Building a Brand with Beata Klein (Creandum)
These fellow insights have been compiled and written by Julia Baird-Oryschak, Dawn Leaness, and Allan Patel.
One year ago, Beata Klein (@axeliaklein) wasn’t a Twitter user let alone a “creator.” Yet after getting past her initial fear of the potentially distracting nature of Twitter, over the course of a year, she has become an influential voice on VC Twitter (with nearly 3,000 actively engaged followers), sharing her insights, making personal and professional connections, and leading by example in the collective VC effort to add value on social media.
Beata’s approach to content creation emphasizes quality over quantity, publishing informational and thought-provoking weekly threads that result in high levels of social media engagement. So, how did this engineer turned entrepreneur turned venture capitalist make the shift from non-user to expert content-creator and effectively build her personal brand? This was the topic of Beata’s highly applicable masterclass, delivered to the Included VC 2020 and 2021 fellows during our November Retreat.
By sharing insights on topics that range from “learnings on Clubhouse” to “how to get investors to send YOU cold emails” to “the 6 characteristics of a hustler,” Beata has effectively cracked the code on how to share her expertise widely and deliver content that floats above the noise and creates impact. Her experience as a founder shone through in the delivery of her masterclass, as she not only told us what to do but how to do it. By following Beata’s actionable tips, anyone can make the shift from a non-user or casual consumer to a valuable creator who defines their own personal brand.
“What is a personal brand?”
“Your brand is what other people say about you when you’re not in the room.” ― Jeff Bezos
Building a personal brand is like telling people a story about yourself. You start with all your personal and professional experiences that make you distinctive and stand out:
- Where did you grow up?
- What were the circumstances in which you grew up?
- Which communities did you build or participate in?
- Which interesting projects have you undertaken?
- What companies have you worked for or started (even the ones that failed)?
- Which industries/sectors have you worked in?
- What did you write about on your old blog that was only read by 5 people?
👆 All of this counts!
We all tend to downplay our own experiences, but when you put your story out there, you will quickly realize that you are not alone and find an audience that is interested in hearing what you have to say.
So let’s get to the million-dollar-question . . .
“Why do I need to build a personal brand in VC?”
1) To find your own voice
It’s easy to get lost in the chatter on social media, so it is important to ask yourself, “What do I want to be known for?” Start forming your own opinions on sectors, industries, trends, and business models. Are you the fintech person? Are you somebody who’s successfully built three startups and is an operations ninja? Or are you the B2B Enterprise SaaS expert? What you tell people about yourself and your opinions are crucial elements of building your story and your personal brand.
2) To demonstrate a unique edge
Your unique edge is something that you can speak about credibly and passionately. This can be a culmination of your professional and personal interests.
Let’s take the authors of this article, for example: Julia’s unique edge arises from her professional experience in tech and her personal interest in retail and consumer behaviour. Dawn’s unique edge stems from her professional background in social impact and her personal interests and startup experience in food and fitness. Allan’s unique edge is centered on his professional background in climate-tech and his personal interest in gaming.
What is your unique edge? (For starters, think about the activities you spend the most time on, or the topics you often find yourself reading about or discussing in work or social settings. See? It’s probably more obvious than you think.
3) To build a dealflow
Once you have started to find your own voice and develop your unique edge, the next thing in the VC personal branding process is to build a dealflow. You want to ensure that once you put yourself out there (Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.), your audience is not only other VCs but also entrepreneurs who could potentially become a part of your portfolio.
Beata shared the following list of different types of media you can use to build your brand:
- Twitter (must do)
- Medium (should do)
- Blog (optional)
- Substack (optional)
- Notion (optional)
- Clubhouse (sorry Android users)
Twitter is highlighted as Beata’s mandatory pick because she’s used it herself to carve out her space in the VC ecosystem. Moreover, Twitter allows you to express yourself personally as well as professionally, so it makes the brand building process way more exciting.
“What should I write about?”
You’re probably thinking, “Okay, you’ve motivated me to build my personal brand, but seriously what do I write about?!” Hold tight folks, we’ve got your back! Beata provided a few of her tried and tested great ideas to jumpstart your writing process:
1) Day-to-Day Observations → “Dump” Document
It’s a good habit to write down any thoughts or ideas that come to your mind. This helps you to create a list of things to write about or topics you want to explore further. The beauty of a dump document is that it helps you connect disparate thoughts and ideas to come up with something unique and valuable. We nominate the ‘Notes’ app on your phone as the most suitable contender for your ‘information dump’ so you can list down ideas on-the-go.
2) Read, Read, Read → All Great Writers Read
Yes, to be more specific, they read a lot. Reading gives you exposure to different styles and genres of writing. Don’t worry, we know that not everyone has the time to read long books, but you can start out by reading Twitter threads from different VCs on Twitter to immerse yourself in a variety of different topics . . . such as this! Read the full thread here.
3) Curate Information → Curators are the New Creators
That’s true! Not everyone has to craft that perfect Twitter thread with their own thoughts. You can always provide value by curating resources from the different caverns of the internet. For example, Maren Bannon (@maren_bannon) from January Ventures curated a great list of VC scout programs. Read the thread here.
Want to know more about the concept of curation? Gaby Goldberg (@gaby_goldberg) of Bessemer Venture Partners wrote an excellent article about how Curators are the New Creators, which you can read here.
4) Borrow (but Mindfully) → Inspiration is Fine, But Don’t Copy
We all need some kind of inspiration, but remember to always reference the person you’re borrowing from. VC Twitter is full of amazing individuals and quoting them in your Twitter threads/Medium blogs/Substack can help you build good relations with them. Copying their content without giving proper credit will have a negative impact on your reputation and your network.
5) Things You Want to Get Better At → Write to Learn
Transparency and authenticity is key — we all have things we want to get better at. By putting yourself out there and building your skills in public, you will be surprised by the sheer number of people who are willing to help you. Mario Gabriele’s The Generalist newsletter is the definition of building in public as he shared his highlights and lowlights while creating a fantastic community centered around a newsletter. You can read more about his work here and here.
“So how do I start writing?”
We get it, writing can seem like a daunting process at first, but the hardest part is just getting started. Luckily, Beata’s pragmatic approach to writing makes the process easy to implement for even the most reluctant individuals.
Without further ado, here are 6 steps to help you start building your brand through writing:
1) Set up a Twitter account (easy, right?)
2) Follow at least 10–20 content creators
Follow people whose work you admire or those that are within your vertical or ecosystem. Some of Beata’s favourites include:
- Maren Bannon, Co-Founder & General Partner at January Ventures
- Elizabeth Yin, Co-Founder & General Partner at Hustle Fund
- Gaby Goldberg, Investor at Bessemer Venture Partners
- Harry Stebbings, Founder of Twenty Minute VC
- McKeever (Mac) Conwell, Managing Partner at Rare Breed Ventures
3) Read their work
Whether they post Tweetstorms, write Medium articles, or share news updates — just start reading.
4) Start engaging
Slowly start commenting and re-sharing content that resonates with you. Engaging in conversation (even if it’s just a tweet) will help you flex your writing muscles and gain more confidence.
5) Find articles that you like and break down what makes them good
Now that you’re consuming more content, you’ll start to notice what you enjoy reading and what you don’t. When you come across an article, or even a tweetstorm, that resonates with you, try breaking down what it is you like about it. Maybe it’s the tone of voice, the content itself, the research, or perhaps it’s the writer’s point of view. Take note of these and think about how you can incorporate these elements into your writing style.
6) Write something — anything!
Here’s the hardest part — just start! Your brand and writing skills will start to develop as you gain more practice and confidence. Start small by sharing your thoughts on Twitter (yes, tweets are a form of writing!) and from there you can expand to writing articles.
Pro tip: Beata’s go-to app to publish Twitter threads is the Chirr App. It lets you write as much as you want, and when you are done, it will generate and post a thread for you. It’s free to use, so try it out here.
“Okay, I’ve started writing — what’s next?”
Congratulations! You’ve conquered the most challenging part — getting started.
To truly start building your brand, you’ll want to start posting more consistent and richer pieces to establish credibility within your domain. You can do this by publishing pieces on your company’s blog, Medium, Substack, or anywhere else where you think your audience will be. These long-form content pieces will typically provide a more in-depth take on a given subject.
To start writing long-form content, Beata suggests the following:
1) Stress test your initial ideas
Start with a weak imitation of an article that you like. Identify what makes it weak and iterate until your imitation becomes original.
2) Set aside dedicated time
The ugly truth is that writing takes time and practice. Set aside an hour or two on the weekend and just write.
3) Have a goal and stick to it
Set goals to keep yourself accountable. Maybe your goal is just to write for 1 hour on a Saturday or maybe it’s to publish 3 articles in a month. Whatever it is, set goals and stick to them.
4) Outline the headlines first
To help keep your thoughts in order, outline the big ideas (headlines) first. Then tackle each section individually.
5) Be direct and personal
This is your brand — don’t be afraid to share your opinion!
6) Get input from others
Ask your friends and colleagues for their thoughts and adjust accordingly.
7) Add pictures, emojis, or gifs
Lastly, add your flair! Add in pictures, graphs, emojis, and gifs to personalize the article.
And there you have it, folks! Thanks to Beata’s expertise, our Included VC cohort gained a strong understanding of the what, why, and how of personal branding. By following Beata’s advice (and adding your own unique spin), you, too, can go from a social media non-user or consumer to curating or creating a meaningful personal brand that adds value to the startup ecosystem. We look forward to following you on Twitter and subscribing to your Substacks and Mediums!
About Beata
A Stockholm-based Associate at Creandum, a leading European early-stage venture capital firm and one of Included VC’s inaugural partners, Beata blends her engineering background with a passion for writing and a valuable startup operator-turned-investor perspective that gives her the ability to create content that appeals to a broad audience throughout the global startup ecosystem.
