How I Learned to Understand the Reputation of a Startup

Why startup visibility doesn’t equal trust, and how founders can lead with credibility.

I’ve spent over twenty years working in public relations—first as a journalist, then in corporate communications, and later as an advisor to startup founders in more than forty markets. In every corner of the world, no matter the industry or stage, one challenge keeps coming back:

Most startups don’t know how to manage their reputation.

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They think it’s about visibility. They think if they get press, grow their followers, or land on someone’s “top 10” list, they’ll win. But what I’ve seen—and what I’ve had to help founders clean up time and time again—is that visibility doesn’t build trust. And without trust, no startup can grow sustainably.

Reputation isn’t a campaign. It’s not a tweet thread or a glossy feature in TechCrunch. It’s how people perceive your company over time. It’s the story they tell about you when you’re not in the room, and whether or not they believe what you say when you are.

After helping launch products, navigate crises, and shape narratives for startups across Latin America, the U.S., and beyond, I needed a better way to help founders understand what they were really dealing with. That’s how I developed The Arc of Reputation™, a framework to help startup founders understand their reputation, phase by phase.

When I walk into a startup, I don’t just look at their comms. I look at how they show up. Are they aligned internally? Is their message grounded in truth? Do their actions match their tone?

Most of the time, the answer is: not yet.

That’s because startups often think they’re further ahead than they actually are. They speak like they’re in control of the narrative, but their team is misaligned. They aim for press, but their story hasn’t earned belief yet. They confuse founder visibility with brand credibility.

That’s where the real disconnect begins. And that’s where trust breaks down.

The Arc of Reputation™ maps out five phases that most startups will move through—some quickly, some not. These phases aren’t about how much funding you’ve raised or how many users you have. They’re about how much belief you’ve earned.

In the beginning, your startup is unknown. You’re in the ignition phase—trying to define who you are and why you matter. This is where clarity matters more than coverage. If you skip this step and try to “look bigger” than you are, you burn credibility fast.

Next comes validation. People see you. You’ve launched. There’s interest. But they’re still testing you. You need messaging that earns belief—not just noise that grabs attention. You don’t just need exposure—you need alignment.

Then there’s accountability. You’ve become visible. Expectations are higher. This is where inconsistency gets punished. What you say has to match what you do, or you risk eroding the trust you worked so hard to earn.

If you manage to keep showing up with consistency and clarity, you hit endurance. This is where reputation compounds. People trust your startup even when you’re not actively promoting it. Your brand starts doing the work for you.

And finally, there’s legacy. You’ve become more than a product. You stand for something. The way you’ve handled your reputation earns you influence far beyond your metrics.

What I’ve seen—over and over—is that most founders believe they’re already in phase three or four. But when I ask them simple questions like:

• When was the last time you spoke publicly with intention?

• Are your customers your advocates—or just your users?

• Do your investors trust your leadership—or just your numbers?

They start to see the gap.

And that gap between how you think you’re perceived—and how you actually are—is where most reputational risks live.

So if you’re a founder building a startup today, here’s my advice:

Stop focusing only on visibility. Start thinking about trust.

Don’t just ask how to get attention—ask what people believe about your company.

Don’t wait until a crisis to manage your story. Start building credibility now.

Startup reputation is earned one decision at a time.

Every message, every silence, every moment is shaping how the world sees you.

If you lead that process with intention, it can be one of your greatest assets.

If you ignore it, it can be one of your greatest risks.

Your startup already has a reputation.

The only question is: are you the one building it?