After navigating through the beautiful landscapes of Greece at the beginning of the summer, we set our next destination to the west. This time we sat down with Natasha Lytton, the Head of Brand, Network & Portfolio and part of the leadership team at Seedcamp.

Natasha joined the Seedcamp team back in 2016 to create the infrastructure and run the team supporting the 400+ companies from the fund’s portfolio. She loves to discover new ideas and to work with startups with the potential to radically change the world we live in.

Last year, at How to Web’s Spotlight startup program, we got inspired by Natasha's view on creating meaningful connections between brands and people.

We want to dive deeper into the topic together. Here’s Natasha’s view on how angel investors and venture capital companies can build a strong brand and what we can learn from her work at Seedcamp.

Importance of branding for investors

Brand building isn't a top priority for startup investors; they must first figure out everything about the potential deals. To build a strong portfolio in time, you must permanently stand out from the crowd.

Creating a solid image as an angel investor or a venture capital fund takes time. The image you build includes more than your social media profiles, website, and portfolio; it’s also about your direct experiences with founders.

“As a founder, you are attracted by the individuals you are talking to when looking for a venture capital investor. The experience of the discussions with the fund's investors is what draws you in.

I think it’s about the story around the fund and its investors and what makes it different, rather than other reasons. We rely on the proof points we find in this discovery journey to guide us forward.

This way, you are drawing your own conclusion:

**These are the partners I want alongside me on this journey.**”

• Personal branding for angel investors

As an angel investor, you are all alone on the journey most of the time, and building your brand takes time and constant practice. It’s a marathon, not a sprint, and it requires authenticity. Your daily life and interaction with founders should show your values and personality.

Natasha helps us realize how personal branding for angels expands while working with startup founders and building a solid portfolio.

“Over the years, there has been a real shortage of investors, especially angels. Things started to change, but just a handful of big names are known and shared, having their success built upon previous achievements as entrepreneurs.

New founders are attracted to them because they believe in angels’ ability to build based on the companies they have already created. The more this effect grows, the faster it will create a flywheel effect, propagating through the power of referrals and advocacy.”

• Branding for venture capital funds

While it might look more corporate, the brand of a VC fund is still built by the people behind it. Natasha advises us to return to our roots and values and find out what everyone in the team resonates with.

“I think you have to follow what suits you as a person and what’s true for the fund.

For example, everyone thinks that all VCs need to be on Twitter. BUT — if you are uncomfortable with Twitter, don’t be on Twitter.

You can find your own outlet for your communications.”

There is no one-size-fits-all that works for everyone out there. She helps us understand that just because some VCs tried something, it’s not necessarily the way to go for our own fund strategy.

“Just because some people succeeded by publishing a particular type of content through a certain channel doesn’t guarantee the same success for you. Or just because someone is doing something doesn’t mean you have to do it too.

Everyone writes a blog post — but maybe you don’t like writing.

Everyone launches a podcast — but maybe you don’t like interviews.

Find something comfortable for you to do, and do it well. That’s my primary advice.”

To get the full perspective, we asked Natasha to guide us on how investors can build the foundation for their own venture capital firm.

How to grow your venture capital brand

When you start laying the structure of your next venture capital company, you have the advantage of building something from scratch. Natasha recommends having everyone on the same page, aligned to what matters more for all.

“If you are starting from scratch, sit down with all the key stakeholders, get them aligned, and have a very open conversation about what matters most to the fund.

What do we think we’re doing?

Where do we think we might fail?

What is a genuine need, and what is potentially just for your ego?

The next important step in brand building is to speak to the immediate, external stakeholders. When I joined Seedcamp in 2016, I wanted to understand what people were thinking about us, whether they were founders from our portfolio, mentors, experts, or people from the ecosystem.

I’m always looking at the consistency and language of people talking about us. How much of that is aligned with how we think about ourselves?”

Natasha tells us that this is a common problem often encountered by different types of brands. You’re building something, but that is not exactly what your customers think you’re building.

“What you’re doing and the brand you want to build is not necessarily what others want or how they perceive it. Make sure you can be faithful to how you’re behaving and what image you create. **Your words should be a reflection of your behaviours, not in conflict.**”

As founders of a company, even if we are talking about a venture capital firm, we tend to shape its image based on what’s on our minds. This can be an error that costs time, resources, and the life of the venture, in some cases.

“There’s always a need for putting your stamp on something. However, for rebranding and redoing the website, I will always ask this:

What are we solving through this change? Is there a real problem we’re addressing? Is that the best way?"

If you build your brand based on your values, try to validate it with the market you are active in. This increases your chances of success.

“My philosophy is that you must be intentional in everything you do. There’s always going to be a new platform, a new tool, or a new device to play with.

But do you have to use it?

Does it bring any special benefit?

What would that give you that you don’t already have?

It's about deciding if this change will bring new benefits to your business and will be more significant than if you simply double your current work.

In a startup, you often have limited time and cash resources. So, you have to ensure you are making the most of them. I understand experimentation, but when we do it, it must be clear why we do it and what it brings to us.”

Your brand will continue to evolve as your company grows, more investments will bring good results to your portfolio, and the market awareness about you as an investor will grow.

“We, at Seedcamp, have this spirit of adaptability. We are aware that things don’t always go according to plan. So, there will be moments when we have to be comfortable with chaos and adapt on the go.

I think this is the case for many early-stage investors, as many things don’t go according to the plan for the company they invest in. So, they must find new creative ways to help founders adapt and grow.”

Natasha and the Seedcamp team advise us to get familiar and comfortable with uncertainty. This way, you’ll be flexible to adapt based on feedback or market conditions.

“There are two driving forces, the resources you have internally and the macroclimate, i.e., what’s happening in the world. And no single direction is safe.

When a pandemic or war hits, you might get swiftly in the right direction with your brand and business strategy. So, you must constantly adapt to our reality's recent version.”

Similar to what a founder strives to create through its product, i.e., a pleasant customer interaction, your focus as a VC is to deliver a good investment experience for them.

“The most well-known names in the investment community tend to be those who have a strong association with a high-profile startup that's been successful. LPs are looking to invest in fund managers with a strong track record, and founders also want to feel they're in safe hands when picking a Partner to work with.' The interesting development here, though, is we're seeing a new wave of investors' breakthroughs focusing more on network and brand to win deals.”

What better way to understand it than by looking at how Natasha is doing this at Seedcamp?

“At Seedcamp, we have a unique format because we don’t have lone individuals working on deals, so there is no partner attribution model. When we are working on a possible investment, the whole team and our extended network come to help the company and assist in the different ways the startup needs. This way, we create a swarm effect that is part of our brand.

At the same time, we have a few successful investments in our portfolio that strengthened our brand. I see it as a broader network effect.”

Beyond her investment experience, Natasha recommends us a few other resources to look at before diving deeper into the process.

“There are a lot of excellent materials out there from people who have been through a similar path. I would look at those and see what the more established people are saying and doing, whether that’s Paul Graham or Jason Lemkin, Seedcamp, or any other VC fund or expert.

Twitter also has dozens of great threads from people discussing angel investments. The most significant benefit we have today is that there is no shortage of materials.”

Growing Seedcamp’s brand since 2016

Building a brand is not an easy project to handle. Natasha guides us through a short journey on how she took over the Seedcamp brand a few years ago and how it looks today.

“I joined Seedcamp in 2016 when the brand was already well-known and loved in the startup ecosystem.

There was no unicorn company in our portfolio. We had Transferwise (now Wise), known in the payments industry, and Revolut, who were fast-growing but not the household names they are today My mission was not to get more people to know about Seedcamp but to **know us for the right thing.**“

As we can see, the challenge in Seedcamp’s case was to transition from an accelerator program to a venture capital fund. The process had to occur on paper and in everyone’s mind.

“We had been operating for about nine years when I joined. As with any startup journey, you look at yourself, your operating behaviours, existing products, and legacy models, and, as you grow, you spot new places to change.

In our case, everyone thought we were an accelerator. We no longer wanted to behave like one, but people already had an image created in their minds from what had come before. It was a branding challenge to evolve the external image of Seedcamp into something new.

It was a business-critical problem to solve because if founders and the community didn’t know what to come to us for, or if they were coming to us for the wrong thing, we weren’t going to attract the sort of deals we wanted to go after.

Similarly, it required us to ensure our internal team and operating systems were aligned so that we could continue investing at high volume and have the infrastructure to support companies without a programmatic structure. The number of people we’re interacting with all the time and the results of our work so far for the ecosystem helped us build the Seedcamp everyone can see today.”

Key takeaways to take home as an angel investor:

• There is no clear recipe for building your brand. Your best source of inspiration is you, the angel investor.
• Your brand reflects your behaviour and discourse, so make sure it matches your values and personality. People perceive them through the investment experience you deliver.
• As an angel investor or a family office, even if you invest through startup investment platforms like SeedBlink, you’ll still want to have a personal brand. This way, founders will know who they talk to and why they should accept you as a co-investor in the deal.

Key takeaways to take home as VC:

• People are attracted to people, so beyond the brand of your venture capital fund, ensure everyone in the team is aligned to the same core values and principles.
• As a venture capital fund, you have your team and the community around you. Talk to them, and see what they are thinking about you.
• As a VC is not about getting more people to know about your brand. It’s about getting yours for the right thing, for what’s unique and appealing to them as founders.

Lastly, building a brand is a marathon, not a sprint. It takes time and constant effort to create a solid image as an angel investor and a VC.