Branding & Positioning 4 Startups & Sith Lords

WARNING:

WARNING!!! this deck is guaranteed to offend, provide tragically incorrect advice,

and perhaps get you arrested.

Fucking  Deal  with  it.  

[This Talk] •  WTF is a BRAND?!? •  Be Different, Take Risk!!! •  Stand 4 SOMEthing. (or u stand 4 NOthing.) •  Tap Into Humanity: Fear, SEX, Power, etc. •  Be a Hero, or a Villain. (just don’t fucking BORE me.) •  Pictures, Text, Music: they all say 1000 words. •  When It Works, Double Down. •  Be Yourself… Only More So

KISS: Keep It Simple, Stupid.

[Dave McClure]

2001-2012: •  Startup Investor: 500 Startups, Founders Fund •  Tech Marketing: PayPal, Simply Hired, Mint.com •  Advisor, Investor: 300+ Startups •  Conferences: Warm Gun, Lean Startup, SMASH •  Stanford Lecturer: Facebook, Startup Metrics

80’s & 90’s: •  Entrepreneur: Founder/CEO Aslan Computing (acq.) •  Developer: Windows Apps / SQL DB Admin •  User Groups: E-Commerce, Internet, Client-Server •  Engineer: Johns Hopkins ‘88, BS Eng / Applied Math

GEEK, CODER,

ENTREPRENEUR

Blogger, Marketing, Angel/VC Investor

500 STARTUPS Seed Fund & Accelerator (375+ companies, 20+ countries, 15 staff, 180 mentors)

•  Design •  Data •  Distribution

[Interesting Shit]

Read Geoffrey Miller. Sex + Evolution + Consumer Mktg = Awesome Sauce.

More Great Shit. Psychology + Comics

[Start(up) + Heart]

NEGATIVE Emotion Examples Fear, Anger, Sadness, Pain, Pathetic, Pariah

POSITIVE Emotion Examples Humor, Sex, Power,

Daredevils, Babies & Kittens

DO! Marketing & BRANDing (it’s not Evil… most of the time ;)

•  Tell a Story, Build a Storytelling Culture •  Identify by a Color, Animal, Number,

Word, or other SINGULAR element •  Create Unique Position in Mind of the

Market, relative to [Visible] Competition •  Embrace & Adopt Negative or Shameful

Positioning when Necessary •  Know When to Get Back to Product

What is BRAND? •  Brand (def): a name, term, design, symbol that

identifies one seller's good or service as distinct from those of other sellers.

•  Branding began as way to tell one person's cattle from another by a hot iron stamp.

•  Branding is usually full of PAIN.

Q: Who FEELS Your Brand? •  Customers •  Partners •  Investors •  Employees •  Press

Be Different Take Risk.

Be Different. •  Take Risk Early. U Have Nothing 2 Lose. •  Playing it Safe = Death. •  Pissing People Off is OK. (in fact, #WINNING) •  U Can’t Build Brand around INDIFFERENCE. •  “Niche 2 WIN” (see blog post) •  Love *or* Hate are Ok. Both are Good Signal.

Stand 4 SOMEthing. (or stand 4 NO-thing)

CHANGE.  

POWER.   SEX.  

PEACE.  

Stand 4 SOMEthing, or Stand 4 NOthing.

•  Be Iconic. •  Single word or emotion. •  Don’t be afraid 2b Hated. •  Don’t be afraid 2b Shamed. •  Aim for the Moon. [Land on the Roof]

Tap Into Humanity Fear, Sex, Power

Tap Into Humanity •  Fear: What u run from •  Sex: Who we love, lust 4 •  Power: Ability 2 Control Ur World •  Family: Find Ur Tribe. •  Anger: Fight 4 Ur Right [2 Party]

Be a Hero Be a Villain

Be a Hero… or Villain •  Who do u LOVE, Admire, Want 2 B? •  Who do u HATE, Despise, [secretly] jealous? •  Whatever u are Drawn 2 •  Just Don’t Be BORING. •  Again: Indifference = Death.

Say 1000 words. [or just 1 Finger]

Say 1000 words. •  1 awesome picture. •  3 powerful words, or a few sentences. •  30 sec meaningful music or video. •  Less is more.

note: these slides are not less.

If/When It Works Double Down.

When It Works, Double Down. •  If someone loves u, it’s working. •  If someone hates u, it’s working. •  Once u get signal, try iteration, repetition. •  Once u get repetition, try variation. •  Good artists COPY; great artists STEAL

(from themSELVES!)

Be Your SELF. (But Be Ur SUPER Self)

Always Be Your [SUPER] Self •  Start from the Heart. •  Be Yourself. Be Authentic. Be Comfortable. •  But: the MOST AWESOME, PASSIONATE u. •  Find a feeling or emotion u can sustain •  [sometimes even weakness can be ok]