FROM HUFFINGTON POST: For three years, building my own brand was dead-last on the priority list. I promised I’d get around to eventually—but first, I had a product to build, capital to raise, a team to grow, and a community to nurture. And wasn’t all this personal brand stuff just a popularity contest anyway?

Don’t make the same mistake. As startup founders, we need all the help we can get: We’ll need to persuade investors and inspire our team. We’ll need to delight users and move journalists. This is where your personal brand comes in, allowing you to reach like-minded people across the world and bring them together, in one place. Brand building, after all, is just relationship building at scale. Continued….