Brand Building is both an art and strategy often overlooked by start-ups, especially those run by founders with technical backgrounds. It's not just about putting a logo on t-shirts, it's about product market fit.

1. Brand Building for Start-Ups

2. Why Brand Matters
Financial: Influential brands are an asset in their own right,
and research demonstrates that there is a strong
correlation between brand strength and stock market
performance.
Even for startups that are nowhere close to IPO, a coherent
brand strategy can inform an investor narrative that breaks
through in a funding environment where the power has
flipped from founders to VCs in the past year.
Community: Brand drives incremental value by creating
strong emotional resonance with its community, creating
loyalty beyond reason.
As Zoe Scaman states, this creates a flywheel between
audience, product and brand that powers business growth,
which was instrumental to fueling early success for
companies like Peloton and Amazon.
Employee: An influential brand is a beacon to attract (and
retain) top-tier talent in a tight labor marketplace.
According to Deloitte, purpose-driven companies report
30% higher levels of innovation and 40% higher levels of
workforce retention.
While total compensation is key, a clearly articulated brand
purpose can be the invaluable decision-maker.
Cultural: Influential brands also create cultural advantage
that contributes directly to business success by delivering a
disproportionate share of voice, driving the PR narrative and
attracting partners. For example, while celebrity
endorsements cost tens of millions, Airbnb was able to get
Beyoncé on board for a much lower fee because she was so
aligned with the company’s brand purpose.
Img from: Branding For Small Businesses Made Simple

3. Key Brand Strategy Questions
● What is our product value proposition?
● How do we differentiate our product or service in a crowded
competitive landscape?
● Who are the primary audiences to win with first—and who are the
growth audiences that will enable us to scale?
● Where should the leadership team focus more (or less) time and
attention?
● Why does the world really need another “Uber for x” or “Stripe for y”?
Img from: How to Identify Your Brand’s Value Proposition | by Jones + Waddell | The Startup | Medium

4. Self Assessment
● Has the ROI on performance marketing become less efficient?
● Are you about to embark on a big hiring push?
● Is there an imminent funding round or IPO?
● Have you found traction with a core audience but now need to “cross the chasm” to the
mainstream?
● Are you expanding your product into new verticals and markets?
● Has your early success spawned a wave of “copycats” that talk and look like you?
Img from: Marketing ROI: Definition and How to Calculate It - Ruler Analytics

5. Note: Pay and Spray Branding Isn’t Strategy
When startup leaders hear “brand,” many automatically think of logo, colors, swag, perhaps
splashing dollars on endorsements or sponsorships. If this is how brand is defined, then it’s 100%
accurate that startups shouldn’t spend much time or money on it. Building the product, scaling
the team, securing financial runway, getting to product-market fit—all of these must be higher
priority to ensure the startup has a chance to survive.

6. Source:
Founders of Tech Startups Often Overlook Brand Strategy by Colin Chow