Outerview for Founders
Be the Brand
You're a better founder than your online presence suggests.
And the right people (candidates, investors, partners) are making decisions based on what they find. Be the Brand is a focused six-week programme that turns your name into a business asset, so it works as hard as you do.
Sound familiar?
You've built something real. Online, you look like everyone else.
What you know
- You Google yourself before a big meeting and wince. A job title, a company logo and a photo from three years ago.
- Your LinkedIn still describes the job you had before you started this one.
- Someone asks "so what's the story?" and you give a different answer every time, depending on who's asking.
- You start writing a post, read it back, cringe and delete it. You know you should be visible. You just can't do it without feeling like a LinkedIn bro.
- Your about page was written by whoever built the website, and it shows.
What it's costing you
- A competitor with a worse product is on every podcast, every panel and every shortlist in your space.
- Every hire starts from cold. The good ones you've made came through your network, never because they found you.
- You walk into rooms having to prove things that should already be obvious, and lose the first 20 minutes doing it.
- Deals stall at the "do we trust this person?" stage, and you never even find out that's where you lost them.
- You're doing the best work of your career, and almost nobody outside the building knows.
Good work doesn't speak for itself. Not even yours.
Founders spend years building the product, the team and the numbers, and treat their own name as an afterthought. Then they wonder why the right people don't come to them.
It's like opening the best restaurant in town with no sign above the door. The food's incredible. People keep walking past to the place with the queue.
And the people walking past aren't strangers. They're the exact people you need.
This isn't a LinkedIn problem. It's a visibility problem.
Three people looked you up this week
The candidate
The strong one, with three other offers. She checked you out before deciding whether to reply. What she found didn't match what you've built, so she took the call with the founder who looked like they were going somewhere. You'll never know she existed.
The investor
Between your first and second meeting, he looked at your LinkedIn, your company page and your public story. They didn't match the conviction you showed in the room. Nothing dramatic happened. The momentum just quietly stalled.
The opportunity
A speaking slot, a partnership, a journalist looking for a voice in your space, an inbound deal. It went to whoever showed up first when someone searched. Not because they're better than you. Because they're more visible.
None of those losses show up on a spreadsheet. They're real anyway, and they compound every month the gap stays open.
Where you are, and where you'll be
Right now
- A profile that lists what you've done, not what you're building
- A story that changes depending on who's asking
- A company story nobody outside the building has heard
- Posts you write, then delete
- Opportunities going to louder, more visible people in your space
- Every hire, raise and deal starting from cold
Six weeks from now
- A narrative you believe in, which works in hiring, investor and media conversations
- A LinkedIn profile that makes the right people want to start a conversation
- A company story that reflects what you're actually building, not a generic startup pitch
- People arrive at the meeting already half-convinced
- Visibility that compounds, with every post and conversation building on the last
- The right people finding you, instead of you chasing them
Six weeks, five phases
Agencies build a persona. We close a gap. Everything starts from who you actually are and what you're actually building, then makes it visible.
The foundation
Who you are, what you're building and why it matters, in language that actually lands. Your narrative isn't the first slide of your pitch deck. It's the story that makes someone want to work for you, back you or partner with you.
The positioning
Why would someone with options choose you? To join, to back, or to partner with. The people who win aren't always the best funded or the best at what they do. They're the best positioned.
The LinkedIn overhaul
Most founder profiles are passive. They list what you've done. We rebuild yours around what you're building, who you want to hear from and why they should, with a content direction so you know what to post and why.
The company story
The narrative that works externally, for talent, investors and the market. Your about page, careers page and company LinkedIn get treated as admin. They're some of the most powerful passive assets you have.
The visibility plan
How to stay visible without it becoming a second job. Two to three posts a week, a system for what to say, and a way to turn the conversations you're already having into content.
What it's worth
One investor who walks in already convinced. One speaking slot or inbound deal that finds you. One strong hire who reaches out before you've posted the role.
An executive search placement alone costs £20,000 to £60,000 in agency fees. Be the Brand starts at £1,500. It pays for itself the first time any one of those happens.
Choose how much you want done
For the solo founder who needs to close the gap fast.
- The full six-week programme
- Narrative framework and workbook
- LinkedIn profile audit and rewrite guide
- Positioning and company story frameworks
- 90-day content plan
- Self-directed, with email support
For the founder who wants it personal, with accountability.
- Everything in Sprint
- Three 1:1 sessions: narrative, positioning, visibility
- LinkedIn rewrite done with you
- Company story and positioning done with you
- 30 days of support afterwards
For the founder who wants it built, not taught.
- Everything in Build
- Your narrative written for you
- LinkedIn fully rewritten and optimised
- Company story, about and careers page copy written
- 8 ready-to-post LinkedIn drafts in your voice
- 60 days of support afterwards
The guarantee
Complete the programme. If you don't have a narrative you're proud of, a LinkedIn profile that reflects what you've built and a company story that makes the right people want in, we keep working until you do. No small print.
This is for you if
- You're a founder, Seed to Series B, and better than your online presence suggests
- You're a senior leader building in public, or know you should be
- You're about to raise, hire or go after bigger deals and want people to find you first
- You know you need to be known, but can't work out how to do it without cringing at yourself
It isn't for you if
- You want someone to make you look like something you're not. This closes the gap between who you are and what the world sees. It doesn't invent a persona.
- You want to go viral. This is about the right people, not more people.
Who runs it
Jay Odeka
I've spent 15+ years on the other side of the table for founders at exactly the stage you're at: 300+ placements across 100+ funded companies, and more than half a million CVs read.
That's taught me what people actually look for when they look you up, and what makes them click away. And I know the difference between a narrative that's polished and one that's true.
Be the Brand is built on that. Not personal branding theory. The real mechanics of what makes a founder visible to the right people.
Outerview for Founders
Be the Brand and Stay on Course
Be the Brand is the external work: how you show up to the world. Stay on Course is the internal work: how you lead, decide and build.
Halfway through Be the Brand, most founders ask a version of the same question. Now that people can see what I'm building, is it actually as strong as the story I'm telling? That's what Stay on Course is for.
Be the Brand graduates get £500 off Stay on Course.
Questions
How is this different from a personal branding agency?
Agencies build a persona. We close a gap. Everything starts from who you actually are and what you're building, then makes that visible. You'll recognise yourself in every output.
I don't have time to post on LinkedIn every day.
You don't need to. The visibility plan is built for founders who are already stretched: two to three posts a week, with a clear system for what to say and why. Most clients spend under 30 minutes a week on it once it's built.
I'm preparing to raise. Is this the right time?
It's one of the best times. Investors check you out between meetings. If your public presence already tells the same story you tell in the room, every conversation starts further ahead.
Can my leadership team do this too?
Yes, and it compounds. When several leaders in the same company are visible, candidates, partners and investors get a feel for the culture before they ever speak to you. Ask about team pricing on the call.
What if I'm pre-revenue or very early?
The earlier you build this, the more it compounds. Founders who are visible before they need to hire, raise or sell do all three faster than those who start from zero when the need arrives.
You know what you're building. It's time the right people did too.
Book a free 30-minute Brand Clarity Call. We'll look at how you show up right now, find the specific gaps and tell you what to fix first, whether you work with us or not.