Author: Sophie Colclough

Welcome to the second instalment of Soph Reads Stuff! This time we’re taking a deep dive into the marketing phenomenon that is Founder Brand. 

If you’ve ever been on Entrepreneur TikTok or the marketing side of LinkedIn, you’ve probably heard of our author, who is none other than the incredibly successful Dave Gerhardt. According to his own profile (and the back of the book), he’s “One of the top marketing minds in the country” (if you’re in America). He’s also a serial podcaster and solopreneur, which is a fancy word for self-employed. Basically, he’s a pretty cool guy. 

Founder Brand is Gerhardt’s blueprint for success. Released just over a year ago in February 2022, it was an instant best-seller on Amazon. The Kindle edition is currently ranking just below #600 in the Marketing & Sales category. But, is it any good? 

The book starts by introducing Gerhardt’s background as the former Chief Brand Officer at Drift and previous Chief Marketing Officer at Privy. He tells readers how each of these experiences have played into the strategy that he lays out in Founder Brand, from building an audience to creating compelling narratives that sell your product or service on social media. 

Much like Platform, Founder Brand is full of personal proof, which builds credibility for the author. The premise is also an interesting one; using your story to relate to potential customers and build a following for your brand. “Selling on social media” is presented as a conversation rather than the ecommerce platforms that most people would associate with the phrase. By using social content to convince your audience of the value in your product, you’re also creating conversations and communities for the people who buy into your brand. It really is a genius strategy. 

From the very beginning, Founder Brand is very clearly aimed at founders, and goes as far as to address them directly throughout the entire book with the second person pronoun ‘you’. It does also acknowledge its potential usefulness to marketers who work with founders, which is why I gave it a go. The founder I work with is pretty cool (Hey, Haydn!), and it would be great to learn how to market our company off the back of his personal brand. However, there is something rather disconcerting about reading a book that is literally addressed to someone else. 

If you can get past the unnerving feeling of being in the wrong book, Founder Brand is objectively well-written. Gerhardt uses clean, accessible language and includes plenty of illustrations to clarify his points. This breaks up the information-rich text well, and gives an insight into the kind of social media that Gerhardt himself enjoys. There’s clearly a lot of thought behind the content in the book, which reflects its message; ‘always offer value’. 

The bulk of Founder Brand is broken up into three ‘Levels’: 

1. Become a storyteller, 
2. Become a publisher, and
3. Become a master of the feedback loop.

Gerhardt uses this structure to talk you through the strategy of creating a founder-led brand. He also tells you how to replicate his success through handy how-tos and memorable methods, such as creating a ‘villain’ that you can save customers from. Gerhardt also makes great points about how your audience thinks and how marketing makes a difference to your whole company. 

Hustle culture is rampant in our society, so it’s no surprise that this book is popular. Founder Brand tells you how to sell your product or service by positioning yourself as a successful and interesting entrepreneur. It also promotes starting your own podcast and talking about yourself or your work. What’s not to love?

It doesn’t pass the Bechdel test, but that would be a weird metric to subject this book to anyway, so I can’t really level it as a criticism. Fundamentally, my issue is that I just can’t relate to it. Perhaps because I’m not a founder, and therefore not its target audience, or perhaps because I don’t identify with the people who pop up in Gerhard’s anecdotes. They’re less relatable than the sparkling, chaotic merriment of Johnson’s personal branding extravaganza that I explored in Soph Reads Stuff #1. Add to that the feeling that I shouldn’t actually be reading it, and the book loses a great amount of charm. 

I really WANT to like it, I do. Founder Brand is a well-written piece of prose, straight from the mind of a fascinating founder, marketer and creator. Despite that, I can’t personally recommend it for anyone other than founders. If you’re a founder though, this book is literally FOR you. It’s great for getting you into the right mindset when it comes to marketing, and it’s an enjoyable read from both a visual and literary standpoint. 

Rating: 💜💜💜🤍🤍 (5 if you’re a founder) 

TL;DR:

Founder Brand is worth a read… IF you’re a founder. It’s technically a good book, but as a young femme employee, I didn’t resonate with it. It’s inaccessible to a wide audience, which isn’t necessarily a flaw given its target market, but it does make it hard for me to personally recommend to other marketers. 

Want to chat about books? Find me on LinkedIn –> Sophie Colclough 🥰

Hello and welcome to our first ever book review! 

I’m Soph, Search Stack’s resident copywriter, and I read things. Since starting here I’ve been working on building my personal brand, so the big boss bought me a copy of Cynthia Johnson’s Platform to read over the Christmas break. Without giving too much away, I’m going to tell you why I loved it and why you will too. 

Personal branding often feels like the realm of influencers and innovative geniuses, but this book makes it feel accessible to anyone. Platform is an in-depth, anecdotal guide to building your brand online, which takes you from the basics of curating your online presence to building an engaged community through effective networking. Packed with entertaining case studies, engaging copy (like a section called “A Three-Way With A Robot”) and witty anecdotes, this book is helpful and hilarious. 

Platform follows Johnson’s journey, from her origins as The Social Media Girl to her status as a respected authority on personal branding. One of the pervasive themes of the book is learning to control your perception, whether that’s by exclusively sharing work-related content on your social media channels or scrubbing those unfortunate tweets you posted in 2008 from the internet. Johnson’s case for taking control of your personal brand stems from the fact that everybody has one, whether it’s been intentionally created or not. Being in charge of which information and images get shared allows you to curate your presence in a positive way, and opens you up to new opportunities. 

The idea of authenticity isn’t unique to personal branding, but Johnson articulates it in a thought-provoking way. Her introduction has a ‘will the real experts please stand up?’ feel, which illustrates why responsibility is important while building a brand. She talks about being offered opportunities that weren’t relevant to her expertise, purely because of her sizable following. Through this experience, Johnson highlights the impact of picking the right platform, whether that’s the social media channels that you post on or the brands that you choose to promote on them. Everything you create should align with your personal values and branding, as well as genuine expertise. 

The use of personal anecdotes as case studies gives Platform a personal and engaging feel. Johnson weaves in psychological theories such as the prisoner’s dilemma to deepen your understanding of why certain strategies work, all supported through her own experiences. Her stories weave humanity and personality into the text, making it an avidly consumable book that somehow gets you to root for the LA Dodgers and think a little better of Elon Musk. 

Platform is a perfect blend of knowledge of humour that communicates Johnson’s own brand, giving it a form of credibility that is unique to its subject area. Not only does the book provide useful how-tos and handy strategies, it consistently demonstrates the benefits of using them. It’s an ideal starting point for anyone interested in building their personal brand. 

One draw-back is that Platform was published in 2019, so social media platforms have already moved on from some of the algorithms that Johnson wrote about. Despite that, the overarching themes are still as relevant today as they were four years ago. Our social media platforms still act as third parties to our interactions, and connecting with real people remains the best way to grow your networks. Publishing texts based on social media is always going to limit their applicability in some ways, but Johnson’s work has enough timeless advice that it remains a valuable resource in this rapidly changing space. 

Platform is a helpful reminder to combat our impostor syndrome and publicise our success. As Johnson says, “We can’t assume that our work is so good that it will stand out in the crowd and be discovered by people who may not understand what we do.” Sharing your experiences will build your reputation online and open new opportunities to do what you love, which is ultimately the goal of a personal brand. 

Johnson’s perspective is one of success, which some could read as privilege. She does, however, consistently acknowledge the huge amount of work that went into her own personal brand, and isn’t shy about telling the readers how much effort would have to go into emulating it. My only conclusion is that Platform is a well-crafted, thoughtful and useful text. 

Cynthia Johnson’s engaging prose and illustrative anecdotes make for a great read. Platform is one of those brilliant books where reading it doesn’t feel like work, because each piece of information is deftly woven into a wider narrative that you can genuinely buy into. It’s a great pick for anyone who is interested in personal branding, and even those who aren’t. As Johnson says, “Having a personal brand is inescapable.” 

Rating: 💜💜💜💜💜

TL;DR

This is a great book. It’s an easy read that’s full of fun anecdotes, lots of useful information and cool case studies. If you want to know more about personal branding, Platform is the book for you. 

Want to chat about books? Find me on LinkedIn –> Sophie Colclough 🥰