The name Beta-Rubicon has its roots in several concepts. "Beta" itself is used in two distinctly different ways that relate directly to the business of the company: Beta is used as the coefficient of investor risk, and beta is also used in engineering (and software) product development to designate that critical evaluation phase between research and commercial deployment. Hence "beta" bridges both investment and technology areas.

In crossing the Rubicon river, the ancient boundary between Cisalpine Gaul and Italy, to march against Pompey in 49 B.C., Julius Caesar made a major military commitment. In modern usage, "crossing the Rubicon" has come into the language meaning making an irrevocable commitment. Commitments such as are frequently the case in adopting or investing in new or evolving technologies. 

Beta-Rubicon: using technology assessments to bridge the investor information gap to reduce the risk attendant to making a major financial commitment.