We have to admit it - Cold Ants is sort of a strange name for a company. It makes for a great logo, but what does it have to do with real estate and software?

Just after college, the company founder moved from Maryland to Northern Virginia, sharing a house with some friends. They soon moved on to a bigger and better house, and got a new landlord. While she was walking them through the new place, she gave a long list of Dos and Don'ts for taking care of a home. Many of them pertained to the kitchen.

"If you don't wash your counters, you're going to get ants. You have to clean behind the trash can, or you're going to get ants."

Ants are, of course, terrifying, and no one in their right mind would want ants in the kitchen. The new tenants listened intently.

"You see the seal around the refrigerator door? You have to make sure you keep it clean. If you don't, what are you going to get?"

"Cold ants?", quipped one of the new tenants.

For years, the company founder kept that at the back of his mind. That landlord was part of the inspiration behind the business. She told us never to sell a piece of real estate. Buy a house, live in the basement, and rent out the top. When you can afford it, buy another house, and another.

And now, as a nod to say thank you for sending us down this road, and because it still makes us laugh, we are Cold Ants.