🤔Should founders care about building a personal brand?
Isn’t there enough “real work” to be done that posting on LinkedIn is a total waste of time?
We don’t think so and neither does Michael Houck, a founder and investor who has built his personal brand to create Houck’s Newsletter, which is read by 75,000+ founders every week.
Prior to focusing on his newsletter, Houck founded a startup that raised $15M from a16z, co-founded an early stage venture firm, and was part of the early team at Airbnb. When it came to personal brand, Houck was mentored by the best—including Sahil Bloom and Lenny Rachitsky.
Here’s what we discussed:
âś… The benefits of having a strong personal brand for as a founder
âś… Being intentional about building a brand for maximum impact
âś… Tactics for growing engagement
âś… Why personal brand is even more important for non-traditional founders
âś… Personal brand vs. company brand.
âś… Overcoming posting anxiety and finding your voice.
âś… How to get the most value from your personal brand.
âś… The FIVE MINUTE PER DAY habit that you can use to grow your personal brand.
âś… Does AI change the game for personal brand building?
Whatever your opinion on personal branding, this episode will get you thinking.
Episode Links:
Do yourself a favour and subscribe to Houck’s free Newsletter: https://houck.news/
Megaphone: https://megaphone.network/
Follow Houck:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-houck/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/callmehouck
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Key links
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Learn more about Chris and Yaniv
Work 1:1 with Chris: http://chrissaad.com/advisory/
Follow Chris on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrissaad/
Follow Yaniv on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ybernstein/
Credits
Lovingly handcrafted for the global startup community by:
Editor: Justin McArthur (https://www.linkedin.com/in/justin-mcarthur)
Associate Producer: Aidan Cousins (https://www.linkedin.com/in/aidancousins)
Intro Voice: Jeremiah Owyang (www.web-strategist.com)
0:00 Episode Intro
0:33 Coda Ad
1:00 Vanta Ad
1:32 TSP Intro
2:02 Introducing Houck
4:00 Thinking about Personal Branding
5:20 How Houck thinks about Personal Branding
6:28 Intentionality
9:57 Is content enough?
12:13 Megaphone
14:00 Houck's Career Story
14:45 Why TSP was created
15:26 Why Invest in Personal Brand?
18:10 Finding Your Voice and Overcome Anxiety
21:43 Vanta Ad
22:04 How to Start
23:30 Leveraging Personal Brand
25:00 Chris' Early Success on Personal Brand
27:00 Find the right followers
28:00 Credibility
29:42 Reputation
31:30 Houck's Tip to starting
33:33 Threat of AI
35:30 Gaining Attention
37:30 Don't get too focussed on personal brand
39:45 Talk about what you're DOING!
40:30 Houck's Links
41:17 Conclusion
41:45 Coda Ad
42:49 Vanta Ad
#entrepreneur #growth #personaldevelopment #brand #ai #product #technology
