Be yourself so the people looking for you can find you
I love this quote from Arlan Hamilton. Arlan is an inspirational American VC who is the antithesis of the VC and PE “Bros” so often found in that space. I love following her and learning from her thoughts, having first been introduced to her thinking by my dear friend Rosie von Lila (host of the Elevating Leaders podcast series aimed at inspiring the next generation of women leaders, her WhatComesNextLive guest appearance is also here).
Do not try to be all things to all people, be truly clear on who you are, and what you offer in the world, and then put THAT out there, clearly and with focus. Arlan does this with Backstage Capital and in multiple other ways. As for me, I am very focussed on who I am, what I offer, as well as who I love to work with.
One example is that I work with brave CEOs and Leaders who are purpose-led and who, yes, focus on profit, but on profit as an outcome of leading a business that comes from purpose, culture, and values. I put this out very clearly on my home page. Interestingly, I then tend to get one of two types of people talking to me about this.
The first are those who get it and want to talk about how they can make their own (as it says on my home page) “Massive Impact”.
The other type of people is those who are cynical about CEOs and say “they are only there to make money”. To them, I simply note that, while those CEOs remain out there doing things the old way, they are simply not the people I talk to. The people I talk to are absolutely focussed on purpose first and profit as an outcome.
Like Arlan Hamilton, by being myself, the people looking for me can find me.
If the people finding you are not the people you wish were, then perhaps you could be more yourself in how you present. BTW, if you would like to be connected to the genius that supported me in the clarity and focus of positioning on my own site, their name is Maitland Telke.