How to Build a Top Employer Brand from Day One

The better your reputation, the easier it is to hire. 

That’s obvious, but the question for early-stage founders is how to build that reputation when you’re just getting started. How do you stand out to those critical early hires when you don’t have the social proof a billion-dollar valuation or Fortune 500 customers provide?

In my ten years at Wellfound, we’ve helped tens of thousands of founders hire top talent, and I’ve seen the recruiting edge some of them have developed by creating a strong employer brand and highlighting it on their Wellfound profile. 

Here are five steps you can take to create an employer brand that will stand out from your competition, no matter how long your company’s been around.

1. Start with your “why”

Even in this job market, great candidates have plenty of options, and many of those options will pay more than you.

That means you need to give candidates a clear and compelling “why,” a reason they should choose you over everyone else. Many founders don’t do this. Failing to communicate a “why” to candidates is the number-one recruiting mistake I see startups make.

Your “why” needs to be unique and polarizing. It should be extremely compelling to some candidates and unappealing to others.

The payroll software startup Check has a strong “why.” Here’s how Check’s founder, Andrew Brown, described it to me:

That pitch will resonate with candidates who have a deep interest in financial infrastructure and a desire for a role with high ownership and impact.

There are plenty of other “whys” you might have, including:

• A product that your hire or their friends / family would use

• A high-performing team

• The opportunity to learn new skills or technology

• The opportunity to learn how to become a founder

• Significant financial upside in the event of an acquisition or IPO

• Great benefits

• Strong work-life balance or the opposite

Other companies might have “whys” that sound similar to yours on a surface level, but if you can explain how yours are different and better (a stronger path to an exit, your track record as a repeat founder, etc.), they’ll give you an advantage with the type of candidate you’re looking for.

2. Be very specific about what it’s like to work at your company

Culture fit is hard to evaluate, but the best way to attract candidates who will thrive in your culture is to communicate exactly how you want your employees to work with each other everywhere you can, including your Wellfound profile, website, social media accounts, and interviews with candidates.

Highlight what makes your culture different. Every startup wants to hustle, be scrappy, and raise the bar. What sets you apart? Do you want your employees to give honest feedback, even when it’s uncomfortable? Do you think one-on-ones are a waste of time?

A lot of people might disagree with you. That’s okay. You want to screen out bad hires and attract great ones.

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong is a master of this. Even if you’ve never applied for a job at Coinbase, you probably have some idea of what it’s like to work there. That’s not an accident. Armstrong has spent years talking about the company’s culture on social media, Medium, and Coinbase’s website. He’s clear about exactly what he wants — even the parts that don’t appeal to everyone. 

Here are two examples where he describes Coinbase’s culture and mission.

3. Talk about what you’re building on X and LinkedIn

Once you’re clear on what makes you different, the next step is figuring out how and where you want to communicate it. Keith Rabois has a philosophy I like: Talk about your startup publicly and loudly so people know what you’re working on.

The best places to talk loudly and publicly are LinkedIn and X. They’re the largest forums for business thought leadership, and they’re the least expensive way to reach people who haven’t heard of you. 

Your website is also important (we’ll get to that next), but it serves a different purpose. Your social media posts spark interest, your website builds on it.

One mistake many founders make on social media is posting nothing but links to press releases about new products or features. That might work for large companies with global brands, but it won’t if you’re not a household name.

Instead, tell stories and share opinions about your vision for your company and where it came from. This tweet from Greptile co-founder Daksh Gupta is a great example:

In less than 100 words, Gupta gave candidates a differentiated “why” (the opportunity to work in an environment that only accepts extremely high performers who want to dedicate their lives to building a great company) and a clear picture of Greptile’s culture. While his tweet received plenty of negative reactions, it generated even more job applications.

4. Make your website a priority and publish a company handbook

Your website is important, even if almost no one sees it.

When you’re just getting started, your website won’t get many visitors, but the vast majority of them will be potential customers or employees. If they don’t know much about you, they’ll assume the quality of your website reflects the quality of your product or employee experience. 

This is why your homepage and careers page matter. They’re opportunities to convince candidates who are considering 10 other startups that they should take the time to apply to yours.

Tremendous and PostHog capitalize on that opportunity.

Let’s start with Tremendous. Every word on their careers page focuses on their mission and the value they offer employees — limited meetings, the freedom to work wherever you want, a stable and growing business. It doesn’t take long to understand the pros and cons of working there.

PostHog published a company handbook on their website that answers just about every question a candidate might have during an interview, providing a level of detail on the company’s goals, strategy, and work style that differentiates them from any other startup a candidate might be considering.

5. Highlight your brand names

You don’t need big names on your cap table, customer list, or employees’ resumes to create a top employer brand, but if you have them, highlight them wherever you can. They’ll create instant social proof.

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