Entrepreneurs should stop creating personal IPs.
In the past two years, the topic of entrepreneurs and business owners building personal IPs has been quite popular. Since the year before last, I've simply called on entrepreneurs in my WeChat Moments, subscription accounts, and short - video platforms not to be overly obsessed with becoming internet celebrities or building personal IPs. However, I've never delved into this topic in detail. Today, I'd like to have an in - depth discussion. If you think what I say is wrong, you can leave your criticism in the comment section. If you find it reasonable, I hope it can bring you some inspiration and assistance.
01 The Story of an Internet - celebrity Entrepreneur
I once read a startup story that really struck a chord with me.
In 2016, an American entrepreneur named Trevor Milton became well - known. He was the founder of a hydrogen - fuel vehicle brand. Born into an ordinary American family and having dropped out of high school, he founded a brand called Nikola. The name was derived from the inventor Nikola Tesla, aiming to compete with Tesla. From the very start, it seemed to be full of showmanship and ambition.
Milton was particularly good at being in the spotlight. He held a highly anticipated press conference to launch a hydrogen - fuel cell truck and even claimed that he would surpass Elon Musk. He also said, "I want the world to remember my name." Both the capital market and the public were quickly attracted by his performance. In 2020, Milton, who had become the darling of the capital market and an internet celebrity, quickly took Nikola public through a reverse merger. Its market value once exceeded that of Ford Motor. During the market frenzy, Milton's personal net worth exceeded $8 billion.
However, the listing marked the peak and also the beginning of the collapse. After the listing, with more attention on the brand, people discovered a large amount of false advertising and fraud that had existed for a long time. In 2023, Milton was found guilty of three fraud charges, including false advertising and consumer fraud. Many people mockingly called Milton the "North American Jia Yueting." In February 2025, Nikola's stock price dropped to $0.667, on the verge of bankruptcy.
In this story, what struck me was how far a person could go astray in the process of building an IP in order to gain traffic for their startup. When behind the huge traffic lies a shabby reality that can no longer be supported by ability and luck, and when marketing crosses the line into fraud, does an entrepreneur still have a chance for a comeback?
Of course, this is a special story, and it may never happen to the entrepreneurs around us. But this story made me deeply think about internet - celebrity IPs, and I believe it can bring valuable inspiration to our business owners.
Perhaps due to traffic anxiety, many entrepreneurs are rushing to build their personal IPs. Many bosses are worried about missing this "traffic express" and are as anxious as ants on a hot pan. Becoming an "internet - celebrity boss" has become the ideal of many startup founders.
Don't be in a hurry. Let's break this down and see what the essence of this matter might be.
02 IP is not a Brand; IP has Become a Marketing Consumable
What is a personal brand? What is a personal IP? Let's clarify these two concepts first.
In my opinion, a personal brand is based on a person's long - term and continuous works, products, career, or deeds, which lead people to have positive content experiences of this person. These positive experiences could be trust, respect, recognition, etc. Long - term, continuous, and consistent delivery are the keys. It is the result of continuous alignment between knowledge and action, not aiming for short - term benefits. It is about accumulation, not consumption.
A personal IP, originally a symbol that should be continuously generated, has, in today's social media operation environment, become a traffic high - ground that can be established through deliberate operation and packaging in the short term. It can gain high popularity in a short period and is a marketing effect achieved by leveraging a person. The person becomes a carrier of marketing and is also called an "internet celebrity." With the manipulation of online emotions on the Internet, an IP also has a certain life cycle. Once the marketing wanes or there are cracks in the relationship with the public, the IP may become a marketing consumable to be discarded after use.
For a person to have both a personal brand and a personal IP, they need quite strong brand safety management ability and luck. Generally, a person with an established personal brand can occasionally act as a personal IP in the short term, but a mere personal IP cannot be transformed into a personal brand. Whether it's Ren Zhengfei or Steve Jobs, they are not personal IPs in today's sense but personal brands. After their companies grew, they would occasionally take on marketing responsibilities due to the companies' marketing needs, but overall, they didn't deliberately engage in IP - based operations.
What should entrepreneurs do? My view has always been: Entrepreneurs must build personal brands but should not and need not build personal IPs.
In the marketing - obsessed environment, the personal IP of entrepreneurs has become a marketing consumable, a "fast - moving traffic product." In the short term, it becomes a symbol chased by traffic, but it lacks long - term credibility. Like other marketing materials, its end result is to be discarded after use. Although it may bring some traffic and even sales in the short term, in the long run, using an entrepreneur's personal reputation as a marketing consumable is too costly and risky.
An entrepreneur's personal brand needs to be built bit by bit over a long time. It is attached to factors such as a wonderful product experience, a reliable corporate image, and the overall user perception of the product and the brand. It is formed through various presentation methods. An entrepreneur's personal brand is one of the most important assets of a company. Entrepreneurs should not be put in the spotlight as marketing materials or commercial consumables. Using an entrepreneur's credibility to undertake the task of a marketing material and feeding the insatiable traffic black hole is like drinking poison to quench thirst.
03 The Time Cost of Entrepreneurs Building Personal IPs is Not Worthwhile
Once, an entrepreneur friend asked me how he could quickly become an internet - celebrity founder. I asked him a question: How much time are you willing to invest in this?
He said: I can ask my team to do it simply during my spare time from work.
I asked him: Why do you think your team can outperform full - time self - media bloggers and MCN companies with a simple effort?
He said: Then I can invest a bit more time.
I said: What does "a bit more" mean? Which part of your original time are you going to sacrifice?
Actually, what I wanted to say is that an entrepreneur's energy and time are precious assets of the company. They should be used for more important things such as strategic decision - making, product development, and team management, rather than spending huge costs on building personal IPs and competing head - on with many professional self - media and internet - celebrity IP teams, consuming a large amount of human, financial, and material resources to do things that entrepreneurs may not be good at. Just in terms of time and energy costs, it's not worth it.
Moreover, the content planning and production of an entrepreneur's personal IP are quite difficult. The positioning of a personal IP will inevitably waver between authenticity and inauthenticity. At the same time, it especially tests the balance between an entrepreneur's authenticity and public performance, and is restricted by human nature and social expectations. In this constant wavering and dilemma, if an entrepreneur exposes themselves frequently according to the rhythm of IP creation, it's hard for them to avoid making mistakes.
Quickly launching an entrepreneur's personal IP from scratch means a large amount of exposure for the entrepreneur, which requires the support of operations, topics, and events. This means that the company needs to invest a large amount of human, financial, and material resources, as well as the entrepreneur's time, energy, and mental effort. It also inevitably involves some entertainment, exposure, and hype. Such operations may pose risks of over - exposure and over - exploitation of the entrepreneur's existing personal influence, personal brand, and even the corporate brand.
Some people say that it's a last - resort for founders, especially those of early - stage projects, to build personal IPs. When there are no resources, no people, and no money, having traffic is better. This is actually a typical "escapist" mindset, thinking that having traffic solves everything. If you observe such entrepreneurs, you'll often find that after getting some traffic, they don't take the time to build other aspects of the company. Instead, they end up like self - media people. Maybe, from the very beginning, what they really wanted was to be self - media people.
The greatest contribution of an entrepreneur lies in running the company well and establishing a well - known corporate brand. The company comes first, and the entrepreneur comes second. They should work selflessly and appear where the company needs them most. Some people may think that what the company needs most now is traffic, sales channels, and financing, which can all be solved by "becoming famous." In fact, such an idea may be an evasion of other responsibilities as an entrepreneur.
Does it mean that entrepreneurs can't spend any time on external speeches at all? Of course not.
A company needs the most efficient allocation of resources. When the company needs the entrepreneur to stand up, they should. They can be the spokesperson in the professional field, the breaker - through in the face of a crisis, and the expert and leader leading the industry. But they shouldn't follow the trend and stand out in the form of a personal IP. When an early - stage company needs the entrepreneur to spend a lot of time polishing products, building the organization, and thinking about strategies, they really don't have much time to be in the spotlight. They need to work hard behind the scenes, fight for the company, and integrate into the brand.
04 Inspiring the Whole Team for Corporate Marketing May be a Better Way
However, in today's era of traffic, we can't just keep silent and go against the trend of the times, right?
Of course not.
Actually, apart from entrepreneurs building their personal IPs, there is a more reliable and more fundamental path, which is to fulfill the real mission of an entrepreneur: to inspire the power of all employees in the company, arouse their goodwill and fighting spirit, and make the company a powerful marketing - driven organization in the new era.
From managers to employees, everyone has the desire and ability to express content and convey information. Whether people trust this company depends on whether the employees trust it. If this trust is passed on, it may be more convincing.
Once, I saw someone in a group sharing about a brand's team (seemingly "Qiutian Manman"). Every member of this team used live - streaming to share content on the Internet at any time. At an exhibition, they all sat on the ground, with a live - streaming phone in front of each of them. This kind of "cluster - bomb" - like marketing method may be the most powerful way in the future. (Note that it's not just forcing everyone to share in form but really guiding those with content - creation ability in the organization to develop the habit of creating content.)
After all, the essence of a brand is to convey more information about the company to those who need it. The messenger can be the "company" itself, and the company is an organization composed of individuals.
If an entrepreneur truly clarifies the company's direction and strategy, truly maximally arouses the goodwill of employees, truly leads everyone to understand the value of marketing, and truly helps everyone master marketing methods, and if everyone makes this a daily routine, they will develop the habit of keeping the organization's information constantly online, rather than leaving the entrepreneur's personal IP fluttering alone in the wind. Such marketing is long - lasting, organized, and sustainable.
Conclusion
I didn't have a particularly strong opinion for or against entrepreneurs building IPs before. But recently, I've felt the need to discuss this topic. I'm increasingly aware that the line between today's IPs and the personal brands we talk about is becoming clearer. We should distinguish this essential difference together and have a clearer understanding of the investment and cost of building personal IPs.
To truly build credibility and a long - standing business, it doesn't rely on performances that satisfy personal heroism or the excitement and noise created by short - term traffic. Today, corporate brands are trapped in the traffic traps set by commercial platforms. For entrepreneurs, maybe they should stay sober and take a step back to view the problem.
Trading a lifetime of credibility for short - term traffic may be the most expensive trap in the business world.
This article is from the WeChat official account "Li Qian on Brands", written by Li Qian on Brands, and is published by 36Kr with permission.