Not So DUM™ After All
- Boruch Meir "Meyer" Greenbaum
- Jun 13
- 4 min read
Late November 2024 — Los Angeles
Zoom call with a client.
We were exploring ways to increase revenue.
“There’s a sliver of opportunity in the market right now for a new BGM (Blood Glucose Management) brand. I think you should grab it.”
Awkward silence.
Then:
“Ugh, BGM?! Really? It’s a commodity. Cheap meters, discount strips, Chinese insulin syringes. It’s a race to the bottom. There’s no money left in it. And every distributor either has their own brand or is locked into a supplier.”
They didn’t see it.
“Let me develop a brand concept, product line, and market strategy. I’ll present it at your next annual sales meeting. We’ll talk soon.”
We hung up.
I opened ChatGPT and began experimenting.
After a carefully crafted prompt, thirty minutes of creative back-and-forth led me to a name that stuck.
PinPoint ™
It rolled off the tongue.
Clean. Clear. Clinical.
It worked.
I asked Tanner, my incredible admin, to develop a brand book. Within an hour, she had three polished versions in a PowerPoint, complete with look, feel, and tone.
I jumped back on a call with the client.
They were shocked by the speed.
Loved the concept.
“This is great. I’ll have our IP attorney run a trademark search.”
That two-hour sprint became a seven-month odyssey:
Defining the product line
Sourcing suppliers
Reviewing samples
Negotiating terms
Regulatory strategy
Packaging design
Quality control
Market positioning
They were moving fast. Then Trump Tariffs hit.
New costs. Tough calls.
Renegotiate. Reconfigure. Rethink.
They adjusted.
They were still in.
The Setback
Early this week, an email from Chad (marketing) hit my inbox, cc’d to the leadership team:
“Trademark challenge. Company X has a similar-sounding brand. Legal’s advising we abandon PinPoint.”
Frustration. Disbelief.
Seven months of work, gone with one email.
It landed like a well-placed kick to the gut.
I had loved that brand. So had customers.
The team was deflated.
“This is a good thing. It’s very good,” I responded—without knowing exactly why.
“Let me get back to you. I’ll send over new concepts.”
They probably thought I’d lost it.
The Shift
I let it sit.
Then I asked myself:
“If everything is good, and all is part of G-d’s plan, what can I learn from this so that it can be even better? How can it be refined?
And then, the idea came.
It felt right. Immediate. Intuitive.
Irreverent. Playful. But with purpose.
Before I could second-guess it, I sent it:
DUM Diagnostics ™
DUM — the Hebrew word for blood.
Also a cheeky twist on dumb, intentionally.
A line of blood glucose management products.
Simple. Intuitive. Easy to use.
“Devices U Manage. Results You Trust.”
Built with empathy.
Built for the market.
Backed by a commitment to donate a portion of proceeds to blood-related causes.
Non-exclusive. Non-denominational.
But deeply values-aligned.
The Reaction
The responses were immediate.
Which I liked.
Controversy means it’s cutting through.
“Wait… is this serious?”
“It could hurt our clinical credibility.”
“Let’s run this by the full team. Prepare a presentation.”
Then came the quieter concern:
If the name’s Hebrew, will it sell in the broader market…?
Followed by the kicker:
“Did you run this by ChatGPT?”
I replied:
“I don’t need ChatGPT to tell me what I already know. It’ll just give me robotic pros and cons.
The fact that we’re debating the name proves it’s distinctive.
The trademark search shows it’s clear.
And generic brands don’t start conversations—this one already has.
I’m happy to dive deeper with the team, but I’m all in on this concept and how it fits into the Platform Partner model.”
“We can nibble at the market with another safe, boring name…
Or we can fix the model entirely.”
This isn’t just about pricing or packaging.
This is about blood. Life. Meaning.
If we’re worried about using a Hebrew word for fear of perception, let me be blunt:
Jewish blood is not cheap.
The Moment of Clarity
Last night, I was standing under the setting sun at a wedding in Cozumel
The bride is the youngest daughter of close friends of ours. The friends who I stayed with while dating my wife in Los Angeles over 26 years ago.
The groom was my cousin.
Strong. Passionate, surrounded by love.
As the bride walked to the chuppah, music swelled, the sun dipped below the horizon, and phones began to buzz.
“Israel just attacked Iran.”
The ceremony paused.
The MC called for a moment of tefillah.
Prayers for protection. For the IDF. For peace.
There we were:
A resort on the edge of the Caribbean sea.
Celebrating the beginning of one couple’s future.
While halfway across the world, our brothers and sisters prepared for war.
It hit me all at once.
The sanctity of life.
This wasn’t just about branding anymore.
It was about declaring, in a world obsessed with death, that life matters.
That blood is sacred.
That people aren’t disposable.
That our work, even in “commodities,” can carry meaning.
I knew right then:
DUM Diagnostics ™ would launch.
Not in spite of the discomfort.
But because of it.
The Stand
When life is treated like a commodity,
it’s up to us to remind the world what it’s worth.
Jewish blood is not cheap.
And neither is life.
What Comes Next
In the coming weeks, I’ll be launching a new series that explores the beauty and meaning of Jewish life and customs, and how their lessons offer a roadmap to building a life of depth, clarity, and purpose.
Because most people aren’t antisemites.
They just hate what they don’t understand.
They fear confusion, dysfunction, and the sense that something better might exist. So they project that fear outward, sometimes onto the people who carry that moral clarity.
That fear, when left unchecked, becomes hatred, dressed up as progress, justice, or holy cause.
But we are unbowed.
Unafraid.
And resolute in our belief that light will always reveal the shadow of darkness, and that good will always outlast evil.
As the saying goes:
“Kill them with kindness”, sure.
But more importantly:
Preserve life.
Wish life.
Live life.
And never be ashamed to stand for it.
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