Brand strategy for startups: Where to begin

You’ve launched a startup. Congratulations. You now have 57 browser tabs open, a half-finished pitch deck, and a Canva logo you’re not sure you love. Before you burn more hours (and cash) chasing aesthetics, it’s worth stopping to answer a less glamorous but more important question: what’s the actual plan for your brand?

Because without a strategy, your brand is just vibes. And vibes alone don’t scale.

1. Figure out who you’re talking to

If your answer is “everyone,” then your answer is wrong. Get painfully specific. Who actually cares about what you’re building? Who will part with their money for it? Picture one real person. If you can’t describe what they eat for breakfast, you don’t know them well enough.

2. Decide what you stand for (and against)

Your brand isn’t just your logo, it’s your point of view. Are you serious about sustainability? Do you hate needless complexity? Do you believe snacks should taste good and not like cardboard? Draw a line in the sand. Plant a flag. Whatever metaphor you like... just don’t be beige.

3. Give it a personality

If your brand were a person, would anyone want to sit next to them on a long flight? (Be honest.) Decide early whether you’re charming, authoritative, rebellious, or quietly confident. Personality isn’t decoration; it’s what makes your emails and packaging sound like they came from the same brain.

4. Tell a story people can repeat

Features are forgettable. Stories stick. Make yours short enough to fit into an Uber ride, human enough to not sound like a press release, and clear enough that someone else can retell it without butchering the details. If your story needs a whiteboard, it’s too complicated.

5. Then worry about the logo

Yes, design matters. But only once the foundations are in place. Otherwise, you’re just picking colors at random. Your strategy should dictate the visuals, not the other way around. A good logo is earned through clarity, not clip art.

The Takeaway

Brand strategy isn’t optional homework for startups. It’s the difference between looking like a side project and being taken seriously. Figure out who you’re for, what you stand for, and how you show up — and then hire someone to make it look good.

We help founders cut through the noise and build brands that actually stand for something. If you’re ready to graduate from vibes to vision, let's chat.