The ROI of Being Remembered: three ways to keep the conversation going.

ExecBrand Authority (EBA) is proud to work with the VentureSouth community. Whether you are building your first brand or sharpening one you have had for years, here is where to start.

The takeaway

Brand belongs in the primary lane.

Brand is a strategic activity that accelerates revenue, which is why it earns a place among the big rocks. A leader who is known and trusted gets talent that says yes, capital that comes more easily, and risk that is reduced, because one leader's credibility is felt by every stakeholder they answer to.

Who we are

EBA builds executive brands that drive measurable business value.

What executives ask for is a book, a whitepaper, a website, or a podcast. What they want is to be known as a leader with a differentiated point of view and a specific problem they solve better than anyone else.

We work with founders, CEOs and executives whose expertise has outgrown their reputation.

Start here

Three ways to get a read on your business, all of them free.

The EBA Index

A short assessment that scores how your executive brand shows up to buyers, candidates and the AI tools they ask first. Takes about five minutes, and you get your score right away.

Take the Index

A private briefing with Donald Thompson

We research your company first, evaluate your digital presence, and walk you through where your authority gaps are. No cost, no prep required, and you are welcome to bring your leadership team.

Growth Gears with Anka Twum-Baah

Anka is an EBA client, a CMO at Chief Outsiders and the founder of Cherith Venture Group. Her Growth Gears assessment scores your readiness to scale and shows you where the friction is.

Take the assessment

From the session

Takeaways worth repeating to your colleagues

Leaders run in three lanes

Every leader has more priorities than capacity, and where something sits decides whether it ever gets done. Primary is the three to five big rocks: revenue, product, the raise, key hires. Secondary gets attention when there is room. Tertiary is the work everyone agrees matters and nobody ever resources. Brand has been sitting in the wrong lane.

Structure beats volume

When a buyer asks an AI tool about your field, the answer comes back as a shortlist, and you are either on it or you are not. What puts you there is how your thinking is structured: FAQs on your site, a page devoted to each signature idea, podcast episodes transcribed and posted, and no gates on your best material.

The numbers behind it

Nearly three quarters of B2B buyers trust thought leadership more than a company's own sales materials, and 60 percent say they will pay a premium for it. Another 60 percent of prospective hires study a CEO's social media before they take the job. Sources: Edelman and LinkedIn, 2024, and Brunswick Group, 2022.

"The best founders I know are underestimated for one reason. Nobody has written down what they built."
Donald Thompson, Executive Chair, ExecBrand Authority