and Zhang took lists of words generated by seeded random numbers that randomly combine and create the names, and then threw in a couple of safeguards to make sure the resulting moniker makes sense. Startup Generator has created quite a buzz since Zhang shared the site on Hacker News and Reddit.

The fake websites have fooled more than a few. Like this company:

Topstr. Like no other top. Manage your organisation's tops online, with our cloud software.

Right... your tops -- a word soon to take its place in the lexicon of simple terms that now have profound and deep meaning.

Each fake name comes with polished looking site with the requisite header (About, Our Team, Contact), glorious testimonials ("Smartrot is the real deal. No doubt about it." Kennedy Asher-Thatcher, Arizona), and pictures of hipster looking CEO's, developers and angel investors (who all look much younger than you).

Click on 'Get Started' and Startup Generator spits out another startup.

Here are a few more:

WasteIgnite. WasteIgnite was founded by people who love wasting just like you! Enter your favorite ways to waste and we'll help you fit it all in. Since we're using righteous technologies, you can count on us next time you waste.

Balln. We Are Balln. Balln is a professional ball service that makes it easy to turn your balls into cash.

KnowHeckHere. Have you ever wondered how the heck you got here, with KnowHeckHere give up wondering and start KNOWING.
"KnowHeckHere was knowing about where I was, where I'd been and how the heck I got where I was, all the things I wanted in an app" Barston McReedy - Mitchell, Nevada.

According to Bradley's website, he and Zhang have collaborated on other projects - like Invisible Ink, a steganography program that hides messages within images. Steganograpy? Hmmm. Sounds brilliant, but not nearly as funny as the Startup Generator. One commenter on Hacker News said its going to eliminate a lot of marketing jobs.

"This site literally displays how much talent is required to make a flat design and come up with a startup idea. (none)"