Whether you’re talking about the time commitment, financial investment, or aligning priorities—it’s safe to say that launching and running a successful brand is no small feat.
Getting clear on your brand purpose—what you do, how you do it, and most importantly, why you do it—makes things that little bit easier. A well-defined brand purpose is that north star that allows you to freely move through your business decisions without having to worry about going off track.
We recently caught up with Marlon Thompson, founder of Future Capital—a venture capital and angel investing company that’s reimagining startup funding. Marlon shared his insights into how defining Future Capital’s powerful brand story has helped amplify their purpose and break through the noise without having to shout above everyone else. Here’s what he had to say:
What is the Future Capital story so far?
“I started Future Capital because I saw an opportunity to create an ecosystem where outsiders could break into growth and investing. That realization came from my own experience working in accelerators, venture capital and startups for eight years. I always felt like an outsider, and I was never really sure why until I realized that there is a massive lack of diversity in that industry. Simply put—I created Future Capital to help solve that problem.”
How is Future Capital’s approach different from other venture capital and angel investing companies?
“There are so many ways to answer that. But I’d say the main difference is the way we connect with our customers and partners versus the way other brands connect with theirs. We don’t need to code-switch in and out of how we communicate because we speak the same language as the people in our network. We share real perspectives that provide value, and there’s a level of authenticity that I don’t believe can be bought or crafted.”
Why do you think it’s essential to create a story around your brand?
“Since day one it’s been clear to me what Future Capital is. But it’s been challenging to communicate that with people that may not have a deep understanding of the industry or our back story. Half of the words we’re using could be slightly too complex or have a variety of meanings. As we were building Future Capital, we ran into a couple of narrative blockers where we couldn’t tell the story effectively to the new people that were coming into our sphere, and that’s where Monday stepped in.”
Can you elaborate on what you mean by “narrative blockers”?
“We’re talking about an industry that has historically locked out certain audiences, so there’s a gap in where we started the conversation and where our community was when we were speaking to them. Monday helped us bridge that gap by crafting key messages that resonate with a vast audience while still connecting back to our broader vision and purpose.”
Was there anything surprising that came out of this work?
“There was specific language used around what we do that, once it was said back to us, really helped to pinpoint our true differentiator. The idea around “we create low-touch, high-impact learning experiences” succinctly summarizes why we’re unique and why our products and learning experiences are so special.”
“The key messages and brand positioning work also created more focus and velocity around some of our product ideation which I hadn’t fully anticipated. The fact that a single message can have such a big impact like that was surprising to me.”
How has this process transformed your business to date?
“The most significant shift for us is that we now have a common language that we’re using. It creates clarity and consistency for both internal conversations and the stories we’re telling externally.”
How are you amplifying Future Capital’s story story in a world where you have to compete with so much noise?
“I’m a huge believer that less is more. So for us, it’s really important to hold our tongue until we’ve formulated a perspective or have something worth sharing. We create valuable content and stories that are low-touch and high-impact—to use that phrase again. When we do or say something, we make sure it’s worth it. We don’t compete with noise by creating more noise.”
