I recently read a comment by a well-known ‘marketing influencer’ that working on brand was a complete waste of time for early-stage startups, especially in B2B SaaS.

This is a bullsh!t attitude.

But before we consign this to the dustbin of hot takes - that special place reserved for the litany of marketing influencers who don’t know what the f*ck they're talking about - let me equivocate: It’s bullsh!t, but not always; sometimes they should put effort into it, sometimes they shouldn't.

Useful, I know.



Before I launch into this let’s first consider what a brand is.

Too many folks get this completely wrong, which completely messes with the rest of their thinking.

Personally I like Seth Godin's explanation of what is a brand: ”A brand is the set of expectations memories stories and relationships that taken together account for a consumer’s decision to choose one product or service over another.”

So, how can you know if you should be putting effort into your brand or not?

Let’s be clear: any business that stays alive HAS to have a brand at some point, whether intentional or not. That’s why Seth’s definition works for me: it’s about how the target audience or potential customers perceive the product or service; not what those who created that product or service are saying about it.


So… all those startup friends of yours operating in stealth? Stealth is part of their brand.
That favorite sandwich shop in your home town that everyone says “oh, you have to try that sandwich”. That sandwich and the way people talk about it are created by their perception of the product and service they received. All of which combines to form their brand.
The payment gateway you barely even realize exists because it’s so seamless? That experience is part of their brand.
That general store on the corner with the name stuck on with tape, which you’d skip to as a kid and buy smokes for your parents and a scratch lottery ticket for your grandma? Guess what? Everything I just described (including the image you now have in your head) = Brand.

The question we need to ask is this: at what stage of a business’s development should you create, emphasize and consciously determine what your brand is? And if you can’t control the perception of it, what even is the point?

The answer is simple: whenever brand can be a differentiator.

Keep in mind that there are more than 31,000 SaaS products out there, with more than half of them in the US alone. This results in a market in which the average organization uses more than 110 SaaS applications.

So in a (mostly) boring, confused and crowded market like this, if you're struggling to understand why you don’t win more business, it might make sense to put some thought and effort into your brand.

The comment which I refer to at the beginning implied that product and sales were more important than brand for early-stage B2B businesses.
I don’t agree that they're the most important.

The reason is that a well conceived, clear and memorable brand, existing within a crowded and confused market will make both product and sales easier.

Let me explain why.

I’ve always considered that you don’t just create a brand: you build it.
In other words you can’t just create a deck of your “brand strategy” or “brand guidelines”, have people follow them religiously and then you’re all good.

Brand isn’t just a logo slapped on a product, the back of a laptop or some sweet swag. It happens over time, is embedded into every interaction and should be a core part of the customer experience. Over time, it can therefore play a key role in shaping your target audience’s perception, driving customer loyalty, and impacting the bottom line.
Your brand needs to be part of every touch point of your business.

This is also why positioning is so important.

In my view, positioning is sub-set of branding, emphasized by the fact that brands are built over time.

If we take Seth Godin's example and apply it to different aspects of the customer experience, we can see the full breadth of a brand:

Expectations are what potential customers think your business does, and positioning is vital here.
Memories are formed during every customer interaction. Or they're not. Either way this forms part of your brand perception.
Stories can be told as part of your marketing strategy through content marketing, but are also as simple as explaining what you do and how you go about explaining it.
Relationships will be formed with existing customers and prospective customers during almost every single interaction with your business. Customer satisfaction - whether delivering what they need or not - can make or break your brand here by creating loyal customers.

The reason is that a well conceived clear and memorable brand existing within a crowded and confused market will make both product and sales easier.

The fact is that many early stage startup don’t think about brand.
At the beginning of their existence this might make sense. But eventually, it will become a problem.

It isn't a matter of brand awareness, or as CEOs like to say: "getting the brand out there".
Brand is one of the few elements which a burgeoning business has full control over and that can potentially provide a defensible, competitive advantage.
By having a clear definition of who they are and what they stand for, they can begin the march towards differentiation even in the most boring and crowded of markets.

Consider the fact that the vast majority of VC-funded startups are B2B; more than 85% in the U.S. just in 2024 alone out of 7,300 rounds, according to Dealroom.
Crowded enough for you?

It’s easy to think that product and features are the most important building blocks of a business and from this come leads. But without a solid brand identity you can get lost in the mess.

The attitude espoused by our friendly marketing influencer assumes that a brand is just a logo, some colors and how you talk about yourself. But it discounts several crucial features; every interaction that new customers and potential customers have with your business gives a sense of your brand. So does how you position yourself matters. Brand building takes time, and consistency is crucial.

Having a valuable brand allows you to create a real point of difference in the mind of your customers and target audience.
You can create a perfect product filled with useful features, deliver an exemplary service and nail every single aspect of marketing… but humans are simple creatures; they’ll still stick with what they know or remember. Therefore one of the easiest ways to change the mind of a potential customer is to be memorable.
To be clear.
To be coherent.
And in order to be memorable, clear and coherent, you need to consider your brand. You need to differentiate yourself and you need to do it consistently.

Every one of your competitors is working hard on this alongside other more tangible aspects such as price and customer experience, but guess what? Brand may be the only shot to stay ahead.
However, it won’t be THE reason they’ll choose you over someone else.

If your work sucks, If your product doesn’t do what it promises to, If you’re an asshole, If you charge too much … You’ll still lose.

But if you’re similar enough in most aspects to your successful competitors, then brand is one of the few ways to gain a competitive advantage and help potential customers recognize, identify and remember you.
The difficulty for skeptics is that you may never know how much your brand helps or hinders your business.

But then if you’re really unsure… then just ask your customers.

It really ain’t that hard.