The Brand Equation
Posts
The key to valuable brands

The key to valuable brands

The brands that scale past $1B all have one thing in common

Lauryn Warnick
September 03, 2025

Hey there,

I’ve been noticing something in a lot of exec team conversations lately: everyone wants brand value, but most are making it way harder (and way murkier) than it needs to be.

That’s actually why I started Villain. After a decade+ of working with companies at their make-or-break growth phases — IPOs, acquisitions, GTM pivots — I realized that the brands that come out stronger all have one thing in common:

They run on two engines. Strategy and Story. Everything else is just theater.

Here’s the difference:

Strategy isn’t about being “better.” It’s about being different. Too many companies get stuck in the out-feature, out-price, out-market hamster wheel. I hear “yeah, but that competitor can’t really deliver that well.” or “But our people are better.” or “Ok, but our product is better.” That’s not a strategy that’s…just doing good work. The real value lives in the whitespace — the places your competitors are too timid to go.
Story is how you claim that space. It’s actually part of the thinking behind our name: while you’re the hero in your own story, if you’re good enough, you’re the villain in someone else’s. Your success will make somebody nervous. Your innovation will make somebody obsolete. The question is: are you willing to own it?

The most valuable brands don’t try to blend in. They:

Choose who they’re the villain to. They find their enemy.
Use strategy to find their whitespace. They choose the opportunity they want to go after.
Use story to own it. They are clear, consistent, and loud about it all.
Measure how well it’s working….or not.

That’s exactly what we do at Villain: help leaders stop playing it safe, ditch the vanilla positioning, and turn their brand into an engine for revenue, sales, and growth.

So here’s a quick gut-check:

Does your current positioning make anyone uncomfortable? Does it challenge assumptions? If not… you might be blending in more than you think.

I’d be happy to share a few behind-the-scenes examples of how we’ve used Strategy + Story to help companies just like yours own their space. My kids are back in school today (hooray!!), so I’ve got time next week if you’re curious.

Either way, try asking yourself: Who are we willing to make uncomfortable in service of our mission?