How do you raise your credibility?

fumikaiwasaki·Dec 06, 2020

I was talking with a tech founder recently and they emphasized the importance of raising credibility when becoming a founder. They mentioned social media channels is one strategy to raise credibility but I'm also curious what everyone else thinks. I'm new to this community and would love to connect with people on any creative approaches they've taken! :)

Iynna·Dec 06, 2020

Hi Fumika,Such a great question and I was literally talking to one of our portfolio companies about that. My work consists of mentoring/advising global startups/scaleups that want to enter the US market (through our fund and accelerator) one of the things that I always tell them is to expand their network, now it is hard to go to events and meet people in person but there are ways to leverage the online space. I am a big advocate for LinkedIn and always tell them to write blog posts there as a way to establish their credibility in the industry and establish their company's credibility as a leader in whatever field they are in and basically open themselves up. It helps for general exposure/branding and free advertising but also to get new partners/clients, which is ultimately what any startup wants.Other things like speaking engagements help but there is a fine line here, being on the other side, I'm always perplexed when i see founders spending time at speaking engagements, being keynote speakers, doing multiple interviews, face of Forbes etc. don't get me wrong it's all cool but also... when are they building their business? :| that's always a bit of a red flag to me.

fumikaiwasaki·Dec 09, 2020

This is great advice! At the end of the day, it's really about getting the exposure and branding of who you want to be seen as. I've been thinking about revamping my medium articles again and taking up writing once more (I've been on a hiatus since the beginning of 2020). Thank you so much for the response Iynna!! :)

Iynna·Dec 09, 2020

Of course! Yes get back on Medium :D

brookeleblanc·Dec 07, 2020

Build in public on Twitter (post everyday about your highs and lows). And Always Be Networking! Upstream has office hours & community events where you can facetime with investors and operators.

fumikaiwasaki·Dec 09, 2020

Thank you so much Brooke! I'll keep this in mind. I have been a little Twitter shy and spending more of my time on other platforms but I think my next step should be to brand my twitter handle and discuss more real world topics to create dialogue

brookeleblanc·Dec 09, 2020

Yes! Or even just share your thoughts about small daily things to get used to posting consistently. What’s your handle?

fumikaiwasaki·Dec 10, 2020

It's @iwasakifumika! But fair warning, my twitter is truly just a social commentary on random thoughts that go through my mind so it's not professional quite yet ;)