On a shoestring budget, the highest-leverage branding activity is achieving clarity on the business vision, target audience, and differentiation. Investing in a brand strategist to define this foundation is more critical than spending money on visual assets that may need to be redone later.

Digital and AI are tools, not the strategy itself. Before discussing channels or technology, marketing teams must complete the foundational work: defining business objectives, growth opportunities, customer segments, and journey pain points. Digital execution flows from these strategic choices.

Before scaling paid acquisition, invest in a robust brand system. A well-defined brand DNA (art direction, voice, tone) is not a vanity project; it's the necessary infrastructure to efficiently generate the thousands of cohesive creative assets required to test and scale performance marketing campaigns successfully.

The "build it and they will come" mindset is a trap. Founders should treat marketing and brand-building not as a later-stage activity to be "turned on," but as a core muscle to be developed in parallel with the product from day one.

For companies with multiple products, positioning cannot begin until the go-to-market strategy is set. You must first decide if you have a lead "wedge" product with add-ons (like early Salesforce) or if you're selling an integrated platform. This foundational business decision precedes any messaging work.

Positioning involves high-level strategic decisions about your market and competitors. Messaging is the critical next step: crafting the core sentences that bring that abstract strategy to life and direct all subsequent copywriting.

In the 2020-2022 era of cheap capital, brands could afford to "move fast and break things." Now, with tighter funding and a more complicated marketing mix, a solid brand strategy is a foundational requirement for survival, not a later-stage luxury.

For new products creating novel workflows (like Calendly), the key question isn't "Why you over competitors?" but "When would I use you at all?" Positioning should focus on defining this new context and workflow, not on feature-by-feature comparisons.

Many founders conflate their brand with their first product. A successful company requires a broader brand positioning that can accommodate future products. This prevents the business from getting stuck as a single-product entity and enables long-term growth and category expansion.