Entrepreneurship newsletter

Someone asked me recently via DM if they can skip building a personal brand if they want to start a business in 2025.

He sent me a long-ass voice message about how he just DREADS writing social media posts, creating TikToks/YouTube videos, building an email list, etc.

He considers it beneath him to have to grovel for likes, retweets, comments, engagement, subscribers, and followers on social media... like he's above all of that.

(I'd transcribe his voice message, but it's really just whining.)

So I told him off:

Why personal brand matters now more than ever

Short answer:

Because AI burst on to the scene and commoditized product development.

Whatever you want to create (whether it's code, video, art, books, courses, etc.), AI can do it fast, cheap, and good enough.

So your coding or filmmaking or writing skills aren't even that important or unique anymore.

But you know what AI can't do yet?

Marketing and distribution.

Yup, you can vibe-code anything you want these days, but you still can't vibe-market any product you want these days and translate that into revenue.

There's still a big gap between shipping a finished product and raking in actual dollars that AI is incapable of bridging (for now).

This is why a personal brand is more crucial than ever:

It's your direct line to customers without needing to rely on expensive paid ads, fickle algorithms, or rent-seeking middlemen.

It's the only moat left that AI can't cross.

Old model vs. New model

Back then, this is how you would launch a product:

Do "market research" -> Build product -> Launch -> Start to market and build distribution

Nowadays, this is how successful products are launched:

Start a personal brand -> Build trust/authority with your audience -> Grow your distribution channels -> Test multiple content types to see which one goes viral -> Launch a product centered around that theme/topic

This new model flips the old model on its head.

Now, instead of spending months developing a product and praying that there's product-market fit after launch, smart founders create viral content first to prove the demand is actually there.

The magic of a personal brand

Don't forget that a personal brand isn't like any other distribution channel.

You can't buy a personal brand, nor can you sell it to someone else and have it work for them.

Your voice is uniquely yours, and your audience you build around that personal brand is also uniquely yours.

(I learned this lesson recently when I ran my 5-day Meta ad campaign recently for Zylvie to a cold audience, my ROAS was a disappointing 0.54, ouch. But I digress!)

It's a lot easier to sell anything to a group of people who already know, like, trust, and look up to you.

It's like selling to friends and family.

The merit of the actual product doesn't really matter.

The Halo effect will do its job and convince your followers/audience that your product is greater than it really is.

And while a product might still eventually flop over the long run, you have unlimited tries with your distribution channel that you personally own.

It's only a matter of time before you hit the jackpot with a product that truly resonates with your audience.

The bottom line

You can either spend years perfecting your product in isolation and launch to crickets.

Or you can start building your audience today while you figure out what to sell them.

In fact, if you're still working a day job (by the way, here's when you should quit your day job), you should probably build a personal brand first as you plan your exit, NOT your product.

Every post, article, video, newsletter, etc. needs time to compound -- and these are marketing assets you can conveniently build in the evenings after your 9-6 day job.

Most people will still choose the hard way, because building a personal brand requires putting yourself out there and showing up consistently, but guess what?

The market doesn't care about your ego.

So start now.

With thanks,
Jay

What I've built:

Zylvie - High-converting cart software to sell your digital products and subscriptions

Zlappo - Automate your tweets across all your Twitter/X accounts to get sales on auto-pilot