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Brand Strategy and Designing Demand for Startups

9.3

(4 ratings)

·

2 Weeks

·

Cohort-based Course

What first-time founders and marketing teams need to know about how to position and design brands that unlock growth.

Hosted by

Pete Sena

Entrepreneur, advisor, and investor to leading startups & high-growth brands.

Course overview

Building a Great Brand is Your Catalyst for Building a Great Business

Your story is your strategy. How you express it matters. Most people think brand doesn’t matter, but branding is the single greatest thing you can use to position your business to win customers, attract talent, and grow.

Who is this course for:

01

First-time founders and entrepreneurs who want to learn the frameworks and ingredients for codifying and building their vision and brand

02

Marketers who want to understand how to implement BrandDNA™

as a key ingredient to strengthening their marketing skill sets

03

Sales, marketing, and business leaders who want to craft a strong brand and marketing strategy to unlock fast growth

Steal the Skills & Frameworks to Define and Grow Your Brand

Learn the building blocks that winning brands and startups leverage to attract customers and drive sales

Our BrandDNA™ framework has been taught, applied, and used to win by first-time founders, Brand CEOS, and business leaders all over the world. Get your hands on the examples, tools, and templates you can use for growing your brand

Understand the specific steps and exercises to position and differentiate your brand

Ever wonder what lasting brands and high-growth SaaS products do that attract investors, talent, and customers? In this course, we'll deconstruct and share the winning playbooks and ingredients you can apply the same skills to win more

Learn how to audit your brand ecosystem to convert prospects into customers

Audit your total brand experience with a step-by-step guide and supporting examples to enable faster scale and growth

9.3

(4 ratings)

Don’t just take my word for it. See what other people have to say on how this framework designed demand for their business success

        Pete is a brilliant entrepreneurial marketer with true passion for insights, design and innovation. Having the chance to work closely with Pete is a rewarding experience, as he always brings in an additional and interesting perspective, that helps to push the limits and results.
Eugenio Perrier

Eugenio Perrier

CMO for Fortune 500 CPG Brands
        Naboso has experienced pivotal growth since working with Pete and his team at Digital Surgeons. I attribute much of that growth to the powerful team of marketing masterminds, and brand strategists. Going through this program truly transformed how we approach growing our business.
Dr. Emily Splichal

Dr. Emily Splichal

CEO, NABOSO TECHNOLOGY
        I've invested in and built many companies but never fully appreciated the value and power of branding until working with Pete and his team on launching my latest venture. Pete cuts past the boring theories to get down to the essence of building brands that unlock traction and growth. I wish I had this class and information 10 years ago.
Michael Fensterstock

Michael Fensterstock

Founder, HUUE Cannabis
        Pete has a unique gift of seeing his way to the bottom of things, and the curiosity to move around it, get a fundamental understanding and see the way forward from there. His approach to branding and marketing is unlike any I've experienced before.
Andy Greenawalt

Andy Greenawalt

FOUNDER & CEO, STORYHUB. 2X Exited Founder
        Pete has a supernatural ability to unlock creativity within anyone willing to ask. He was the 1st person to see that I was capable of starting my own business & showed me the tools I could use to make it become a reality. Any access to his knowledge (like this course!) is worth its weight in gold.
Rochelle Ellis

Rochelle Ellis

Founder, Coachima
        One of the best things in having Pete be our entrepreneur in residence is learning hands-on how he and his teams build brands. His thinking has transformed how we position, brand and build our business.
Ryan Gresh

Ryan Gresh

CEO, The FEELGOOD Lab
        I serendipitously met Pete right as I was in the concepting phases of building my startup. His BrandDNA™ methodology changed everything for me–not just in the way I approach and understand branding, but with an actionable out-of-the-box set of exercises and personal advisory that allowed me to finally make my dream a reality.
Alyssa Callahan

Alyssa Callahan

Founder THRIVE & TINY LOOPS
        Pete has that rare, innate sense of 'getting it.' He is able to understand a founder's vision as it relates to brand and marketing. He is able to put words to it, strategize it, and give a clear-cut roadmap for making it happen.
Hayley Segar

Hayley Segar

Founder at onewith Swimwear.
        In order to create something truly revolutionary, one needs to be completely emotionally vested in the creation of their brand. And that is exactly what I got from Pete and his team at Digital Surgeons. I truly felt I wasn’t in it alone – I couldn’t ask for anything more.
Sal Syed

Sal Syed

Founder & CEO, Arccos Golf
        Pete is a creative, passionate leader who always brings a design-first approach to solving problems and building brands. He’s brilliant you'll get a TON of value from this course.
Bob Ruffolo

Bob Ruffolo

Founder & CEO of Impact
        This program helped me to take what was once just a goal that I had taped to a vision board and turn it into a profitable and thriving business. Pete helped me to articulate my "why" and understand my audience, my competition, and express my unique value so that I could position Venn as an approachable, transparent, and knowledgable player
Jaime Laufer

Jaime Laufer

Founder at VENN
        As a female entrepreneur, I was immensely impressed with Pete’s ability to inclusively identify and target our unique audience of pet lovers. He was able to identify things we had not previously noticed as a team, and bring fresh ideas and solutions. Pete and his team transformed our company’s message into something that we are incredibly proud of!
Dr. Dani McVety

Dr. Dani McVety

Founder & CEO of Lap of Love Veterinary Hospice
        Peter is inspiring. I leave every conversation with him on any subject more interested and passionate about that subject than when we started. He is a brilliant and courageous creative thinker, and an expert on everything related to branding, product design and global commerce.
Kris Green

Kris Green

Founder & CEO of Localised. 2X exit Founder.
        Pete is not only a wealth of knowledge but he’s an extremely hands on advisor who goes above and beyond to see you succeed. He’s helped us tremendously in the areas of strategic marketing, CTO vetting, pitch deck, fundraising, and overall company growth strategies.
Alain Merville

Alain Merville

CEO/FOUNDER, YOUSICPLAY

Meet your instructor:

Pete Sena

Pete Sena

Entrepreneur, Investor, Founder Coach

Pete Sena is a creative entrepreneur and forward-obsessed business builder. Pete bootstrapped an idea in his college dorm room into Digital Surgeons, an award-winning brand experience design consultancy that works with leading startups and brands all over the world.


Pete partners with founders and business leaders to craft stories and experiences that unlock sales through marketing innovation, branding, and digital-experience design.

Pete is a self-taught designer/engineer with over 17 years as a brand-builder and marketer. Join Pete as he shares all the things he wish he knew when he first got started.

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Course schedule:

4-6 hours per week for 2 weeks

  • Session 1: Introduction to BrandDNA™

    November 8th - 11:00am - 1:00pm EST

    Introduce the building blocks of effective branding and the BrandDNA™ framework

  • Session 2: How to Articulate Your Brand Essence

    November 10th - 11:00am - 1:00pm EST

    The most profound visions and missions are the ones that can be succinctly articulated, and delivered with conviction. We start by you codifying your brand’s “why” and find the perfect intersection of purpose, position, and value proposition that speaks to your core customer

  • Session 3: How to Craft your Brand Expression

    November 15th - 11:00am - 1:00pm EST

    How you articulate your visual identity, message, and experience. From your pitch deck to your website, we'll discuss and explore how you can plug into your customer's mindset and sensibilities to craft a brand that moves people to action

  • Session 4: Put It All Together to Build Your Brand Ecosystem

    November 17th - 11:00am - 1:00pm EST

    Together you will take everything you've learned and make sure you have the feedback, tools and direction to move forward

  • Weekly Project Assignments

    2 - 3 hours per week

    In addition to the live cohorts you'll also spend at least an additional 2 hours a week filling out your BrandDNA™ workbook, a set of exercises for capturing your brand's essence, expression, and ecosystem. Whether you are starting from scratch or refining something already

  • Choose Your Own Adventure!

    With office hours, direct access to your instructor via Q&A at the end of every session, and Loom videos you will be able to dive deeper on the topics while getting the feedback you need to advance your branding and marketing journey.

Learning is better with cohorts

Learning is better with cohorts

Active hands-on learning

This course will use a combination of live workshops and hands-on actionable toolkits that will help you build your brand and level up your branding and marketing skills to design demand and growth.

Connect and learn with other founders and marketers like you

You’ll be interacting with other learners through breakout rooms and project teams. You'll get real-world feedback from peers and expert instructors to supercharge your brand development process

Learn with a cohort of peers and expert instructors

Join a community of like-minded founders and business professionals who want to learn and grow alongside you. This course is taught by an award-winning Brand Experience designer and creative entrepreneur.

Frequently Asked Questions:

What happens if I can’t make a live session?
I work full-time, what is the expected time commitment?
What’s the refund policy?
Can I get my company to pay for this?

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Brand Strategy and Designing Demand for Startups

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