A founder comes to you with no audience, a good business and a lot of opinions about their own story. They want to be on YouTube by Friday.

After 12 years behind the scenes, this is the order I use now.

Week one is an audit, with no filming. Who is on the team, what it costs, which tools, what has been tried. Then I sit with the founder and ask why they are doing this, what they want from it and how long they will commit. A founder brand is slow and expensive, so I want that answer first.

Two formats are never up for testing: a daily podcast clip and a daily selfie video. The selfie video is cheap, cuts through because it does not feel like business content, and lets the founder's voice be heard. The podcast clip builds authority. Everything else is disposable and gets tested.

Lead with what the audience gets. Founders assume people care about their story. They care about it far less than the founder does.…