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Insights from Jordan Petrov on what actually matters when building a brand as a startup.
Welcome to another article in our series showcasing our most dedicated mentors and their invaluable wisdom. These are the silent heroes working behind the curtains – the ones who jump in and help our founders when they need it most, but rarely get the spotlight. Get to know the people our founders already swear by and gain access to their knowledge.
What Makes Brand Building Different for Startups
Here’s the thing: brand building for startups isn’t about manifestos or moodboards. It’s about helping people quickly understand what you do, why they should care, and why they should trust you – even when your offering is still evolving.
At the early stage, you’re not Pepsi. You’re a stranger at the party trying to make an impression before someone walks away. If your messaging doesn’t click instantly, they’re gone.
Startup Stage: Be Product-Centric or Be Forgotten
At this point, no one knows who you are. And they definitely don’t understand your product yet. Which is why your brand should obsess over clarity.
Your job:
- Target a narrow “minimum viable market” of early adopters who really feel the pain your product solves.
- Explain your product in plain, human language. No jargon. No pitch-deck lingo.
- Create a visual identity that actually stands out. Blending in = being ignored.
- Stay flexible. Treat your messaging like an experiment, not a fixed formula.
🧠 Pro Tip: Imagine you’re explaining your startup to someone you just met who has zero context for your space. If they don’t get it in one sentence, try again.
The risk of getting it wrong? Confusion, distrust, and zero traction. In this phase, clarity is your oxygen.
Scale-Up Stage: Shift to a Value Proposition Focus
Once you’ve landed some customers and found early product-market fit, things change. You’re no longer the shiny new thing with zero competition. Other players are circling. Customers have choices.
This is where brand building turns into a competitive edge (if you use it right).
What shifts:
- Broaden your target beyond early adopters to the early majority.
- Move messaging from “what it is” to “why it’s better.”
- Refine your visual identity and tone based on what’s already working.
- Be consistent. Now’s the time to double down on messages that convert.
🧠 Pro Tip: Don’t just say “we’re faster.” Say, “we save you 3 hours a week, and here’s how.”
The cost of neglecting your brand here? You become a “nice-to-have” in a sea of options. Customers stop seeing what’s special about you.
How to Balance Short-Term Sales and Long-Term Brand Growth
There are two kinds of demand:
- Existing demand = customers ready to buy now.
- Future demand = people who might buy later but don’t know you yet.
Most early-stage founders go all-in on performance marketing and ignore future demand. That’s a mistake.
To harvest existing demand:
- Target tightly (your early adopters).
- Be rational. Hit them with clear product benefits and a compelling offer.
To create future demand:
- Target broadly (reach potential category buyers early).
- Be emotional. Let them feel what you stand for – even if they’re not buying yet.
- Use emotion strategically. You’re not going full purpose-led yet, but even at this stage, making people feel something about your brand builds future trust. The goal is awareness and familiarity, not a hard sell
A smart founder does both.
Brand Metrics That Matter
No vanity metrics here. When you invest in brand building, watch these signals:
- Brand Awareness: Do people even know your name?
- Brand Awareness: How many relevant customers even know your name?
- Brand Consideration: How many would seriously think about buying from you?
- Brand Preference: Among those who know you, how many would choose you over others?
If those numbers are improving, your brand is doing its job. If not, it’s time to revisit your messaging, positioning, or creative consistency.
How Brand Directly Impacts Growth
Those headline metrics – awareness, consideration, preference, are just the start. Brand also shows up in the numbers most founders track every day: activation rates, upgrade paths, word of mouth, and more. In other words, brand isn’t separate from your growth motion. It powers it.
This framework (originally shared by Kira Klaas in Kyle Poyar’s newsletter Growth Unhinged) connects brand health to specific growth metrics like time-to-value, expansion revenue, and word of mouth. That way founders can measure what matters even in the early stages.
Take Notion, for example. They didn’t just grow through smart product-led tactics. They built a brand people wanted to be associated with. Users proudly shared their workspaces because being “a Notion person” said something about them – they are organized, creative, and productivity-minded. That emotional alignment powered viral growth, community engagement, and user loyalty. It wasn’t a nice side effect. It was the brand doing its job.
You can see this reflected clearly in their metrics. Notion has exceptionally high branded search traffic and almost no reliance on paid channels – a signal of strong word-of-mouth and brand equity. Compare that with Monday.com, which depends heavily on paid traffic to stay visible.
Founder's Checklist: What to Prioritize and When
Each stage calls for a different brand focus. But that doesn’t mean you drop the others entirely. It just means the weight you put on each one shifts as you grow.
🧠 Pro Tip: Think of it like a volume dial. Start by turning up the “what,” then gradually shift the emphasis toward “how,” and eventually toward “why” as your business matures.
Quick Note on Mature Brands (And Why You Can Ignore This for Now)
If you’re reading this, you’re probably not Pepsi (like we already established in the beginning). Mature brands play a different game – one built on emotional positioning and long-term loyalty. Their brand is their moat.
But if you’re still building, don’t over-index on the emotional “why” before you’ve nailed the “what” and “how.” That time will come, just not now.
In Conclusion: What Brand Means in Practice for Founders
You don’t need a CMO to start building a brand. You just need to be intentional.
- Know who you’re talking to.
- Say what matters clearly.
- Make sure your visual identity reflects your message.
- Keep refining based on what clicks.
Brand building for startups isn’t about spending more. It’s about saying more with less. Especially when you’re still scrappy. The best startups don’t wait to “do brand later.” They use it to multiply their growth motion from the very beginning.
Enjoyed this focus on brand building? Complement it with a 100% data-driven approach from our mentor Yasen Lilov in “Test, Don’t Guess: Data Analytics and Paid Ads for Faster PMF (Q&A)“
