As CEO of Iconify Consulting Group and a PhD scholar in personal branding, I help enterprises and leaders leverage LinkedIn as a strategic channel to build distribution. 

My work sits at the intersection of Personal, Corporate and Executive branding and GTM (through LinkedIn).

I’ve partnered with 270+ leaders across YC, Fortune 500, Nasdaq, Inc. 5000, Silicon Valley, and Wall Street; recognized as an award-winning LinkedIn creator and ranked among top voices in LinkedIn personal branding worldwide. 

I love sharing my insights and have delivered executive sessions at IITs, IIMs and top B schools, drawing on 14,000+ mentees and five years operating LinkedIn as an enterprise channel. 

Featured in various national and international publications like: The Business Times (US), The Economic Times, NDTV, Hindustan Times, India Today, CEO Review Magazine, Money control etc.

Open to consulting, advisory and brand collaborations.

Email: mishka.rana@iconifyconsultinggroup.com

MISHKA RANA

If you think sharing your story is 'cringe' or 'promotional, read this story about my client. It will change your entire perspective on 'bragging’.

He has one of the most incredible "Zero to One" journeys I’ve ever seen.

• Landed in London from India with $0 in his pocket.

• Built a tech empire from scratch.

• Took his company public on the Nasdaq. (twice)

He wanted visibility in the industry and attract investors. 

But when I told him, "We need to share your story" he froze.

He looked at me and said: "It feels promotional. It’s too vague. People will laugh. Who cares about my struggle?"

This is the "Humility Trap" that kills more opportunities than bad markets do. 

He thought sharing his journey was "bragging." I knew it was Risk Mitigation for investors.

It took weeks of convincing. But we finally hit "Post."

We didn't just write a "success post." We engineered a Trust Narrative:

1. The Hook: 
We anchored it in his "Day 1" vulnerability ($0 in pocket), not his "Day 1000" success.

2. The Middle:
We highlighted the cultural nuance of being an immigrant founder in London (connecting two massive markets).

3. The End: 
We framed the NASDAQ win not as a destination, but as "Validation of Grit."

He thought people would roll their eyes.

But it blewwww up! It didn't just go viral. It exploded.

1 Million+ Impressions.
Thousands of comments from ex-colleagues in India, mentors from the US, and peers in London.

But here is the "Magic" metric:
8 to 10 qualified Investors slid into his DMs within 48 hours.

They didn't ask for a pitch deck. They said: "I read your story and I’d love to invest in your startup. Can we talk?"

Not just that he was bombarded with job applications from top talents. 

Never underestimate the power of storytelling (on LinkedIn)!  

The Lesson:

You think your story is "promotional." The market sees it as Context.

You think your struggle is "weakness." Investors see it as Proof of Work.

In 2026, capital is abundant, but Trust is scarce.

When you share your journey, you aren't bragging. You are building a Context Moat that separates you from every generic AI pitch in the pile.

The world is ready to listen. 

Have you ever held back a win because you were afraid of looking "promotional"?


#FounderStories #NASDAQ #PersonalBranding #InvestorRelations #Entrepreneurship #Storytelling

CEO & Chief Storyteller @ICG | LinkedIn Thought Leadership + Personal Branding for Founders & C-Suites | B2B LinkedIn Marketing | Trusted by Nasdaq, Silicon Valley & YC Leaders

No alternative text description for this image

my first office ever. firsts are always special ❤️

it’s been an year here and tomorrow we’re starting next chapter - at a new space. 

Iconify Consulting Group (ICG)

#founderlife #entrepreneurship

I removed 1648 LinkedIn connections over past few months and tbh it feels great. 

(as a distribution decision.)

most people treat their network like a vanity metric. 

more connections, more optionality. 
that logic breaks once you’re building something serious.

here’s why this matters:

linkedin doesn’t distribute content evenly to all your connections.

it tests your post with a small slice of your network first. 

that initial cohort decides whether your thinking travels or dies quietly.

if that early audience is full of:

– inactive profiles
– people from chapters of your life you’ve outgrown
– random sales bots or recruiters from years ago
– or people who no longer care about what you do

the outcome is predictable: low early engagement → weak signal → reduced distribution.

it’s not that your content is bad, but the room is wrong.

we tested this with a founder client last quarter.

he had ~28,000 followers and consistently low engagement (around 80-100 likes per post). 

we didn’t change his content, positioning, or posting cadence. 
we changed the audience.

over three weeks, we removed roughly 3,000 inactive or irrelevant connections.

result:
average reach increased ~45% in the first month.

same posts. different initial audience. completely different outcome.

—> if you want to do this properly, here’s a simple filter that doesn’t burn bridges:

• people who pitched once and never engaged again

• industries you no longer serve or want visibility from

• profiles with no visible activity in years (they aren’t seeing your posts anyway)

• cleanup every 6 months to keep your network aligned. 
or a deeper reset once or twice a year makes sense when your role, market, or priorities change.

and honestly, prevention matters more than pruning.

a simple rule i’ve been following: i don’t accept a connection if any one of these is true

• i can’t tell what they do in 5 seconds
• they’re outside the industry i’m building for
• their profile shows no recent thinking or activity
• our only interaction would be transactional
• i wouldn’t want my content tested on them

that one filter does more for long-term growth than deleting hundreds later.

think of your network less as an audience size and more as an initial distribution layer.

1,500 active, relevant connections >>>  15,000 passive ones


#network #linkedin #algorithm #linkedingrowth #linkedinstrategy

LinkedIn just removed thousands of "Top Voice" badges worldwide.

and honestly, this is the best thing that could happen for the platform.

I’ve been receiving messages all day: "where did my Top Voice badge go?" or "why did this influencer lose theirs?"

here’s the inside scoop on what changed:

till 2025: the blue badge felt like a lifetime achievement award. once you got it, you kept it.

in 2026: under the new policy, the badge is now a 6-month renewable license.

linkedin is conducting strict quarterly reviews to check for "active authority."

who got cut?

mostly "legacy" holders who drifted from their original niche or took breaks longer than 2 weeks. 

my clients held onto theirs because we didn't treat the badge as a trophy. we treated it as a job and stuck to a strict strategy that the editorial team loves:

if you are targeting the blue badge (or trying to protect yours), here is the new standard:p


1/ the "2-week" rule

consistency is the primary filter. my analysis shows that creators who took breaks longer than 14 days were the first to be flagged by the system .

-> commit to posting 2-3x weekly. if you go on holiday, schedule your content. silence is viewed as "dormancy."


2/ stop drifting, stay vertical

the editorial team awards badges for specific expertise (e.g., "finance," not "general motivation").

-> audit your last 10 posts. if more than 3 are generic "life advice" or off-topic, you are diluting your signal. pivot back to your core niche immediately.


3/ optimize for "humans"

linkedin is training its editors to spot AI-generated stuff. if your post sounds like a generic summary, it gets marked as low-quality.

-> the fix: use data visuals, screenshots, or personal stories. "lived context" is the only thing that proves you are a human expert, not a prompting expert.


4/ the "reply" ratio

top voices are expected to spark discussion, not just broadcast.

-> don’t post and ghost. spend 15 minutes replying to comments. the algorithm is now weighing "conversation depth" as a key metric for badge retention.


5/ kill the "pods" & engagement bait

this is where most creators got burned. 

if you have 500 likes but they all come from the same "support group" (pod) or if your posts rely on cheap hooks like "agree?" to inflate numbers, you are out.

-> stop forcing the algorithm
50 genuine comments >  5,000 artificial likes
organic resonance is the only metric that counts for the badge.

the only takeaway you need is: build for the "editorial standard” not the badge

#linkedinnews #topvoice #personalbranding #expert #futureofwork

I have deep respect for anyone who walks into Shark Tank India  

presenting your life’s work on national television, knowing you could be rejected, questioned, or misunderstood, takes a kind of courage most people never experience. entrepreneurship looks glamorous from the outside. it’s anything but that on the inside.

yesterday, one moment from the episode stayed with me.

Ravi Gupta carried years of sacrifice with him. selling family gold.
mortgaging his house.
putting his family’s security on the line just to stay alive.

watching that wasn’t "inspiring" in the typical feel-good way. it was heavy.
because this is what building actually demands, long before it ever rewards.

he didn’t walk away with a cheque.
but that’s the part people fixate on too much.

what made that moment meaningful was the response from aman and mohit.
they didn’t just say "no." they shared context, lived experience, and a roadmap.
capital is fuel. but direction is what keeps you from burning it.
this is why shark tank india matters.

over the last few years, it has quietly done something revolutionary: it made entrepreneurship visible.
it’s something families watch together now. women, kids, first-time founders. "equity" and "gross margin" are now dinner table conversations, not just boardroom jargon.


2025 has been a bloodbath for startups.
the "growth-at-all-costs" era is dead. efficiency, clarity, and credibility are the new non-negotiables.

and yet, founders are still showing up.
still putting their stories, their mistakes, and their hopes on the line.
that resilience deserves to be seen.

shark tank india airs at 8 pm on sony liv. 
worth watching, especially if you’re building.


#sharktankindia #entrepreneurship #founderstory #startups #funding

My clients run $50M+ companies. 
they do not write their own LinkedIn posts. and honestly? they shouldn't.

if you are a CEO/CXO, your hourly rate is likely $1,000+.

and if you see a CEO running a $50M+ company, raising a Series B, and managing 200 employees... and they are also posting perfectly formatted, high-level thought leadership every morning at 8 AM?

they have a system.

there’s a misconception: most people think "Ghostwriting" is about faking it.
it’s not. it’s about leverage.

when a CEO gives a keynote speech, they don't set up the chairs or adjust the microphone. 
they just show up and deliver the message.

your LinkedIn presence should work the exact same way.

the exact 30-Minute System we install for busy founders to publish 4x a week:

we operate like Biographers.

1/ before we write a single word, we study the human.

• we binge their old podcast appearances.
• we analyze their sales call recordings.
• we study their email syntax.

we map their "Lexicon Fingerprint"—the specific words they use, the way they structure arguments, the pauses they take.

if they say "folks" instead of "people," we know it. 
if they hate the word "synergy," we never use it.

2/ we don't nag them for ideas daily.
we send a Strategic Questionnaire: heavy, deep, and specific.
they answer it once (or we record a call), and we extract weeks of content from the nuance of their answers.

3/ what happens when industry news breaks? w have a "Rapid Response" line.
clients don't need to sit down and type.
most of them just hit the record button on WhatsApp, send a 30-second voice note or a quick text while commuting, and say: "here is my take on the new merger."

we take that raw audio and turn it into a polished, strategic asset.

4/ the 20-minute approval
because we have done the forensic work, the first draft is usually 95% accurate.

• we don't send daily drafts.
• we don't need constant feedback loops.
we present a monthly content calendar.
the Founder needs one 15-20 minute slot per month to scan, approve, and get back to work.

their audience thinks the Founder is spending hours online.
the Founder knows they are spending minutes.

you don't need ‘more time’ to build a personal brand.

you need a system. 

Iconify Consulting Group (ICG)  
#PersonalBranding #Productivity #LinkedInStrategy

7 myths costing you millions in lost opportunity: 
I’ve spent years building LinkedIn personal brands for billion dollar founders and C-Suites, sat in boardrooms and still heard the same excuses.

i’ve watched leaders go from "industry best-kept secret" to securing board seats and M&A deals just because they finally turned the lights on.

yet, even at the c-suite level, these myths exist:

1. “my work speaks for itself.”

in 2026, your work doesn't speak. it whispers.
without amplification, excellence is invisible. linkedin data shows decision-makers are 3x more likely to engage with a leader they’ve seen posting versus one they’ve only heard of.
if you don't narrate your success, the market assumes you are stagnant.


2. “i don’t want to brag.”

sharing expertise isn’t bragging. it’s accessible leadership.
McKinsey & Company ’s state of organizations report found that visible leaders score 31% higher in trust among employees and peers.
when you hoard your insights, you aren't being humble. you are withholding value from your industry.


3. “personal branding is just for influencers.”

tell that to satya nadella.
his linkedin presence didn't just get "likes"; it anchored microsoft’s cultural shift.
Indra Nooyi’s visibility built public trust that outlasted her tenure.
influence isn't vanity. it is currency. regardless of company size.

4. “i’m too senior to ‘need’ linkedin.”

the opposite is true.
the higher you climb, the smaller your peer group gets.
your visibility dictates your access to panels, government influence, and board seats.
most of these opportunities come from people who have never met you but have observed you.

5. “niche posts limit my audience.”

good. you don’t need 1 million followers. you need the right 500 decision-makers.
one of my fmcg clients hit 12 high-value enterprise leads in 10 months with 95% niche content.

a stadium of fans is useless if none of them can sign a cheque.


6. “personal brand = posting daily.”

frequency does not beat strategy.
high-signal leaders don't spam; they curate.
some of my best performing clients post 1-2 times a week.
they trade volume for velocity, high-impact insights paired with targeted commenting in the right rooms


7. “people already know who i am.”

inside your bubble? maybe.
outside? you are a stranger until you are visible in their spaces.
people trust individuals 3x more than brand logos.
no visibility = no trust.

personal branding in 2026 is about reputation insurance and opportunity acceleration.

if you don’t own your narrative, someone else will and they won’t get it right.


#personalbranding #leadership #executivepresence #marketing #reputationmanagement

I help B2C brands win with a clear message, a clear positioning & content that attracts your ideal customers ■ Personal branding for B2B Founders & Professionals on LinkedIn

I’m a doctor for brands.

I help female founders build authority and grow service-based businesses on LinkedIn→no needles, just strategic positioning.


Signs your brand might need me:

→ You post weekly, but engagement is flat
→ You sound like everyone else in your space
→ You overthink LinkedIn until it steals your sleep
→ You want clients + community but don’t know where to start
→ Your content lacks energy & people don’t quite “get” you
→You've realized a need for more persons to hear about your brand 


If this sounds familiar, your brand is not fine.
and needs a prescription.


Most brands struggle online for the same three reasons:

1. Your message is unclear
2. Your positioning is undefined
3. Your content keeps missing the emotional mark.  

That's the pattern.


My job is to fix all three.

I help you:

→ explain what you do in one sentence
→ stand out without shouting
→ attract buyers who don’t need convincing

 
Who is this for ↓

✔ Female founders building a personal brand
✔ Female founders running a service-based business


If you do great work but your brand doesn’t reflect it →we should talk.

Clients come to me when they’re done guessing and ready to scale.

How we work together ↓

DM me “POSITIONING”
or book a strategy call via the featured link.


Before you go → a few unimportant things about me:

→ Played basketball for 2 weeks in college (legend status confirmed)
→ Bread in the morning makes me sick (jury’s still out)
→ Obsessed with my higher self (though she hasn’t shown up yet → rude).


P.S.S  If you like marketing explained in human language, stick around.

Lysa Deniran

Not every female founder needs a personal brand.


That might surprise some people.
But it’s the truth.

Some businesses don’t need a face to attract customers.

This is the case when:

your product is genuinely good
your service is reliable
you solve real problems
and you have strong distribution channels (and sometimes big ad budgets)

…customers will come without knowing “who” you are.

A personal brand would just be optional → complimentary, not essential at this point”.

This doesn’t get talked about enough.

specially with all the hype around “everyone needs a personal brand.”



So who actually needs one?

A personal brand becomes a powerful tool when you’re a female founder who:

Is bootstrapping or running a small team
Doesn't have the budget to rely on ads to scale
Is selling expertise, services, or trust → not just a product
Is on a mission to change how things are done in your industry
Cares deeply about building real relationships with customers at scale

And one more that’s often overlooked:

You’re tired of selling one-by-one.

1 person doing 100 cold calls a day = maybe 3 quality conversations you barely have energy for.

1 piece of content = your message reaches your ideal customers at scale → without being salesy.


The ball is in your court.

If personal branding doesn’t serve your business model, that’s perfectly fine.
You don’t need to do it.

But if it does → putting it off often means:

more manual work
slower growth
and opportunities quietly left on the table


If you want to assess whether your business model needs a personal brand or not

DM me “MY BRAND” for a free business audit.
And if it does, I’ll show you simple, sustainable steps to build it.


This post was inspired by a question Kenroy Jones asked me → and it felt like the right time to clear the air.
Thank you, Kenroy, for bringing this up!



™ The Brand Doctor

🍂I Build Personal Brands & Scale Service Businesses for Female Founders | Personal Brand & LinkedIn Strategist for Female Founders

Call it whatever you want → but as a female founder you likely aren’t struggling because you lack skill or vision

But because you’ve been instinctively trained to stay small and hidden.

To soften your authority.
To downplay your ambition.
To hesitate about going public.

You may recognize these moments:

When you want to self-promote → but then pull back, even when your results clearly speak for themselves.


Knowing you’re ready for bigger rooms, bigger capital, bigger opportunities → yet hesitating before asking.


Saying “I run a business” instead of “I founded one,” just to sound more acceptable, more polite.


If this made sense, it’s not just in your head.

The numbers quietly reflect what many of you already know;


"Female-founded startups received just 2.3% of VC funding in 2025."


Most investors will look up founders online before making decisions → something many of you are already aware of.


And still, you may hesitate to publicly claim your achievements or authority → even when you’ve earned it, and even when you outperform.



You’ve likely been taught that visibility requires sharp elbows.
That leadership means stepping on others.
And that ambition needs to be softened to be respected.


But hiding your ideas, your ambition, or your authority has never protected you either.



You don’t need to be aggressive.
You don’t need to perform confidence that isn’t yours.

What you may need is audacity → the quiet, grounded, unapologetic kind.


The kind that allows you to be visible.

To claim your role.
To let your work be seen without over-explaining or shrinking it.

This was never about being “too much.”


It’s about how many capable, powerful women were conditioned → almost by default → to shy away from bigger stages.


If you want to talk about your work, you’re allowed to.
If you want support in doing that, it’s okay to ask for it.


Your customers don’t trust you less when you’re visible.
They often trust you more.


And that trust matters.


Bigger opportunities don’t come by asking for permission.
They come from preparation and presence.


From being intentional about how you show up.
From being in rooms where decisions are made.
From having support that doesn’t ask you to shrink.


So if you ever hesitate before saying it out loud 

“I founded a business.”

Know this:
You earned that title.
You built something that solves real problems.

You don’t need to soften that.

You get to own it.

You don't define your brand's identity by picking it from a brand wheel or copying your role models

You define it by getting in tune with yourself 

And then picking the name the brand wheel gave to that persona


I don't say I want my brand voice to be "ruler" or "guide"

I ask, who am I
How do I talk
What comes naturally to me 

Once it's clear to me

I look at the brand wheel and say, " Oh, there's the industry term for my kind of voice."

You don't look outward to build an identity 
You look inward 

If you're trying to find your voice and identity by looking at your fav. celebrity or creator or parents 

If you’re looking at them to define your identity 

you're going to miss it.
Cos you're looking in the wrong places 

It's already inside you 

Your own voice without anyone's approval 
That thing that scares you, but you can't stop thinking about
Your own unfiltered opinions of the world around you.

That's YOU.

™ The Brand Doctor

I see female founders obsess over everything being "perfect" before they launch:

You know those days.

Tweaking the branding.
Trying to get "all" the paperwork ready.
Waiting until the website looks “right.”

And telling yourself you can’t move yet because you still need to figure out:

•Marketing
•Operations

Meanwhile… nothing actually moves.

The founders who go on to scale may see things differently,

They understand one thing very clearly:

You don’t grow a business by planning around everything. 
You grow it by taking action first → then adjusting in real time.

Testing.
Experimenting.
Listening.
Refining.

That’s how you'll build actual momentum


When you try to figure "everything" out first,  what will happen is

You burn yourself out.
You run in circles on repeat 
You stay stuck, watching instead of building.

If you don't  know whether your product or service is even validated yet, here’s the truth:

You don’t need more time thinking your way through it
You need "real people".

Go to where your customers already hang out.
Find a few beta users.
Get feedback while you’re building → not after you’re exhausted.

Share what you’re working on.
Watch what people react to.
Notice the patterns.

That’s how you collect data. 
That’s how you find clarity.

Before you launch, there are only 3 boxes that actually matter.
Everything else can wait.

1/ Who is your ideal customer → really?
Not their age. Not theit job titles.

Psychographics.
What are they struggling with "right now"?
What have they already tried that didn’t work?

This is how you stop sounding generic and nail being specific.

2/ Is your message clear?

If your audience can’t explain your offer in simple words to a friend, it’s not clear yet.

Your customers often  do not understand industry jargon.

That's why being clear beats talking smart every time.

3/ How does this business make money → in real time?

A polished brand page won’t save you if your systems don’t convert.

You need to know:

Where revenue comes from.
How leads turn into sales.
What actually drives profit.

Sales hacks and fancy experiments come "later".

Everything else is secondary.

Not a perfect website.
Not a huge budget.
Not flawless aesthetics.

What matters is a "clear value offer" that feels like a no-brainer to the right audience.

Don’t wait for perfect before you ship.

Real growth happens when you ship imperfect, scrappy, 

Giving yourself permission to learn and grow as you go.


If it sounds like you could use some help doing this, then reach out to me using the call link in my featured section or simply DM me "LAUNCH".

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The Battle

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