AI made everything faster. Design, dev, content, campaigns - clean, quick, professional. Getting better every day. Anyone can make something that works and looks ok now.
Applications. Landing pages. Product shots. Blog posts. Strategy decks. Slick. Functional. Safe.
So what happens when everyone's work looks ârightâ?
How do you stand out when sameness is now the standard?
Why do people still choose you?
Five letters: B R A N D.
Not a logo. Not a one-off campaign. A feeling people remember. A signal they trust. Even when they havenât bought from you. Especially when they havenât bought from you.
It's why some founders raise millions with a half-built product and others canât get a second meeting, even with the better idea.
Because when trust is the currency, brand is the compound interest.
Most people donât see it that way. They wait until later.
âLet's just get product-market fit first.â
But product without positioning is fragile. It doesn't spread. It doesn't stick.
And when youâre finally âreadyâ to brand, itâs usually too late. Your audience already decided what box to put you in - if they remembered you at all.
âIf you don't work hard to create your own identity, someone else will do it for you.â
Here's what most teams miss - you're not just competing against bad products. You're competing against forgettable ones. And in a world of lookalikes, sameness is the real risk.
So what's the move?
It's not flashy design. (Zuck tried that. Leather jackets, awkward rebrands, curated interviews. He looked less cool and more insecure than ever. Because cool can't be faked.)
It's not one big "launch." It's the boring, powerful work of showing up.
"The big money is not in the buying and selling... but in the waiting."
Charlie Munger
Brand works the same way. It compounds. Quietly, then all at once.
And the teams that win? They show up with clarity, taste, and consistency. Not by shouting louder - but by being unmistakably themselves, again and again.
You want to build brand?
Start here:
Decide what you want to be remembered for. Sharp? Reliable? Playful? Radical? Pick one. Say no to the rest.
Make sure everything reflects it. Your landing page. Your pricing table. Your pitch deck. Your 404 page. It all speaks - even the quiet stuff.
Do it often. Not loud. Not perfect. Just present. Intentional. On-brand.
And yeah, at some point someone will ask:
"But how do I measure the ROI?"
If that's your first question, you're not ready. Because brand isnât measured in weeks. Itâs felt over time. In sales calls that feel warmer. In intros that happen without asking. In customers who already trust you when they land on your site.
If youâre asking for proof, youâre still playing the wrong game. Brand isnât an ad campaign. Itâs the atmosphere you build around the product.
â
Quick off-topic thing, and sorry for the plug:
We've got 2 open spots for May in our Brand Support Plans. It's a structured monthly setup where we help a small number of teams show up more consistently - across design, strategy, and execution.
If that sounds like something you've been meaning to get on top of - hit reply and we'll see if it's a fit.
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P.S. We just wrapped a full brand rollout with Fluent. They raised $7.5M last month.đ¤
Thanks for this.
Working on my hobbies and crafts is something Iâve neglected after work.
Any advice for someone whoâs always rebranding? âbesides commit to something and do it đ¤Ł
Hello there,
Huge Respect for your work!
New here. No huge reader base Yet.
But the work has waited long to be spoken.
Its truths have roots older than this platform.
My Sub-stack Purpose
To seed, build, and nurture timeless, intangible human capitals â such as resilience, trust, truth, evolution, fulfilment, quality, peace, patience, discipline, relationships and conviction â in order to elevate human judgment, deepen relationships, and restore sacred trusteeship and stewardship of long-term firm value across generations.
A refreshing take on our business world and capitalism.
A reflection on why todayâs capital architecturesâPE, VC, Hedge funds, SPAC, Alt funds, Rollupsâmostly fail to build and nuture what time can trust.
âBuilt to Be Left.â
A quiet anatomy of extraction, abandonment, and the collapse of stewardship.
"Principal-Agent Risk is not a flaw in the system.
It is the systemâs operating principleâ
Experience first. Return if it speaks to you.
- The Silent Treasury
https://tinyurl.com/48m97w5e