Brand Shifu
for
startups
brand power made easy
Are you struggling with?
- Lack of alignment between co-founders or with staff
- Staff not understanding where you want to go with your business
- High talent turnover
- Slow go-to-market
- Potential clients not understanding what you do
- Lack of clarity in the iterations to pursue
- Blur when investors ask “Why you?” or “Which entrance barriers?”
- Unclear sense of direction as opportunities arise
- Structuring the company as new products or services are launched
Look no further!
You have a branding problem! And I am here to help you!
Hi, I'm Vanessa
I am a brand expert. I do “business branding”. I talk long-term business strategy, not marketing or design. Investment, not cost. I talk GROWTH. Because the brand is the experience of the business, its growth engine, its daily compass.
I live by startup founders’ sides. I have become a “brand shifu”(master) to startups, immersing myself in the startup ecosystem. Not just as a branding consultant; but also as a mentor; an entrepreneur programs’ facilitator; an investment jury; an ecosystem builder. The “multiplier valuation method”, “valley of death”, “churn rate”, pitch decks have less and less secrets for me. Accelerators, business angels, tech government agencies and startup founders are my new network. And my branding expertise is more and more intertwined with startup growth.
I am advocating for startups to start branding at the very beginning of the venture to fast-track iteration and go-to-market. To make branding accessible to startups, I have adapted the usual branding methodologies to their time and resources constraints. With them, I develop “Minimum Viable Brands” and operational branding frameworks to turn their brand into a business compass.
I am on a mission to unleash the power of brand for startups! Are you in?
Like startups, I iterated my career from electricity trading, or entrepreneurship to branding design and business branding.
In my 15-year branding journey, I had 4 key turning points:
- My kickstart in Paris at Desgrippes & Gobe (now SGK), French leading agency, where I learnt the ropes of branding under the leadership of French brand design guru Joel Desgrippes who, with co-founder feu Marc Gobe, coined the “emotional branding”, revolutionize branding design agencies like we know them today and was a visionary entrepreneur, the first one to expand to Asia and to remain independant from media groups so far
- My entrepreneurial years right after, where I implemented my consultant’s knowledge into my own ventures, a marketplace for global creative freelancers (think Freelancer.com? No, not me!) and an e-commerce fashion business, nailed branding positioning but learnt my lessons through failure
- My role back to corporate life, as the Head of Brand at City of Parramatta, Australia, the new city centre of Global Sydney 2056, where I discovered “operational branding” through place branding
- My recent move to Malaysia, with roles at Founder Institute, Nexea Accelerator and La French Tech Malaysia and other public and private ecosysteme players, sharing the power of brand for business growth with startups.
Now is all about branding X startups, and it feels home! And for you? Let's talk!
I am a consultant
Minimum Viable Brand Sprint with Engage Life’s Dream Team
Working with startups, I have observed the very same operational issues that are rooted into the lack of brand: no clear direction, lack of internal alignment, fragmented image.
To address those issues, I have adjusted the usual branding methodologies to the time and resources constraints of startups and devised 3 foundational Sprints.
And when other issues arise, I devise personalised approaches.
Brand Sprint
Capture your vision for the business into an actionable brand that will be used as a business compass to drive decisions and test the vision itself during the iteration phase. For early-stage startups, I design Minimum Viable Brand Sprints; for more mature businesses, we dig deeper.
Sprint approach Workshop
RM package
Message Sprint
Align all external messages across touch points and get an operational framework to create your marketing, communications and sales messages.
Sprint approach
Workshop
RM package
Brand Implementation Sprint
Customised Approach
Operationalise your brand and place it at the center of your decision-making process so all actions feed into your vision for the business
Sprint approach
Workshop
RM package
Tailor-made approach to address any other issue rooted in your brand
I am a Mentor
Need to boost your branding knowledge and be empowered to make the right decisions for your business?
Mentoring is a flexible way to acquire hands-on knowledge as we unpack your own case.
RM retainer, flexible packages to suit your needs
At MyStartup Accelerator Cohort 3 by MOSTI, Cradle & Nexea with my mentee Haitham Alnaeb @Deeplogi
I am a Speaker
“Don’t Be a One-Off: Your Brand Is Now!”
Did you know that a brand is an asset and that you are sitting on an untapped goldmine? Learn about the 10 aspects of a brand from an inside out culture to the experience of the business.
RM package/pax
“Get Your Vision Off the Shelf!”
One day, you, Founder, decided to launch a new business. You have a vision for it. But do you know how to implement that vision across your startup and align staff’s delivery onto it? Discover how to transform your vision into a business compass.
“Early-stage Startups: Your MVB is Now!”
Introducing the Minimal Viable Brand concept. Learn how your early-stage brand can fast-track the iteration phase and go-to-market.
“Stop the Blur: Discipline Your Messages!”
Introducing the House of Messages, a foundational internal framework to break down your brand strategy into tactical messages and create discipline around external messages.
I am a Contributor
Give an edge to your magazine and branding topic: book me for a column on branding for startups!
I can also write on branding for growth, brand design, brand communication, brand culture, place branding, brand management and more.
I love how writing magazines pushes me to break down branding concepts into accessible knowledge in a different way than talks do.
I am an ecosystem builder
Are you building the startup ecosystem as a public or private organisation like an accelerator, a government agency, a corporate player looking to invest or collaborate with startups? Let's talk! I have been supporting local startups as a startup programs facilitator and a Board member at private and public organisations.
As La French Tech Malaysia’s Board member with Axel Cruau, Ambassador of France to Malaysia, the French Embassy and Business France teams and MyEvolution
As the facilitator for Nexea’s Management Program for startups with Google, CloudMile and local startups
Large corps & agencies
I love large corporations and agencies too!
For agencies, I am available as a freelancing consultant on startups, government, large corporations accounts.
For large corporations, I am available for:
- talks and trainings to get your staff to understand the importance of brand to guide their daily actions and decisions so they feed into the vision for the company
- consulting on branding issues - brand operationalisation, rebranding, brand architecture, brand design, naming
Kevin Brockland
Founder Institute Malaysia,
Country Manager
Vanessa has been an excellent mentor for us at the Founder Institute Malaysia. She has received high praise from our cohort and has delivered tangible value.
‘’
‘’
Paresh Subramaniyam
Engage Life,
Founder & CEO
With the help of Vanessa Moulédous, our amazing brand consultant and Mentor, we began a journey to uncover the essence of our brand Engage Life. A huge shoutout to Vanessa for her patience and expert insights!
‘’
‘’
Marl Ortiz
Diversengn
Founder & CEO
I had the invaluable experience of being mentored by Vanessa. Her expertise and guidance were instrumental in my growth as a founder. Her mentorship, had a profound impact on my startup during its critical early stages. Her multicultural perspective and inclusive approach to mentoring were incredibly beneficial to my journey as a founder. I highly recommend her as both a mentor and an SME in the branding space.
‘’
‘’
Jia Qi Lee
Sunway iLabs Foundry
Lead, Programme and Partnership Development
During the LaunchX 2024- The University Startup Accelerator Programme, Vanessa delivered the Branding for Startups workshop. Her expertise in branding as the growth engine in a saturated market was invaluable. Thanks for highlighting the critical role of branding in our startup's growth and providing them with practical, actionable strategies to develop their Minimum Viable Brand.
‘’
‘’
Wanna hear more? Visit my LinkedIn
Mentees
& Clients
Speaker at:
Mentor at:
Huawei Spark Singapore
Founder Institute Malaysia
Nexea Accelerator
MyStartup
Newchip
Advansoft
Alteryz
Code Wizard
Curajoy
Railer
Diversengn
Deeplogi
Emution
Engage Life
FarmDirect
Fashion Constellate
Fev3r
Finspark
Geras
Hey Pawfriends
Infrabunga
Legatus EV
Lykluk
MengajiOnline
OzAsia
ParkIt
Petville
Pollution Engineering
PriceShop
Prometeo Chain System
MengajiOnline
OzAsia
ParkIt
Petville
Pollution Engineering
PriceShop
Prometeo Chain System
Resuit
Revo.ai
Rexcharge Xolutions
Riipay
Security2U
SCORE EPCC
Sushivid
TechCapital
Tapping Tapir
TimeForTea
Virtualtech Frontier
EY Consulting
Selangor Accelerator SIDEC
Founder Institute Malaysia
Sunway ILabs
337 Ventures
Nexea Accelerator
La French Tech Malaysia
Talenta Indonesia
She Disrupt Malaysia
Vistage
Let’s unleash the power of your brand!
vanessa@norththisway.com
WhatsApp
+60 19 985 0013
+60 19 985 0013
I am based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia,
but can distant work :-)
