How to find the right brand partner

If you’re an early-stage founder gearing up for a launch, a fundraise, or another major milestone, you’ve probably realized: your brand matters more than ever. It’s your first impression, shorthand for what you stand for, and one of the most high-leverage investments you can make early on.

But finding the right creative partner to shepherd your brand into its next chapter? That can be a bit overwhelming. Here’s a quick guide to help you navigate the decision—plus a look at how we approach brand work at Goodside to help you figure out if we’re the right fit.

1. Look for someone who understands your size and space

Early-stage startups and small businesses are unique. Things move fast, you’re still figuring some stuff out, and you may not have a full, in-house creative team to lean on. You need a brand partner that can create a brand with those practical constraints in mind. 

We work almost exclusively with growing businesses and pre-seed, Series A, and Series B startups, so we’re used to the pace, the questions, and the shifting priorities that come with the territory. Even better, we actually enjoy it. 

We’ve partnered with founders in virtually every industry across B2B, B2C, and DTC (whew, all the acronyms!). We’ve written more about the kinds of folks we enjoy working with in this blog post, but we have a particular love for:

• Healthcare & mental health 
• Family care
• Sustainability & climate
• Food & Hospitality
• Consumer tech

As Goodside’s cofounders, we’ve both navigated the fast-paced, shifting priorities of fast-growing startups. Danielle worked at Dropbox back in its stick-figure days, and Jess was part of the core design team that led Asana’s rebrand, which arguably ushered all of tech into its glowy gradients era circa 2015. Those experiences taught us what it means to build and grow beloved brand systems on a day-to-day basis. 

We apply that practical, hands-on experience at every step of our process. From our meeting cadence (weekly stand-ups) to our deliverables (tools, not just guidelines), our goal is to work like an extension of your team to deliver a brand that actually works on day one.  

If you’re building something purpose-driven and design-minded, whether it’s a new tech startup or a local coffee shop, we’d love to meet you.

2. Find a partner who focuses on what you actually need

Not every creative team does the same thing—and that’s a good thing. Some focus exclusively on web design. Others specialize in product design or growth marketing. At Goodside, we’re working to build the best branding agency for early-stage companies. We focus on brand strategy, naming, brand identity design, and copywriting. That means we help you define who you are, what you stand for, and how you show up visually, verbally, and emotionally. 

If you’re looking for someone to optimize your website for search or build your app from scratch, we’re probably not the right fit (though we’re happy to recommend people who are). But if you’re ready to build a brand with a strong point of view and a clear foundation, we’ve got you. 

For us, it all starts with strategy. Our brand positioning phase is where we’ll define your audience, your story, and the place in the world we’re creating. We’ve written about why brand strategy is important in this piece. 

That strategic foundation informs every creative decision that follows. We translate our positioning into a brand identity system that’s cohesive, flexible, and built to grow with you. That includes a logo, yes, but also a graphic language, color palette, typography system, photography and illustration style, voice, and a whole world for your brand to walk within. For a deeper dive into the nuts and bolts of our process, check out our behind the brand feature, which details our project with venture capital firm, Superorganism.   

Our services include:

• Brand audit
• Research and audience definition
• Brand positioning and strategy
• Naming
• Voice and tone
• Messaging and copywriting
• Logo and brand identity design
• Visual and verbal identity systems
• Art direction
• Brand launch

We blend strategic clarity with strong creative execution, so your brand doesn’t just look good, it works.

3. Ask about timeline and process

Founders are busy. So is your creative team. Look for partners who can give you a clear, structured process—and stick to it.

At Goodside, most brand projects take 8-10 weeks from kickoff to final brand. A website or other specific launch assets can lengthen timelines from there. We typically book 1–2 months out, so it’s smart to get in touch early if you’re targeting a specific milestone or launch date.

Here’s a sample timeline from strategy through brand guidelines. 

Week 1: Kickoff & Orientation  

Week 2: Audience & Stakeholder Interviews 

Week 3: Brand Workshop

Week 4: Brand Positioning R1

Week 5: Brand Positioning Final

Week 6: Visual and Verbal Identity Working Week  

Week 7: Brand Identity R1

Week 8: Brand Identity R2

Week 9: Brand Guidelines & Handoff

After the brand is completed, we’ll begin designing and writing copy for any launch assets that you need to bring your brand into the world. 

4. Think about the long term

A brand isn’t just for launch day. It should grow with you over time, creating space for new products and ideas while staying true to who you are for at least 3-5 years. Your brand positioning acts as the foundation that supports all of that evolution and growth. On that foundation, we build flexible systems with practical use in mind, whether your next hire is a designer, a marketer, or it’s just you for the foreseeable future.

As you’re thinking about the right partner, we’d encourage you to ask yourself some forward-looking questions: Who will implement this brand after it’s handed off? What resources will I need internally, and what can I hire contractors for? We ask these questions during the scoping stage of every project to make sure that we’re designing a project plan and handoff that fits your unique team and needs.    

With that in mind, let’s talk about handoffs. While brand guidelines are great, static documents often leave in-house teams without the tools they need to practically apply their new system. In our handoffs, we prioritize creating templates and toolkits, complete with layered files, asset libraries, and prompt guidelines to use AI to your advantage.

The last thing we’ll say about long-term thinking is that design trends come and go. We’re all for  creating a modern look and feel, but we steer clear of creative trend chasing, as that’s a sure path to a stale brand. We’d encourage you to look around for brands that inspire you, but hold off on asking to replicate styles or trends. We think true originality stems from knowing exactly who you are and bringing your own specific flavor of authenticity into the world. So that’s what we’re here to do.  

5. Know what to expect for budget

There’s a wide range when it comes to branding costs, so it’s helpful to know what you’re comparing:

Freelancers might charge $10K–$30K for brand identity work. This can be a great option for a small scope or if you’re crystal-clear on strategy. What you gain in cost-efficiencies, you may lose in operational ones. Freelancers are typically their own project managers, which means you’ll want to be sure the person you pick is an organized and effective communicator. 

Larger agencies often start around $150K and can go well beyond that. You’ll get a big team, a polished process, and lots of hands on deck—but not always a flexible or personal experience. Having worked at larger agencies, our advice is to know which individual team members were behind your favorite projects. There’s a dynamic at larger agencies where senior creatives (the so-called A-team) will sell the project, but junior folks will be staffed on it. This can be a disappointing surprise, so best to come prepared. 

At Goodside, our projects typically range from $50K–$125K, depending on the scope. We’re intentionally small—so you get senior-level thinking, deep collaboration, and a custom approach that fits where you are now and where you’re headed. As Goodside’s founders, we work hands-on on every project, so you know exactly what, and who, you’re getting from the outset.   

We may be biased, but we see ourselves as the Goldilocks option: not too big, not too small, just right for early-stage teams who want to build something meaningful, strategic, and enduring. 

6. Consider personalities and values 

Budgets and timelines are important, but finding the right fit can be the difference between paying for an extra round of revisions, or blowing past your timeline due to misaligned expectations. Beyond the functional benefits of personality fit, there are also emotional ones. Brand is one of the most personal and delicate pieces of your business. You’ll be working with these people for a lot of hours over an extended period of time, probing into the sometimes-uncomfy depths of who you are as a business, and often by proxy, as a founder. Make sure to choose people who you feel confident are up for all of it—and who you want to hang out with, too. 

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Still looking for the right partner?

We’re based in Austin and San Francisco, and we work with teams across the US and globally. If you’re building something meaningful and want a brand that feels like it, let’s talk.

Reach out here or take a look at our past work.

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