In the fast-paced world of early-stage venture capital, a founder’s personal brand is their calling card. Whether you are fundraising, hiring, or looking for your first 100 customers, who you are online matters just as much as what you are building.
Personal branding isn’t just about “going viral” or becoming an influencer. It’s about taking control of your narrative. Today, people aren’t just Googling you; they are asking LLMs like ChatGPT or Claude about you. These models pull from your LinkedIn, your press mentions, and your public contributions to define who you are before you even enter the room.
In other words, if you aren’t defining yourself, the internet is doing it for you!
For many founders, “building a personal brand” is… well, “ick”. But that doesn’t make it any less important. That’s why, in this month’s learning session, we hosted a workshop with Natalie Riso, Head of Startups and Strategic Partnerships at Rho and a three-time LinkedIn Top Voice who helps founders build their personal brand online. She dove deep into how founders can build an online presence that yields high ROI without needing to spend hours on social media or relying on generic AI-generated content.
Here’s a summary of what we learned. Watch the replay on our Youtube channel – the Q&A was so dense with insights, we couldn’t capture everything here!
Step 1: Find Your Lane
Before you start posting, you need to be brutally honest about your goals. Natalie suggests asking yourself three questions:
- Where do I want this to take me in six months? Is the goal fundraising, sales, or recruitment?
- Who do I need to connect with? Be specific. Don’t just say “VCs.” Identify the lead seed investors or the specific industry partners that move the needle.
- Where are these people? Your audience might not be on X (formerly Twitter). They might be on a niche Reddit thread, a specific Slack community, or at in-person industry events. That’s where you should be spending your time.
Step 2: The 3-Tier Platform Strategy
Natalie recommends a focused approach to where you spend your energy:
- Breadth: Use a social media channel to get broad reach, meeting new people, and general visibility.
- Depth: This is where you build deep trust and showcase your expertise to a smaller, more committed audience. You might do this on substack, a blog, or even in online events.
- The Hard CTA (DMs/Email): Direct outreach is where the actual conversions – the checks and the contracts – happen. Reserve your hard ask – or call to action – for 1-1 deep connection channels.
Step 3: Master the Founder Summary
Your summary is the foundation of your online presence. It’s the first thing AI pulls and the first thing a human reads. Natalie suggests that you write in the first person, and offers two effective formats:
- Past, Present, Future: How did you get here? What are you building now? Where are you taking the industry?
- Passion and Execution: Start with your “secret sauce” or the unique problem that keeps you up at night, then explain how your company is the solution.
Step 4: The 70/30 Rule of Engagement
One of the biggest mistakes founders make is thinking that “branding” equals “broadcasting.” Natalie’s golden rule for efficiency is the 70/30 Rule:
- 70% Engagement: Spend the majority of your time commenting on others’ posts, responding to your own comments, and sending personalized DMs.
- 30% Posting: Consistency is more important than frequency. Aim for 2–3 high-quality organic posts per week rather than posting every day.
Navigating the AI Algorithm
While AI can help brainstorm, avoid letting it write your entire post. Platforms like LinkedIn are increasingly prioritizing “human” signals.
- Avoid “AI-isms”: Steer clear of repetitive structures, excessive “rules of three,” or over-perfect grammar that signals a bot.
- Prioritize Human Connection: People crave humanity in a sea of salesy, automated content. Share the “un-glamorous” moments of the founder journey—those are often the posts that build the most trust.
Final Thoughts for Stealth Founders
If you’re still in stealth, your personal brand should live mostly offline. Focus on niche communities, specialized Slack groups, and in-person networking. When you finally “come out” of stealth, that is your moment to be big, loud, and intentional with your online content.
Building a brand is a marathon, not a sprint. By focusing on your unique narrative and engaging authentically with your community, you can build a platform that supports your startup’s growth for years to come.
