Edu: Personal Branding - Key To Success Or Vanity Exercise?

Jan 22, 2024

Michael Houck, founder and investor, discusses the benefits of building a personal brand for founders, tactics for growing engagement, the difference between personal and company brand, and overcoming posting anxiety. The podcast also explores the power of warm introductions, leveraging personal branding, and the dangers of the social media algorithm.

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Introduction

00:00 • 5min

Crafting a Personal Brand: Strategy and Authenticity

04:40 • 17min

Starting, Niche vs Being Yourself, and Leveraging Personal Branding

21:29 • 4min

The Power of Personal Branding

25:33 • 11min

The Dangers of the Social Media Algorithm and the Importance of Credibility in Personal Branding

36:46 • 6min

🤔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:

✅ The benefits of having a strong personal brand for as a founder

✅ Being intentional about building a brand for maximum impact

✅ Tactics for growing engagement

✅ Why personal brand is even more important for non-traditional founders

✅ Personal brand vs. company brand.

✅ Overcoming posting anxiety and finding your voice.

✅ How to get the most value from your personal brand.

✅ The FIVE MINUTE PER DAY habit that you can use to grow your personal brand.

✅ 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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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

Associate Producer: Aidan Cousins

Intro Voice: Jeremiah Owyang