Personal Branding for Founders
A lot of founders I’ve spoken to, especially those of us who are technical, bristle at the idea of intentionally working on their “personal brand.” I don’t like the term either, but once you cross the line from employee to founder, you’ll find that the relationships, reputation, and network you’ve built become 10x more valuable.
While some first-time founders successfully raise angel and venture money based purely on their ideas, the most successful founders I’ve met had some previous connections to their early investors that helped them secure their first rounds of funding. A strong personal brand is one way that founders can attract these and other valuable connections.
My web presence has helped me hire employees, attract new customers, build relationships with investors, and spurred countless interesting conversations with readers from around the world.
I’m not an influencer or a celebrity. I haven’t had an exit or tons of press coverage for my businesses. I am just a software engineer who worked for startups and eventually founded and bought a couple of small businesses.
