"We've got a great Name, we've got a great Team, we've got a great logo, now we need an idea!" Jared, the founder of the start-up Pied-Piper, anxiously exclaimed in the comedy series Silicon Valley. Without giving too much away: by the end of season 6, he's still waiting. And we're waiting with him.

In reality, when we work daily with tech startups or scaleups, what we observe is quite the opposite.
In the beginning, there's the idea. And in the vast majority of cases, this idea comes from observing a problem it tries to solve. This solution takes the form of a product or a service, and its mission is to make it, bring it to market, and turn it into a success.

Ultimately, in the tech world, a brand is just a label because it needs to exist. And the more it describes the benefit of the product, the better! The brand then completely merges with the solution. "Will you Lydia me? Shall we take an Uber? I'll sign with Docusign. Let's rent an Airbnb?": Ultimately, the holy grail, if we follow this logic, is to become the generic emblem of the market you've helped create. Moreover, Google's SEO diktat ("be as descriptive as possible of what you do to perform") sometimes even gives birth to slightly absurd "domain-name" brands like je-vends-ma-voiture.fr. What happens if you decide to also sell bikes?

So yes, when starting out, it's the most natural trajectory. You first have to quickly convince stakeholders (prospects, investors) and make them understand the added value of your solution at a glance, especially if you're talking about breakthrough innovation and also need to evangelize the technology itself.

But in the long run, when the market gets crowded:
↳ It's tough to diversify (new offerings), or even pivot (strong brand adherence to the initial solution)
↳ Risk of over-investing to always outshine the competition. By betting everything on the product, success is entirely conditioned by the lead: technology, features, price...
↳ The need to enforce a vision when it becomes crucial. A vision that often appears out-of-touch and disconnected because no, not all startups change the world. Even less so when selling yet another B2B SaaS platform.

Ultimately, tech brands often turn out to be empty shells. Simple product wrappers, with highly standardized codes: a Google-style logo, an over-committed founder video, falsely ecstatic customer testimonials...

And yet...

"If we had to split our business, I would give you the land and the industrial tool, I would keep the brands and licenses… And I would do better than you." already predicted the CEO of the Quaker Group at the beginning of the 20th century.

Yes, as a key differentiator between companies, clearly identifiable, registrable, protectable, the brand rightfully belongs on the company's balance sheet and constitutes the most important intangible asset a leader must manage. It's an asset that gets diagnosed and evaluated. There are financial models that anticipate the future cash flow generated by induced preference, quantify patents and IP, or even try to measure the protective power of the brand's reputation shield - a solid image will inevitably cushion and minimize the bad buzz that inevitably arises and can be highly value-destructive.

So, how do you build a strong, inspiring brand that generates support and preference? My belief: coherence and alignment!
Indeed, you can't succeed if there's not a perfect alignment between posture, discourse, and actions. In other words, between what the brand fundamentally is, what it says, and what it does. It seems obvious and simple, but it's an essential process we work on with our clients, using a collaborative method inspired by Simon Sinek's famous Golden Circles. We start by defining the Why, which is the very reason for its existence, what drives it and keeps it standing. Then, we prioritize and balance the elements constituting the How, meaning the unique and singular way it will operate daily, culminating in the What: the actions, the concrete evidence that legitimize this stance. This is where you'll find the product, services, and offerings.