Your story is capital.
Investors are predictable.
That might seem like a tall statement—and you'd be correct—but this conclusion wasn't random.
I used to believe angel investors and VCs had everything figured out when it came to branding, business, and self-driven storytelling.
I would view their slick websites, fund manifestos, and high connection counts on LinkedIn, and assume they had everything figured out.
That was many months ago, way before I understood the art and science of personal branding on LinkedIn.
Today, after ghostwriting for several high-profile people—and having networking coffee chats with multiple founders and investors alone—I realized this:
Investors don't have it all figured out.
They're smart. They're driven.
Most of all—and this was a pleasant surprise for me—they were not the bloodthirsty sharks seeking out entrepreneurial blood.
Some of them are snakes, sure. There are poisoned apples everywhere.
What I found is that most investors are ambitious, creative, and wildly inspired to help like-minded founders achieve remarkable things.
They're interested in investing in dreamers, not just killer products.
This changed my perspective dramatically.
These conversations—and personal branding projects with a couple of clients—made me realize even more important truths:
Most investors have zero time to post on LinkedIn
Most investors don't know they're leaving their brand on the table
Most investors have no clue how to turn their wisdom into content
Most investors don't know the long-term ROI of personal branding
Most investors—when they do post—share only generic storylines
I learned that investors sabotage their personal branding potential more than any other type of person I'd spoken to up until that point.
It's sad, because the stories investors have range from a pleasant summer afternoon to a raging storm in a bottle you'd find in a tsunami haze.
Which is why I've put together this article today.
In today's article (or newsletter; however you're reading), we'll discuss:
Why personal brands are nonnegotiable for investors
Why LinkedIn should be your platform of choice
Why your story is your greatest form of capital
(I'll also be including a bonus at the end for you if you stick around… and trust me, if you're an investor looking for ideas to share immediately on LinkedIn, you'll want this ASAP)
My goal is to make this the one master article both VCs and angel investors will ever need to stop ignoring their potential, and start creating, scaling, and deploying powerful LinkedIn personal brands.
Because life's too short to show up like everyone else.
This is not the era for another investor story about how great you are, how cool you are for scaling companies and selling them for millions.
This is the era for sharing your wisdom, connecting with ideal partners and founders, and shaping yourself into the person you want to be.
Let's dive in.
Part I: Personal branding isn't a luxury—it's nonnegotiable.
It's shocking how neglected personal branding is when it comes to investors.
There are hundreds of thousands of venture capitalists and angels on LinkedIn, and only a fraction of them post even once a week.
To be fair, investors aren't the only ones guilty of this.
The problem is that since most investors are exceptional at in-person networking, they completely neglect the power of digital networking.
Having a digital presence—a personal brand—that works for you while you're away doing epic things, is essential in keeping you competitive.
Personal brands aren't reserved for newer generations.
Personal brands are the new brand, period.
The rise of personal brand value is astronomical:
82% of people are more likely to trust a company when their senior executives are active on social media (Entrepreneur)
90% of employees agree that when a company’s leadership is active on social media, this improves brand perception/image (Reaction Power)
74% of Americans are more likely to trust someone with an established personal brand than those without (Brand Builders Group)
Your personal brand is your legacy.
It's a representation of how you walk, talk, and share your experiences. It's a platform for storytelling that combines the authenticity of real, lived-in wisdom, and undeniable impact you have on people who can learn from you.
It’s especially important to take advantage of this now, since the boring, bland, educational-only content is no longer as impactful as it once was.
We’re no longer in the age of people going viral strictly because of beautifully designed infographics, carousels, and controversial mateiral.
We’re in an age where people want to connect with people.
(That includes founders, LPs, and general partners who want to see your investor persona as the exact person they’re looking for)
Some investor influencers—if you want to call them that—have discovered the intersection between educational, personable, and vulnerable.
Ray Dalio is a grand example of this.
The guy is an investor icon, and has built a LinkedIn personal brand scaling to over 3 million followers.
He shows up frequently on LinkedIn, posting carousels and personal viewpoints on topics relevant to his niche. His engagement rate is less than desired, considering his enormous follower count, but it's inarguable that he's committed to the process.
(You don't need 3 million followers to win with a personal brand, but it's important to remember that even well-renowned people commit to the branding process on their chosen platforms)
Another example is Kevin Jurovich—a serial founder, entrepreneur and VC with over 100,000 followers.
He’s a fantastic thought leader, with a fascinating story tied into a past life as a football player, entrepreneurship, and showcasing his personality every day on LinkedIn.
Unlike Ray Dalio, Kevin Jurovich opts for:
Interesting stories about prominent figures (e.g. Steve Jobs)
Personal stories from his childhood (sparingly, but they exist)
Deep-dives into industry updates without being boring about it
Sharing his own venture journey
While both investors are incredibly different, they’ve both poured into their strengths to grow phenomenal personal brands on LinkedIn.
If you want to delve into the even more fascinating side of LinkedIn, consider Jack Kuveke, the founder and general partner at Jabroni Capital. He’s also a startup fundraising coach for founders looking for unfiltered advice on building their companies.
Unlike Dalio or Jurovich, Jack Kuveke uses his humor as his advantage.
I’m guessing here, but it’s likely around 90% of his content on LinkedIn is completely centered around memes—sprinkled throughout with real, actionable advice.
He uses his satirical sense of humor to educate, but also be himself in a sea of boring, by-the-numbers storytelling from investors.
Just by playing into his strengths, he stands out.
There’s a lot we can learn from these people and their brand presence.
The results, loyalty, and followership of these people is not an accident.
In the modern digital marketing landscape, you will simply get left behind if you abandon your personal brand potential.
You don't want to let your story go to waste.
Now, when it comes to where you build your personal brand, LinkedIn is the top choice for venture capitalists and angels.
Let's explore that now.
Part II: The influential power of LinkedIn for venture capitalists & angel investors.
LinkedIn has an interesting reputation.
People who don't use it think it's for old people, or no one at all. They're under the assumption the platform is dead, and that you need to dance on TikTok or become a content creator on YouTube to grow your brand.
Not saying those platforms aren't useful—they are—but for venture capitalists and angel investors, your energy is best reserved for LinkedIn.
No other platform has the connective power when it comes to B2B.
No other platform is this unsaturated.
No other platform gives you instant access to ideal founders, partners, executives, and other potential relationships you want to form on your terms.
With an optimized profile and content strategy, you're already ahead of the game.
This is because—out of one billion users—only the top 1% use LinkedIn. (Source)
This gives you ample opportunity to:
Write, publish, and share consistently
Build and engage a thriving community
Use your profile to drive leads and conversions
Turn your knowledge into a branded ecosystem
Amplify your personal and firm brands (if you have one)
LinkedIn is no longer for upturned snobs looking to prep their CVs.
It's for people who are ambitious, driven, creative, and want to build outstanding networks just by being themselves.
Plus, legacy networking isn't going to be enough.
Going to in-person meetups, events, and social gatherings on the golf course can be very beneficial, sure. We all want more than digital coffee chats sometimes.
However, there's more to networking than that.
On LinkedIn, there are millions of investors, founders, and adjacent industry professionals you can send a message to at the drop of a hat.
As mentioned previously, prominent thought leaders in venture capital and entrepreneurship (Jack Kuveke, Kevin Jurovich, etc.) all have leveraged extreme dedication and networking on LinkedIn to build their brands.
Hundreds of thousands of followers—or even millions, in Ray Dalio’s case—all because they dared to show up, talk like human beings, and share their unique wisdom.
Their achievements are entirely possible for any investor that wants to build a presence on LinkedIn.
The barrier to entry has never been lower.
You can connect with corporate juggernauts, engage with their posts, send them a connection request, and talk to them in a DM conversation within hours—or minutes.
That type of networking power is insane.
It's the most accessible path investors have to unlock opportunities, build relationships, and scale their presence with small, daily actions.
There's no other platform with this level of opportunity.
The only problem most creators face is struggling to start.
(Good thing investors don't have this problem, yeah?)
When you choose a platform, quadrupling your efforts into LinkedIn as a venture capitalist or angel investor should be your plan.
Instagram is extremely competitive and suited for other niches
X is saturated with creators and alternative founder personas
TikTok shouldn't even be considered as your first choice
You won't find another platform of opportunity for engagement, networking, and the ability to leverage your story as quickly as LinkedIn.
You might get more followers, higher engagement, and vanity social traction on other platforms…
But the value lies in your relationships, your library of knowledge (that you will write about consistently, mark my words), and your ability to start and engage in other conversations.
LinkedIn is where true investor stories start, and continue.
In true branding fashion… the story never truly ends.
Part III: Why you need to share your story.
You'll often see investors post on LinkedIn with the following types of content:
Generic updates on new opportunities
Celebrations over fundraising and new partnerships
Boasting about cash flow, business updates, etc.
These types of stories are not only a dime a dozen—they're shallow.
In other niches, you'll find the most impactful creators are being themselves.
They share educational stories layered in personal struggles
They ask their audience engaging questions
They talk like a human, not a robot
They focus on quality with quantity
They use AI sparingly
The storytelling is balanced.
There is nothing inherently wrong with a positive update once in awhile. The problem is, this will get you vanity metrics—a "clap" or "hey, congrats!" here and there—but it won't get you proper connections.
If you're an investor who wants to build a personal brand, you need to share the parts of yourself that may seem uncomfortable at first… but are necessary.
(No, you don't have to completely bare your soul, but it is advisable to peel back a few layers to make your storytelling more impactful)
A few ideas to get you started would be:
The top five lessons you learned stepping into the investor world
The one lesson you would tell your younger self (good, bad, and ugly)
Interesting mistakes you see founders make when pitching
Niche trends you think are dead wrong, and why
Why you care about your portfolio companies
A conversation you had that inspired you
There's so much potential for interesting storytelling, here.
Now, this isn't about writing a novel.
This is about creating engaging stories.
Personal brands are, after all, personal.
They're mirrors of you.
Reflections of your actions, thoughts, desires, failures, wins, ambitions, dreams, mistakes, and goals.
Once you start sharing the pieces of you that are real, raw, and honest, you start attracting similar-minded people to you:
Startup founders you would love to work with
Limited partners who'd be perfect for your firm
VCs you want to persuade to be your mentor
Angels you want to build and network with
The possibilities are endless.
What you write is what you attract.
Always remember that.
If you simply educate your audience—with no soul, no personality, and no substance—you become as irreplaceable as everyone else.
Anyone can copy what you learn.
No one can copy your story.
Conclusion.
Every investor I talk to is intelligent, full of moxy, and has enough jet fuel to propel them to space. The energy is infectious. It's addictive.
My main motivation in writing this piece to begin with was to speak to those investors. To the people who are hungry, scrappy, eager to learn, dying to help others with their mindset, and generous with their cash flow.
On top of that, they care more about the founders they're helping than the successes of their own firm. They care so deeply that they do whatever it takes to help their portfolio companies succeed long after the partnership ends.
These are the traits of investors the world needs to see.
As a ghostwriter and personal brand advisor, I'm asking you to do one thing:
Please, share one post to your network about you.
Tell a story you haven't shared before. Be honest with it. Let it flow from your fingertips to the page, screen, or whatever.
We're in an age where massively misunderstood markets are reclaiming their narratives.
This is the age of raw, real, and personable storytelling.
Every market has entered the race, except for VCs and angels.
This is the time to enter that race—and win.
Will you be one of them?
Hey, I’m Taylor. I’m a multifaceted writer and personal brand advisor helping investors turn their stories into powerful narratives on LinkedIn. If you liked this, you’ll love the deep-dives I share every Friday in my free newsletter, Story Capital.
If you’d like to connect (or work with me), reach out to me on LinkedIn.
