Founder Branding vs. Company Branding: What You Need to Know

You’ve probably wondered whether you should focus more on your personal brand or your company brand. I get that question a lot. The short answer is you need both. The long answer is a little more nuanced.

What founder branding really is (and what it isn’t)

A lot of people confuse visibility with authority. They think if you’re posting regularly or getting likes, you’ve got a strong personal brand. But founder branding isn’t just about being seen—it’s about being trusted to speak on a specific topic.

You’re not just building reputation. You’re building authority.

When someone sees your name, do they immediately associate it with a category, a niche, or a pain they have? That connection is what founder branding does best. It’s not just about being active online. It’s about owning a space in your prospect’s brain.

That’s especially important in B2B, where buying decisions are riskier, more expensive, and often political. People aren’t just buying your product—they’re buying your expertise and way of thinking. They’re betting on your ability to solve a painful, expensive problem. 

For instance, nobody would pay for our LinkedIn content services if they didn’t already believe in the power of LinkedIn marketing. And that wouldn’t happen unless they’d been influenced, by their peers, our content, or that of others. Your clients likely make buying decisions along the same lines. 

So, should you ignore your company page altogether? No — and here’s why.

What company branding is for

Company branding is the long game. It’s the set of signals your business sends to the market about what it stands for, who it’s for, and why it exists. It shows up in your positioning, your messaging, your site, your product design, and yes, your visuals.

It adds consistency, builds familiarity, and over time, becomes a trust signal on its own.

But it’s slower. And early on, it’s not enough. Nobody trusts a logo with a pitch deck. But they might trust a founder who’s been posting sharp insights for the last six months and clearly knows their stuff.

Why founder branding has to come first

In the early stages, most B2B companies are still figuring out their messaging. They’re evolving fast, can be quite niche, and are likely selling something complex. That makes trust and clarity the two biggest levers you have.

Here’s how things usually play out:

Stage	Primary Trust Signal	Why It Matters
Seed to Series A	Founder brand	You need fast trust to close deals and raise capital
Series B and beyond	Company brand + founder	Your org starts to scale, but your POV still leads the narrative

A founder brand speeds up early sales, warms up hiring, and shortens the time it takes to build market credibility. It’s the bridge between being unknown and being the default choice.

When company branding takes over

As your company matures, the brand starts to stand on its own. You build up a track record, have repeatable success stories, and your visuals and messaging become recognizable.

At this stage, the company brand adds weight to the founder brand. It reinforces the claims you’ve been making publicly. And that matters when you’re selling into larger organizations where multiple stakeholders need to be convinced.

But even then, your founder brand still plays a role. When you’re trying to land talent, win partnerships, or move fast on new ideas, people still look to you. They Google your name. They check your LinkedIn. They scroll through your posts. If they don’t find anything, it feels like a red flag.

You need both, but one gets you there faster

Founder branding pulls. Company branding pushes. One earns trust through insight. The other earns trust through size and longevity.

If you only invest in company branding, you risk blending in. If you only invest in founder branding, you become a bottleneck.

But if you do both well, you create a compounding flywheel. Your ideas attract attention, and your company turns that attention into results. Those results then reinforce your ideas.

How we help founders build both

At Column, we start with your founder brand—because it’s the fastest way to grow trust, authority, and demand. We write content that positions you as the expert in your space, while aligning it with your company’s message.

We also design, distribute, and amplify that content using Thought Leader Ads, so the right people actually see it. And as your presence grows, we help turn that into a scalable brand strategy for your business.

If you want to build both trust and traction, start with your name. We can help you get there. Reach out today.