As a hiring manager, I couldn't trust resumes. My team wasted so much time on screening calls, only to find the candidates weren't a match. There was no real proof-of-work, and with AI now writing resumes, the noise is just getting worse.
As a candidate, it was just as frustrating. My past work didn't help me get better roles; it felt like I was starting over every single time because my performance signals were buried in old company HR tools that no one could see.
I've always been on the personal brand side. More and more founders are building it now (sometimes even before the product is ready while it's still in development, before seed fundraising). The CEO builds their position so the product sells more easily at the official launch.
But I have experience with people who built the product, scaled it, and only then did we discover who was behind it.
Honestly, with the first approach, I'd be concerned that people invest more in me as a person than in the product. People would idealise the founder and overlook the product's flaws (which could hurt development and constructive feedback).
+ I noticed the most common mistake that many people who started building a personal brand first, connected their product to their personal accounts (emails, social media, etc.) and started having a problem selling these things, because they cannot "give someone keys" to their personal profiles.
