I work with a lot of founder-led brands, particularly in the Irish spirits space, but also in food, beauty, product and beyond. And there’s a pattern I’ve noticed over time:
The early years of building a brand are full of energy and vision. You’re close to the product, the purpose, the problem you’re trying to solve. You know why you started.
But the same things that make those first two years exciting… can also make them messy.
Here’s what I think many founders get right and where some unintentionally go off course.
Starting with the good stuff.
Most founder-led brands have heart. You can feel the passion, whether it’s whiskey, poitín, skincare or soda, these businesses are often born from personal obsession. That shows up in the smallest details: in how they talk to customers, in the backstory, in the energy they bring to trade shows. That fire is a brand asset in itself.
They also move quickly. Founders don’t wait for permission. They don’t need a board to approve every decision. They launch before it’s perfect, adjust as they go, test ideas in the wild. That speed and responsiveness is something big brands would kill for.
And maybe most importantly, they keep it personal. They’re the ones replying to Instagram DMs. Turning up to tastings. Sending the follow-up emails. That closeness to the audience builds trust early and in spirits especially, the founder’s story is the brand in many cases.
But here’s where it can start to slip.
Founders often fall a little too in love with their own taste. And that’s not a bad thing, it’s what makes the brand feel real. But there’s a point where your personal preferences need to make space for clarity. What you love isn’t always what your audience needs. The goal isn’t to dilute your voice, it’s to distil it (excuse the pun, once again).
They sometimes mistake consistency for repetition. You don’t need to reinvent the wheel for every launch, but you do need to build memory. A founder might get bored of their own visual world long before their customer does. Strong branding is consistent, not stale.
Positioning can sometimes get skipped. When you’re emotionally invested in your product, it’s hard to see why someone wouldn’t get it instantly. But carving out your place in the market, in a way that’s simple, clear, and consistent? That’s what separates a good brand from a great one. Messaging is more than a strapline. It’s how you explain who you are over and over again.
And finally, many wait too long to invest in brand. And by that, I don’t mean a logo. I mean meaning. Narrative. Language. The story that makes everything else click into place. A lot of founders pour everything into the product to get it on shelf, then scramble to shape the brand story once they’re already in market. But when you build the brand with intention from the start, everything else (sales, comms, funding) becomes more coherent and more powerful.
And just to be clear, I’ve been/am one of these founders too. From launching my own design studio, to starting a lamp company in my early twenties (with more vision than structure), to building a modern funeral brand that’s still unfolding, I’ve felt the late nights, the overthinking, the scramble to make it all look like it makes sense before it actually does. I’ve made the same missteps I now help others navigate. So this isn’t critique, it’s lived experience and I’m right there with the founders I work with, learning in real time what it means to balance clarity, creativity and conviction in those crucial early years. It can be emotional, exhilarating, and sometimes overwhelming in equal measure and while there’s no perfect roadmap (I can see), there is a rhythm…
Lead with clarity. Stay consistent. Ask for help when it’s murky. And always come back to why you started. Because whether you’re two months or two years in, the founder is the heart of the brand. And when that heart is aligned with the strategy, the visual world, and the product experience… that’s where meaning meets momentum.