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- ♞ Personal Brand in Fundraising
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Why does a personal brand help you raise funds?
You may have seen recently that more celebrities, influencers, or micro-influencers have successfully raised funds for startups and venture firms. This has caused numerous founders to believe that a personal brand is necessary to raise capital.
As always, when confronted with this question, I like to take the approach of going to first principles and asking why having a personal brand helps with fundraising. Finding the answer to this question allows us to replicate the benefits of having a personal brand without needing the time and effort to build one.
So, let’s dive into why a personal brand helps and how you can replicate those benefits.
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Connections - A personal brand helps founders and VCs get in front of the right capital allocators. For the average founder, it is difficult to connect with people who have substantial funds or are willing to invest in your business. Fame opens those doors. Building a strong network, sending cold emails, leveraging social media, and attending conferences. All of these small steps can help you replicate this benefit and build connections with capital allocators.
Distribution - In a world where building new products is increasingly simple, the key to success for many companies is distribution. How do I get in front of as many potential customers as possible, as cheaply as possible? Fame and influence allow individuals to promote and share their products for free. However, this benefit can be replicated if you can nail a specific marketing channel or develop a unique distribution strategy.
In short, a personal brand does help founders raise money, but it does so primarily for the two reasons above. Both can be replicated without a personal brand, so long as you take the time to plan and execute strategies to create those advantages for yourself and your company.
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