Personal Branding for Investors and Founders

The term “personal branding” was first used and discussed in a 1997 article “A Brand Called You” by Tom Peters in Fast Magazine. This article states,

“Regardless of age, regardless of position and regardless of the industry in which we operate, we all need to understand the importance of branding. We are the CEOs of our own companies: Me Inc.“

Social media, guest-blogging and many other platforms help people build their personal brands online. Personal branding is not limited to online presence, however. To be speaker at an event, meeting people “offline,” writing books and publishing professional articles all serve to position an expert’s professional “point of view” and themselves in the public eye.

THE BRAND: ME

The best funds and business angels have access to the best deals and get attractive terms on them. They have a competitive advantage because they bring great added value (including additional reach) to start-ups not only with capital – but precisely with their brand.

“If a founder knows exactly how they are benefitting from you, through your “brand,” it is easier for them to decide if you’re a good fit for them,” says Akash Bajwa, VC analyst at Cass Entrepreneurship Fund, a British venture capital fund that invests in high-growth, early-stage companies.

TOP FOUNDERS HAVE THE CHOICE

“Within good deals, there is always competition among investors,” confirms Berthold Baurek-Karlic, General Secretary of the Business Angel Institute and President of the European Super Angels Club.

Nowadays it is important to develop and live a personal brand. This is true for both founders and investors. In our experience, personal branding is even more important for business angels – as they are individual fighters that do not get into the media as easily as funds do. Especially in early stages, up to Series A, strongly positioned angels benefit from their personal brands. Visibility leads to better dealflow, but also helps attract top co-investors.

With more than 1,000 pre-seed and seed funds and about 100 Series A, VC funds that can be considered top tier (vgl. Midas List), founders have a wide range of investors to choose from to talk to.

4 DEGREES OF EFFECTIVENESS OF PERSONAL BRANDING

Personal branding is a marathon – not a sprint. It requires years of hard work and patience. You cannot “reinvent” yourself overnight. You must live the brand and be authentic.

Four “levels of impact” of personal branding, are particularly significant:

Reputation: Personal branding boosts your reputation because people notice you for your expertise and respect you for helping them with your suggestions. Every interaction with a start-up, every interaction with potential (co-)investors has an impact.
Industry Awareness: Gaining notoriety in your industry and region is the best thing that can ever happen to you. Awareness does not equal visibility, or accessibility. Many of the absolute top investors are very difficult to contact directly. You must receive referrals through your network which can also acts as a filter built on purpose.
Competitive Advantage: Personal branding gives you a competitive advantage over others and helps you “win” the best deals, as most people tend to attribute more trust (and likelihood of success) to you than towards others.
You are authentic: Personal branding helps you be transparent about your values, your strategy, and most importantly your intended impact. If you stand for a picture, this will automatically increase the quality of your contacts since people can better assess you in advance and whether they identify with you or not.

Becoming a brand that people also recognise is not that easy.

GUIDELINE TO BUILDING YOUR PERSONAL BRAND

There are important aspects you should be aware of when creating the “ME” brand:

Connect with influential people in your industry whose passions align with yours and follow them.

- Carefully observe what they do and how they do it.
- Get to know brilliant minds in your field of interest and engage in conversation.
- Actively ask for feedback and get tips proactively.

Join vibrant and relevant groups on social media platforms and share your thoughts whenever you get the chance.

- Be active on all possible social media platforms that are relevant to your industry and start sharing your valuable thoughts.
- The goal is to build a strong following that really values your content that is beneficial to them.

Create your own professional website and start writing original articles that people like to read and share. Promote these articles online.

Be consistent and publish as a guest author or speaker (video) in various formats.

Let journalists know where your absolute expertise is and be constantly available for contributions or comments around your topics.

➪ Keep at it until you are successful!

BEST PRACTICE EXAMPLE: HARRY STEBBINGS

Harry Stebbings is probably the best example of successful personal branding. An 18-year-old from England uses his podcast to meet and interview some of the best VC`s in the industry. He built a network and real podcast business. In 2018, he eventually founded a VC firm “Stride VC” and only recently started a micro-VC fund “on the side” together with some of Silicon Valley`s best Venture Capital`s & Business Angels.

PERSONAL BRANDING ANALYSIS BASED ON AN EXAMPLE

We analyse a successful personal brand based on a concrete example, Business Angel James Altucher.

1. Personal Branding Website

Altucher website: https://jamesaltucher.com

His website includes information about his blog, podcast, links to financial newsletters he writes and a list of publications in which he is mentioned.

By including information and links to his blogs, podcasts and financial newsletters, his audience can quickly access his writing and know exactly what he has to offer. By listing which publications he is featured in, he gives himself an advantage over others and proves why his audience would be better off listening to his advice and knowledge.

Tip: 👉🏼 Listing specific examples of accomplishments gives your audience a sense of expertise and shows that you are a leader in this field.

2. Personal Brand logo

The personal brand logo used by Altucher is creative and an eye catcher. This type of personal brand logo is memorable because the font and colour choice are unique and appealing.

3. Personal Brand Statement

From James Altucher’s website:

“Hi, I’m James. I’m an entrepreneur and angel investor. I’m a chess master and author of the Wall Street Journal bestseller Choose Yourself. I’ve started 20 companies, 17 of which have failed. But I’ve learned a lot along the way.”

The Personal Brand Statement Altucher uses on his website gives a brief overview of what he has accomplished in a casual tone. He lists his professions as an entrepreneur and angel investor, while also listing a few accomplishments, such as his best-selling book and the number of businesses he has started.

These accomplishments give him a competitive edge over his competitors and appeal to his target audience. People can relate to his journey and admire his perseverance.

By saying that he started 20 businesses, 17 failed, he appeals to his audience in the sense that he experienced difficulties but kept trying, which led him to his successes. He does not brag about the successes, but rather maintains a casual tone.

4) Personal Branding Story

Altucher’s personal brand story is in the “About” tab on his website.

He begins by sharing how he moved to New York City and what he hoped to gain from the experience. His Personal Brand Story then transitions into a Q&A session where he answers questions about his success, books, authors and books that he recommends, psychology, his thought process and more.

By answering questions instead of just writing down a story, he creates more of an interview feeling. His thoughts are organised and focused on specific topics.

5) Personal Branding on Social Media

Next, let’s take a look at how James Altucher has structured his social media profiles.

5.1) Facebook

Altucher’s Facebook profile gives a quick glimpse of who he is as a person.

His profile picture shows a casual portrait, with the image being from the neck up. His header is his personal brand video, the same as on his YouTube account, which plays continuously. By having this video right when you click on his Facebook profile, his audience can get an instant overview of his life and know where he’s from, what he’s been through, and where he is now, in a matter of minutes.

There are no links to his website or social media platforms in the header, they are only included in his Facebook bio further down the page. With this type of profile picture and header, Altucher does not come across as too pushy to sell his services, but rather is more personal as he raises awareness of who he is and what he does.

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5.2) Twitter

Altucher’s Twitter profile contains more content to promote himself than his Facebook profile. Its commun that Twitter is more focused on “content.”

His profile picture is the same as on his Facebook profile, but his header image is different. In the upper left corner of his header is the name of his podcast, “The James Altucher Show.”

In the middle of the header are the words “Check out my new website!” and the URL to his website, making it easy to access.

Tip: 👉🏼 Use your social media headers as call-to-actions that show where and how your audience can connect with you.

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5.3) YouTube

Altucher’s YouTube profile contains a considerable amount of information to promote his personal brand.

His profile picture is a casual shot of himself smiling at the camera and sitting in front of a microphone for his podcast. His header image is an animated image of himself, with text that says the James Altucher Podcast and that there are “new videos uploaded every week.”

The header also has a box in the bottom right corner with a button to subscribe to his YouTube account, as well as buttons that take you directly to his Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Quora accounts. The inclusion of information about his podcast and links to his other social media platforms promotes all his personal brand pages and provides a quick way to reach them.

He also pinned his personal brand video at the top of his YouTube account called “My Story” so that it’s the first video on his page.

Tip:👉🏼 Pin your personal brand story to the top of your YouTube page to make it more prominent and ensure that people who connect with you see it first.

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5.4) Instagram

Altucher’s Instagram profile presents concise information about what he has to offer with his personal brand.

His profile picture is the same as his Facebook and Twitter profile picture, which creates a sense of continuity. His bio highlights what he is doing.

5.5) Personal Branding with Books

Altucher has published many motivational books to help his readers improve their mindset, finances, and lives.

Two of his books, The Power of No and Choose Yourself, are Wall Street Journal bestsellers, and most of his other books are widely purchased.

Tip: 👉🏼 Writing consistent, high-quality content across multiple channels such as books, blogs, your website, and social media posts will increase your expertise in the field.

FINAL WORD

If you want to be an angel investor on the best deals (early), you need to be known and accessible. It takes time to become “famous” and build your personal brand. It can take years to get there.

If you want to convince a top company, you need to prove that you have more to offer than “just” money. Founders are looking for partners or confidants who can help in the beginning and guide/mentor you during the start-up phase – the more doors you can open and the more pull an investment has, the better it is.

Be open about what you do as an angel investor, focus on your impact (not yourself), and talk openly about your successes and failures – the latter makes you human and more approachable. Angel investing thrives on trust and start-ups thrive on that extra something you bring to the table as an angel. Openness and transparent communication about values and cooperation with founders is an important key to success.

Become an ISO Certified Business Angel NOW and discover the world’s first Certified Business Angel Program (CBA™).

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