What to Put on Your Founder Profile

When someone discovers your product, they often want to know who is behind it. When someone reads your update in a feed, they may click your name to see who you are. A founder profile is the page that answers that question. It takes an hour to write well and quietly works for you every day.

This guide shows what to include, what to leave out and how to write it so that people feel they have met you.

What a founder profile is for

A profile has several jobs.

Trust. Buyers feel more comfortable when they can see a real person with a real track record.

Connection. Peers and potential collaborators want to know whether you are the sort of person they would like to talk to.

Context. Journalists, investors, customers and partners want to understand your background quickly.

Findability. A clear, well-written profile can be found by search engines and AI assistants and quoted accurately.

Google's guidance on helpful content asks whether a site makes it clear who created the content and whether the creator has relevant experience. A founder profile is the most direct way to answer.

The building blocks

1. A clear name and role

Use the name you use professionally. State your role in plain words: "Founder of Tidewell, a scheduling tool for physiotherapists." Avoid inflated titles. "Founder" and "Co-founder" are accurate and understood.

2. A short summary

One or two sentences that say who you are and what you do. This often appears in previews and search results, so make it count.

Example: "Sam Patel builds Tidewell, a scheduling tool for small physiotherapy clinics. Before that he spent eight years as a clinic manager."

3. A longer bio

About a hundred words that tell your story. Cover:

• Where you come from, in terms of work
• What problem you saw
• What you are building
• What you care about

Write in the first or third person, but be consistent. First person feels warmer and is fine for a community profile.

4. A photograph

Choose a clear head-and-shoulders picture where you are recognisable. Natural light, a plain background and a relaxed expression work well. Use a recent image. Avoid logos, group shots and heavy filters. Add alternative text such as "Portrait of Sam Patel smiling in an office".

5. What you are building

A sentence or two about your product, who it helps and how, with a link. Keep it consistent with your product page so people do not meet two different descriptions.

6. What you are looking for

If you want something, say so. It might be feedback, beta testers, introductions, a co-founder, advice about hiring, or nothing at all. A line such as "I am looking for physiotherapy clinics willing to try the beta" invites the right people to reach out.

7. What you can offer

Generosity builds community. Perhaps you can offer feedback on landing pages, introductions in your sector or knowledge about a tool you use well. One or two lines are enough.

8. Links

Add the places where people can find your work: your product site, your writing and the professional profiles you keep up to date. Check that each link works and that each destination looks reasonable if a stranger visits. Limit yourself to a handful.

9. How to reach you

Provide a route that you will actually monitor, such as a contact form or a work email. Think carefully before publishing a personal phone number or home address. The Information Commissioner's Office provides advice for small organisations on handling personal information, and the same care applies to your own: only publish what you are happy to be public.

Write it as you would say it

Many bios sound like a press release. "A visionary leader with a passion for disruptive innovation..." tells nobody anything. Imagine instead that you are introducing yourself at a meetup. You would say your name, what you build, why and perhaps something small and human.

Compare:

• "Seasoned entrepreneur and thought leader with a track record of delivering results."
• "I build tools for small clinics. I used to run one, and I got tired of paper diaries."

The second is shorter, more specific and more memorable.

Add a touch of personality

A small personal detail makes a profile feel alive: a hobby, a favourite book, a quirk of your working day. Keep it light and optional. It helps readers see you as a person.

Be accurate

Everything on your profile should be true and checkable. Do not inflate your experience, claim awards you did not win or list companies you did not found. Credibility is slow to build and quick to lose. Where you mention results, use exact wording: "Helped grow a team from five to forty" is better than "scaled massively".

Help machines understand you

Structured data helps search engines and assistants. The schema.org Person type includes properties such as job title, the organisation you work for, links that identify you elsewhere on the web and topics you know about. If you or your developer can add this to your own site's founder page, it helps systems connect your name with your company and profiles. The visible text must still match, and the information must be accurate.

Use consistent spelling of your name and company everywhere. If you have a common name, add your company or role to distinguish yourself.

Keep it fresh

A profile that was last updated three years ago suggests an inactive founder. Put a reminder in your calendar twice a year to review it. Update your role, your product description, your links and your photograph. If you stop working on something, remove it.

Examples of structure

Short form (for previews): "[Name] is the founder of [Company], which [what it does] for [whom]."

Medium form (for the profile page): Name, role, two sentences about the product, one sentence of background, one sentence about what you are looking for, links.

Long form (for an about page): The story of how you got here, what you have learned, your values, your plans and ways to connect.

Pitfalls to avoid

1. Jargon. "Synergistic solutions" says nothing.
2. Too many links. Choose a few.
3. Outdated photographs.
4. Contradictory descriptions across pages.
5. Oversharing contact details.
6. Humble-bragging. Be warm, not boastful.
7. Leaving it blank. An empty profile loses opportunities.

Where to see examples

The about-the-founders page on this site shows how the founders introduce themselves, with photographs and links. You can use it as a reference for tone and structure. The contact page shows how to offer a way to reach people, and the search page helps you find other founders and products to compare.

A one-hour exercise

1. Spend ten minutes writing a two-sentence summary.
2. Spend twenty minutes on a hundred-word bio.
3. Spend ten minutes choosing a photo and writing alternative text.
4. Spend ten minutes choosing links and checking them.
5. Spend ten minutes writing what you are looking for and what you can offer.

Read it aloud. If it sounds like you, publish it.

A worked example: before and after

Here is a profile as many founders first write it: "Passionate entrepreneur and innovator with over ten years of experience across multiple industries. Founder of a disruptive platform revolutionising the way businesses engage with customers. Always looking to connect with like-minded professionals."

It says almost nothing. A reader cannot tell what the platform does, what the person has done or why they should reply.

Here is a rewrite: "Priya Raman runs Loopmail, an email tool for independent bookshops. She worked in a bookshop for nine years before building it, and she still does Saturdays behind the till. Loopmail helps small shops send a monthly newsletter that actually gets read. Priya is looking for bookshop owners willing to try the beta and for advice on pricing for very small businesses. She can offer feedback on newsletters and introductions to a few independent publishers."

The rewrite is warm, specific and useful. It names the product, the audience, the background, the ask and the offer. A visitor can decide in seconds whether to follow, reply or try the product. It also contains the kind of detail, the Saturdays behind the till, that makes a person memorable.

Checking your profile as a stranger

Open your profile in a private browser window so you see what a visitor sees. Read the first screen without scrolling. Can you tell who this is and what they do? Click each link. Does the destination make sense? Look at the photograph at a small size, as it will appear next to your comments. Then ask a friend who does not know your field to describe you after thirty seconds. If their description matches your intention, your profile is working. If not, adjust the first two sentences and test again.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a profile if I work alone? Yes. Solo founders gain the most, because the person is the brand.

Can I use a pseudonym? Some people do, but transparency builds trust with customers. Consider your reasons carefully.

Should I mention my previous employers? Where relevant and permitted, yes. Keep it factual.