Very early stage businesses need an investable, opportunity-driven story. Founders need to prove acceptance and viability of a vision for a business that doesn’t exist yet.

So while it’s critical to look the part, you're mostly selling opportunity - and yourself - at this stage.

Strategically, expect an interrogation of the opportunity and vision. And then a clear narrative about why you are an unmissable bet. A change agent that can scale. A hypothesis to ‘return the whole fund’.

Once the business has form and fit, it has to compete with the status quo and convince people that different is better.

So it’s here that you need to exaggerate what separates you from everyone and everything else.

Brand is powerful because it identifies and projects what makes new (ie. you) an irresistible choice, obvious in hindsight.

Strategically, expect a rigorous analysis of the status quo, including what matters to potential customers and where the market fails. And then a leap into a new territory.

Brands need to give businesses room to grow. Frame the present but also what and who they’re becoming. It’s natural that companies outgrow their brand as technology, product, competitors and customers evolve.

Expect to have to make hard decisions about the kind of future you want for yourself. Because unless you choose your future, it will choose for you.

Strategically, it starts with deep investigation into where you are and where your offer will go. What is the product roadmap, where is the market weak? That trends will change the context? Why do customers love you and how do we get more of them? What makes your team special?

The strategic focus is to articulate a visionary future, position the brand to be relevant to many more and clarify your proposition without constraining it. Projecting your company into its future.