What it takes to do a VC rebrand

Rebranding a VC is different; here’s my playbook

  • How’d you get the partners on board?
  • How do you choose an agency?
  • What are you looking to accomplish with this?
  • What’s the best way to do this?

First: Are you really here for a rebrand? 🙋‍♀️

As fun a project as it may sound, we shouldn’t take rebrands lightly, even at companies. People who don’t understand what ‘brand’ is often end up doing a top-coat redesign — but that isn’t a ‘rebrand’. There’s nothing wrong with a redesign — if you’re looking to change an outcome on your website, freshen up a longtime logo, etc.

Skip to the Recipe

That said, make sure you have the ingredients to make this really work as a VC rebrand, and not redesign. High level:

  1. An understanding of what a rebrand is
  2. A clear goal
  3. A ton of buy-in
  4. Project management skills
  5. Plus, a dash of reason

1. Understand what a rebrand is 💡

So, we know this is a rebrand and not a redesign! Let’s continue deeper into understanding what exactly we’re about to embark on:

Know if/when it’s time

Is now the time to do this? When I started at Hetz Ventures, I knew a rebrand was inevitable. We didn’t have a visual brand to work with (which wastes a ton of time as a one-member content team), and the website didn’t reflect the essence of who we are in the real world.

Know the truth about rebrands

  • They take a ton of time (add 2–3 months to your original estimate)
  • They take a lot of energy not only from you — but from the people around you (even if it doesn’t seem that way from the outset)
  • They’re a long game in our business (you won’t feel ‘results’ for a while)

Know what it’s going to take

Like anything else in life, set expectations. There’s no way around what you will spend to accomplish your goal:

Know that rebrands are not for the weak — or impatient

Like so much of what we brand/content people do, ROI is not straightforward like it is for direct selling. ‘Proof’ I’ve hit my rebrand KPIs comes in the forms of contacts messaging my teammates saying they like the new look, or getting on a zoom with a VC or founder I’ve never met and the first thing they do is tell me how much they like my content.

2. Be clear on the goal 🔍

In our case, there was something outdated and/or incorrect about our visual representation, and the messaging needed a serious refresh after four years of operation. Our content (and portfolio) was already reflecting our DNA, but our core visual brand and messaging were not there. We needed to start dressing the part we were already playing.

3. Get buy-in or get out 🤝

Many of us ‘brand’ people at VCs used to work at companies and/or really love working on messaging and content. But the truth of this endeavor is inescapable — as much as we do love working on such core, tangible efforts, it won’t work if we don’t have buy-in. This decision is not solely ours, not even close.

4. It’s a ton of project management 🗂

A lot of us came from companies before we got into VC. If you’re used to managing rebrand projects within companies, understand the big differences in working with an outsourced brand/design/content agency, especially for a VC project:

  1. You don’t own the timeline
  2. The agency has a learning curve — and you are the teacher
  3. No one is as invested as you are
  • What VC is and isn’t — plus some level of industry terms/do’s don’ts
  • The culture of the ecosystem as a whole — as opposed to ‘getting’ one industry
  • Multiple audiences, which are quite different than classic ‘customers’
  • What VC audiences care about is very different
  • The CTA is different (and often not very visible by design)

Choosing who to work with

That said, when choosing who to work with, it’s not just about the talented, creative output they have delivered in the past. It’s also choosing the team that is flexible enough to learn about VC and be prepared for nuance and to trust you that you know industry well, as well as they know brilliant messaging or beautiful design.

  • The CTAs are different
  • The language is different
  • The messaging is different
  • The goals are different

Get input — it’s not a lone job, even if you feel like a lone wolf

Two things about this VC-brand role:

  1. It’s often lonely; we’re naturally accustomed to being very brainstormy people and we often are built to work best this way.
  2. It’s easy to get caught up in the echo chamber of it all.

5. A dash (or two) of reason before you start 🧂

Don’t be a perfectionist

Your VC brand and website are not everything that makes you successful — it’s not like a tech company you invest in, with its key metrics and clicks and downloads — at the end of the day, what needs to get across for our VCs is our reputation (team, portfolio and standout value/s).

Your website is essentially a business card

Rebrand or redesign — if you find yourself spiraling into overthinking — remember: for us as VCs, our websites are essentially big, expensive business cards.

All rebrands come to an end.

You have a bigger job to do; this process is temporary, even if it takes 4–6 months. But long after the rebrand is done, you’ll still be working hard at raising the firm’s profile, being of service to your portfolio, creating kickass content, forming great communication with LPs, and so on.

Hetz Ventures, Before and After 💃

I’ll show you mine if you show me yours (link ’em in the comments)!

Before

After

Well, go on: www.hetz.vc

What it takes to do a VC rebrand

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Taking notes. I’m curious. Hetz Ventures. 50:50 Startups. I write insightful articles with career, marketing themes. And personal topics at lizraelupdate.com.

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Liz Cohen

Taking notes. I’m curious. Hetz Ventures. 50:50 Startups. I write insightful articles with career, marketing themes. And personal topics at lizraelupdate.com.