Too early to start ⋅ EV #023
Ask Google or AI “When should I start thinking about branding?”, and the average answer you’ll get will be “It is never too early to start thinking about branding.” In other words, asap.
Not true. This misleading "advice" is a sum of well-SEOd opinions from agencies that do branding for a living.
The truth is:
Branding too early may backfire.
The process of reverse-engineering your reputation — that is branding — includes making your project promise public: what you are going to change, for whom, why and how. Once you start marketing, the world will hear your promise.
But then... Life may happen:
Sometimes you cannot deliver on time.
Sometimes you switch to serving an entirely different audience.
Sometimes you change your direction completely.
If any of the above happens, you won’t deliver on your previously announced promise to those who counted on your solution before you made a pivot. Because of this, you may lose people’s trust.
When you are unsure if your tech is feasible, avoid making public promises. In other words, hold off on branding. It's too early to start.
However, if you are confident that your tech is on the right track, go! Make a promise. Make it loud. Allow early adopters to waitlist today, even if the soft launch is still a few months away.
Branding an in-progress but 100% feasible product sets you on a go-to-market fast track.
TL;DR
When wondering, “Should I already plan branding?”, ask yourself: “Am I 100%-sure I will make this tech possible?”
Your answer to the second question is the right answer to the first one.
Yours,
Ira
P.S. One more advice:
Instead, get a feel and foundational knowledge by doing it yourself first. It will give you confidence and save you from common founders' mistakes.
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