Visual branding (Which is really all we're talking about here. It's logos, etc. Not many of the other things that sit in the design/ux skill set) is directly related to the product/market fit of your company.
Harrods and Wallmart have different branding because they're aimed at different markets and are selling different things.
What have we learned about building startups of late? That people's original ideas of their product/market are often way out. As you start pushing our MVPs and getting real feedback the original ideas about product and market get pushed in new and interesting directions.
So investing a lot of time and money in strong visual branding at an early stage in a startup is often going to be a mistake. The market the brand is targeting and the values that the brand is trying to communicate will almost certainly change as the startup progresses.
Indeed, with the right perspective, you can look at the lean startup process as being a brand discovery process. My approach to branding startups is now to start cheap and neutral, and then refine later on as product/market fit becomes clearer.
If folks find this idea resonates, they might like find these of interest:
Visual branding (Which is really all we're talking about here. It's logos, etc. Not many of the other things that sit in the design/ux skill set) is directly related to the product/market fit of your company.
Harrods and Wallmart have different branding because they're aimed at different markets and are selling different things.
What have we learned about building startups of late? That people's original ideas of their product/market are often way out. As you start pushing our MVPs and getting real feedback the original ideas about product and market get pushed in new and interesting directions.
So investing a lot of time and money in strong visual branding at an early stage in a startup is often going to be a mistake. The market the brand is targeting and the values that the brand is trying to communicate will almost certainly change as the startup progresses.
Indeed, with the right perspective, you can look at the lean startup process as being a brand discovery process. My approach to branding startups is now to start cheap and neutral, and then refine later on as product/market fit becomes clearer.
If folks find this idea resonates, they might like find these of interest:
* https://www.quora.com/Lean-Startups/What-is-a-lean-approach-...
* https://www.quora.com/At-what-point-should-branding-become-a...
* http://www.slideshare.net/willevans/introduction-to-leanux-b...