Brand, a critical asset for startup exits
The Spanish startup market saw 53 exits worth more than 1 billion euros in 2023. These operations, in which the founding team sells part of a company or takes it public, have always been a major challenge. We know it firsthand because Soluble was born in the digital ecosystem and we've accompanied dozens of tech companies. And we're also clear that, until a few years ago, these kinds of challenges were easier to overcome if you had a great product. However, in the current circumstances—marked by abundant supply, lower demand, and fierce competition—it's necessary to rise above the red ocean. Achieving it is possible, and most importantly easier, thanks to brand. In this edition of Solublabla, we break down the whys.
Squeezing brand value
Brand equity is the value that people assign to a brand and the value it brings to a company's overall offering. Having a brand is not necessary: it's inevitable. So if it's not built strategically, operational decisions will be the ones defining the image transmitted outward.
A conscious strategy, on the other hand, helps an organization stay cohesive and meet its business objectives. At this point, it becomes clear that it's an essential asset for being relevant and generating preference in the market. And for investment too.
Acquiring a startup with strong brand equity is securing trust connections between potential customers and the product. Going beyond to offer a complete experience, full of nuance.
Stand out and reduce uncertainty
In other words: a solid brand helps you stand out from competitors. An excellent digital product, paired with a brand that hasn't been established, can be far less attractive than a good product amplified by strong branding. Getting the best of both worlds is something we specialize in. Making good companies look as good as they actually are.
Operationally, this capability proves useful even in negotiation processes: strategy clarifies what needs to be communicated, and identity adds an extra layer that strengthens the narrative. When weighing two exit opportunities, brand can tip the scales.
Logical, considering less risk is projected. Much of the industry is convinced that you don't invest in ideas, but in people. So if we design strategies based on what a successful team already is, already does, and could do, plus their most essential motivations, the odds of success multiply.
Ensuring scalability and sustainability
Once the exit has happened, an authentic and effective brand makes scaling processes simpler, once again making the product more attractive across every stage of the funnel. It's easier to find alternative markets, launch new products, or explore innovative business lines. The experience remains consistent across all touchpoints, even as new ones emerge.
Of course, costs are reduced and resources are optimized, by developing actions and working the channels that really drive growth or ensure sustainability.
Attract and retain talent
An exit creates a moment of doubt and uncertainty within the team. Even if it doesn't affect day-to-day operations, the questions that start to emerge could damage certain relationships in the short, medium, and long term.
Having a clear purpose and ensuring people are aligned with it helps connect with the future. To understand that these kinds of operations are moments of transition to fulfill the goal that drives the company.
This is an effective way to retain talent, but the brand—which contributes to positioning, to surfacing rational and emotional attributes—has the potential to attract it and strengthen the organization's capabilities at a moment that demands efficient performance.
Close and recent cases
In recent years we've witnessed two international exits. The first of them is Declarando, the leading software for advisory and accounting for Spanish freelancers.
Alongside them, we worked to develop a brand strategy and identity that would let them speak directly to their audience about what matters. We helped them showcase the clarity they bring to the market. Showing that they speak to the self-employed professional (a concept that goes beyond the freelancer) across all sectors. Speaking in gerund form to convey real power. In April 2022, the acquisition by Visma, a Norwegian technology group aspiring to empower people by simplifying and automating complex processes, was announced.
Precisely, this same Nordic giant acquired Quaderno, a solution seeking peace of mind. How? By automating the management of taxes that an online business pays in each country. They came to Soluble to align the brand with their evolved reality, drive higher-quality traffic to their website, and boost conversion. With these fundamentals, we defined an identity—verbal and visual—warm and approachable. We then translated that universe into a new, functional and practical website. We even brought Qoodle to life, the doodle that embodies the brand's personality, easing the tone of the information to deliver that peace of mind.
After its rebranding, this organization joined a conglomerate that provides them with resources and expertise to establish themselves as one of the world's leading references in this sector.
A decisive factor
We work from strategy to generate authentic, congruent, and scalable identities that help brands endure. We do it because we understand brands as a key business asset that fulfills objectives and purposes. We do it because brand is a strategic necessity capable of shaping and determining a company's future.
