Startups Under The Hood

When you start a startup, you’re building the future.

When you build a brand for your startup, you’re investing in that future.

That’s because you reveal to the world that you are here to change lives and that you are here to stay.

In the tech startup world, as founders usually tend to be engineers, anything that has to do with the brand tends to be put off until a later phase. That’s because the main focus is to build the product, to elaborate the MVP, and to get investment. Once the startup gets traction and grows, then and only then the brand is prioritized.

But wait. Is this wise? Is it feasible? Or is it just inertia?

Why put in all that effort to build the perfect product unless you have a brand? If you don’t have a brand for your product, whatever you put out there in the world will serve as a bonus for the entire category, not your product only. If it’s good, you’re going to drive sales up for everyone.

So the logical conclusion is that there is no reason to be particularly good if nobody knows who you are. There is no reason to be particularly good because you will have no reputational reward. Capitalism works only when players in the market have a reputation, it doesn’t work otherwise.

How do you build your reputation? By engineering the perception your audience has about you. Don’t forget that investors are part of your audience also, and usually you go to them first. How does your pitch stand out in their pile of similar-looking startups that solve something big in the world? What’s the one-sentence you tell an investor about your startup when you catch them on the elevator? What’s your product value proposition? And why should your audience care?

Strategy, the foundation of Perception Engineering, is an informed opinion on how to win in the market. Tactics make it happen. Prioritize your brand to get a head start.

By Teodora Aldea-Turcu