Standing Out to Top Talent (Part 2): Amplifying Your Message
Akaina Talent’s Robin Beattie writes for us.
How Seed to Series C founders use employer brand and personal brand to get noticed
In Part 1, we covered the basics: how to create compelling company stories and turn your job descriptions from simple task lists into performance blueprints. But here’s the challenge. If no one sees your great content, it’s just sitting unused. This is where most founders get stuck. They work hard to clarify their story and update their job descriptions. Still, top candidates aren’t finding them, or even worse, they lose out to bigger companies with more resources.
Today, we’ll talk about amplification: how to share your message through smart employer branding and personal brand building, all without a big budget.
Your Startup's Employer Brand Problem Isn't What You Think
"We can't compete on employer brand. We don't have a budget for expensive campaigns."
I hear this from founders all the time. I understand—when you’re up against companies with full employer branding teams and huge budgets, it can feel impossible. But here's what I'm seeing with Seed to Series C companies that are winning in talent markets: Your employer brand isn’t about how much you spend. It’s about how well you use what you already have.
The Real Cost of No Employer Brand
When you don't actively shape your employer brand, candidates fill in the gaps themselves. They check your LinkedIn. They read your Glassdoor reviews. They Google your founders. They ask people in their networks. If they find nothing or see mixed messages, they usually assume the worst. Here’s the hard truth: your employer brand isn’t what your marketing team says, or even what your website claims. It’s what your team says about you in private chats, online forums, and casual conversations.
Why This Matters More Now
Economic uncertainty fundamentally changes what candidates want. In volatile times, they're not just chasing compensation packages and perks; they're also seeking meaning. They're looking for:
• Stability - Companies with sustainable business models
• Ethical leadership - Founders they can trust to make hard decisions well
• Genuine growth opportunities - Not just promotions, but actual skill development
Now, brand value comes from trust and purpose, not from perks like ping pong tables or free snacks.
What Actually Works With Limited Resources
Startups that attract top talent aren’t spending more on employer branding. They’re just using their existing resources more wisely:
1. Your Leaders Are Your Brand
Don’t hide behind corporate messages. Founder visibility is important, and it doesn’t cost anything. When you share your journey honestly—the challenges, lessons, and vision—you build real connection and trust. We'll dig deeper into personal brand in the next section, but understand this: your leadership team's visibility is a core part of your employer brand strategy.
2. Your Current Team Is Your Filter
Try this exercise: Ask three team members what they wish candidates knew about working at your company. Their answers will be more authentic and compelling than anything your marketing team could write. The best employer brands grow from the inside out. If your team isn’t sharing your posts or referring people, it’s not just a branding problem—it’s a culture problem.
3. Transparency Beats Perfection
As Brian Fink brilliantly puts it: "‘We're not for everyone' is way more powerful than 'We're the best place to work.'" Candidates don’t expect perfection. They want honesty. Be open about:
• What stage you're at and the challenges that come with it
• The types of people who thrive with you (and who don't)
• The trade-offs of joining a growing company
• What you can and can't offer right now
Being authentic builds trust in a way that polished messaging can’t.
The Startup Advantage
Big companies often struggle to sound genuine. Their messages get reviewed so many times that they end up bland and corporate. You can be real, responsive, and transparent in ways they can’t. That’s your competitive advantage, so make the most of it.
Start Here
Before worrying about employer branding campaigns, ask yourself:
• When did you last post authentically about your company's mission or challenges?
• What do your current employees actually say about working with you?
• Are you being transparent about who you are—and who you're not?
These steps don’t cost anything, but they often make the biggest difference.
Your Personal Brand Is Your Most Underused Hiring Tool
There's one element most founders completely miss when thinking about talent attraction: Themselves. Your personal brand isn’t just about self-promotion. It’s actually one of your best tools for attracting talent, but most founders don’t use it enough.
Why This Matters for Startups
When your company is between Seed and Series C, your company brand is still taking shape. You're building credibility, establishing market position, fighting for attention. But your personal brand? That's already out there.
Most of the best-fit talent isn’t looking for jobs right now. Your personal brand builds awareness and interest, so when you need to hire, you’re not starting from scratch. Think about it from a candidate's perspective: when top candidates research your startup, they usually search for you, the founder, first. What do they see?
What Top Candidates Are Looking For
They're not looking for perfect PR statements or carefully crafted corporate messaging. They want to see:
• How you approach problems - Your thinking process and decision-making framework
• Evidence of team development - How you've supported people's growth in tangible ways
• The reality of building - What the actual process looks like, not the highlight reel
• If you're someone they can learn from - Intellectual honesty and genuine expertise
This isn’t about becoming an influencer or sharing motivational quotes. It’s about making sure the right people can find you, understand your vision, and connect with your approach before they even think about applying.
How to Start (Without Becoming a Content Creator)
1. Share What You're Learning
What hiring decision did you wrestle with this week? What surprised you about scaling your team? What would you do differently if you could go back? Real experiences are always better than generic advice. You don’t need all the answers; being authentic matters more than being perfect.
2. Be Visible Where Your Talent Hangs Out
• LinkedIn for most roles • GitHub for technical hires
• Industry events where your ideal candidates gather
• Relevant communities and forums in your space
You don’t have to be everywhere. Just focus on the places that matter most for your talent needs.
3. Engage, Don't Just Broadcast
This is where most founders miss the opportunity. They post content but never engage with their community.
Leave thoughtful comments on other people's posts. Share your team's successes openly and celebrate their wins. Respond to anyone who interacts with your content. Founders who attract the best talent don’t focus on follower counts. They build real relationships with people who share their values and vision.
The Compounding Effect
This isn’t about going viral. It’s about showing up regularly so the right people remember you when they’re ready for a new opportunity. When you build your personal brand strategically, here's what happens:
You get more inbound interest - Great candidates reach out proactively instead of you having to chase them.
Candidates arrive pre-sold - They show up to conversations already excited about your mission and aligned with your values.
You build a referral flywheel - Even people who haven't worked with you will refer others because they respect what you're building.
Your personal brand becomes a steady way to attract talent, even when you’re not hiring.
Bringing It All Together
Over these two parts, we've covered the complete framework for standing out to top talent:
Part 1 - Your Foundation:
• Tell your story authentically across all touchpoints.
• Transform job descriptions into performance blueprints.
Part 2 - Your Amplification:
• Build employer brand through leadership visibility, team voices, and radical transparency.
• Leverage personal brand to create future demand and inbound interest.
All these elements work together and build on each other over time. Your personal brand creates awareness, your company story sparks interest, your job descriptions turn that interest into action, and your employer brand helps people decide. The startups that win in talent markets aren’t the ones with the most resources. They’re the ones who use what they have most strategically.
What's Your Next Move?
You don't have to tackle everything at once. Start with the area where you have the biggest gap:
If candidates don't understand your mission → Revisit Part 1 on storytelling.
If you're getting the wrong applicants → Transform your job descriptions.
If candidates can't find you→ Build your personal brand presence.
If you're losing offers to competitors→ Focus on authentic employer branding.
The talent you need to grow from Seed to Series B is out there. The real question is: are you making it easy for them to find, understand, and choose you?
Need help attracting top talent? I help Seed-to-Series-C founders build teams that give them a real competitive edge. Let’s talk about how people can become your advantage. robin@akainatalent.com