3 ways to get your 0 to 1 brand off the ground 🚀🚀🚀

⓵ Look for a hands-on “generalist” 🦄

who is a strategic thinker, planner, and doer with excellence in execution with diverse aesthetics, resourceful and willing to experiment, and experienced working closely with business leaders. This is perfect for founders with a clear strategic direction that needs to be executed. This person can be your first brand hire.

⓶ Invest in a brand agency 🏛️ engagement.

You will get the brand name, thorough process, and top talents. It comes at a high cost and a longer engagement period. This is perfect for the later stages of the company when the product market fit is clear and you already got great customer feedback and traction.

⓷ Hire a small fractional brand team 🙌🏽

that optimize brand process and cost yet create high-impact brand work that meets your needs at the stage of the business. This is great for founders needing support on all aspects of branding. The team may be a mix of strategists, copywriters, and designers with extensive superpowers. You can cover more ground faster and have richer conversations around activating the brand, yet without the steep price tag.

When deciding among the three options, honestly challenge yourself to figure out how comfortable and fluent in the brand you are. Do you have that core brand idea really crystalized and you’re ready to meaningfully build around it? If you feel strong in brand and you’re ready to build, go out and find a great generalist. Otherwise, think deeply about the budget and write out, in list form, what you really need to get your brand off the ground.

If you ever want help writing that list, I’m always happy to hop on a call. I previously worked in creative agencies and also have experience as a first brand hire in tech startups.