There's lots of ways to borrow from replicable models and platforms.  

Photo by me... shot on location at a carnival near the border of Mexico close to McAllen, Texas.

But when it comes to your brand's voice, it's something you need to own.

Literally.

Figuratively.  

It makes a difference in the context of the value of your brand.

Startups are creating a new future, that in many cases are really signals of what's next.

Story telling, and your vision of what's next can be a great insight to the media and your being a source for thought leadership.

If you're seeing something new, share your vision in simple to read English on your startup's blog.

Articulate what you are seeing in a language that's easily sourceable and most of all, quoteable.

One thing I have learned from the startups I have worked with in Israel is that by and large, they are export oriented.  

It's not a case of shipping goods overseas.  These companies are not shipping product.  They are writing code that solves new problems and creates new market opportunities.   It's about been discovered, found, and shared -- worldwide.

I am seeing the same thing happen in Chile.  In Russia.  In Singapore.  

Startups are everywhere.  

Ignoring borders.

Language is not an issue.  

Currency goes go away when your goal is to amass thousands, and hundreds of thousands and millions of users.  

The currencies of community has an exchange rate that's not governed by the IMF.

Your "competition" is no longer in New York, Austin, or Palo Alto.  It's in Tel Aviv, Mumbai, or maybe Moscow. 

The U.S. market is certainly huge, but don't forget:  chances are, there are at least five other startups kind-of-sort-of doing what you are doing.  

If they are overseas, chances are, they have an export oriented mindset in place, and so should you.

No matter how many mentors, Angels, and consultants you have cheering you on in the process of trying to figure out how to take your startup's team’s big idea and bringing it to market, you still need some type of general framework to guide you along in the process.   

That's what author, Ash Maurya, delivers in O’Reilly Publishing’s Lean Series,“Running Lean.”

Running Lean:  Great reading material for air travel.  Read and re-read as you reiterate.

By its title, I kept thinking of a long distance runner navigating through a jungle of uncertainty, surprises, and even evil creatures (yes, we have them in the startup world) who could eat you for startup-lunch, or throw you off the course of reaching your goal of getting to market.

Maurya does not lecture from the classroom with bullshit theory.   His stuff is real, easy to read and very methodical. Much of the book is based on his own experiences in creating his own startup.

He artfully took his experience and put into a framework that brings discipline and routine to a world that is largely uncertain, unforgiving, and recognizes that being lucky is really ok.

You’d be wise to read and re-read this book two to three times a year as a group exercise, taking stock of where you are, fine tuning your Lean Canvas and increasing your team’s chances of success.

While aimed at startups, corporate America (are you listening?) would be wise to embrace Maurya’s principles and methodologies as they re-tool existing business units or are in the process of creating new ones.

Make stops like the technology and entrepreneur sections of Forbes part of your weekly reading routine.  

Follow people like Larry Downes who covers the subject of disruption. 

He may or may not be a good fit for your pitch, but his writing will get you thinking.

Don't think about your technology, your platform, your service, but what is it about your company that is positively disrupting the marketplace you are serving, trying to create, or discovering as you go through your next pivot.

Reading content such as Larry's is aimed at getting you to cast a wider net and help you become a better story teller.

Today in Tel Aviv, I gave a presentation to a group of friends and associates of Jeff Pulver's startup ecosystem in Israel.

The premise of this presentation is NOT to do PR, but how to prepare your company for PR, how to be found by the media and how to make PR and strategic communications part of the R&D process.

Roundtable Communities bills itself as being about empowering meaningful conversations between thought leaders, friends and curated communities of strangers.   

This is not a news site.  It's a conversation platform where some pretty deep thinkers get together and talk amongst themselves on specific subjects. 

I see it as a great way to listen in on conversations that are taking place in the areas of Online Communities, Designing for Startups, and the Future of Professional Blogging, the Startup Funding Landscape. 

As a startup, you'd be well advised to chime in periodically and listen into what's on the minds on subjects and issues that could impact your company's success.

The purpose of gaining coverage on sites like CNET, TechCrunch, Mashable, The Next Web are not only to create buzz for your startup, but to gain what I call a cascading effect.

A burst of coverage on the sites covering startups, have the cascading effect of related coverage in your vertical markets.

Photo shot on the 4th of July at South Padre Island by me.

Serving the financial services market?  You have the opportunity to cascade related coverage in.... you guessed it the financial services related vertical media. Disrupting broadcast media?  Ditto.  And so on...

Think Beyond Just Buzz

It's nice to break your story in places like these.  

Journalists and bloggers who cover specific vertical markets look to these sites for story ideas.

Think of these sites for launching your company.  

Think of the vertical markets for generating deal flow, partnerships, funding and sales.