Why Customers Buy the Founder (Not Just the Product)

In today's business landscape, customers increasingly buy from founders they connect with, not just products they need. These founders understand that one of the most powerful parts of their business is their own story and how it helps people relate to the company on a personal level and buy because of that relationship. CEOs like René Lacerte of fintech firm BILL, Hannah Choi of fashion tech firm Spotlite, and Fiona Scott of journalistic PR firm Scott Media all show how authenticity and personal connection drive growth in each of their respective industries.

Trust is the New Differentiator

When founders make a real effort to engage their audience, trust becomes the foundation for every lasting connection. It’s important for business owners to establish connections not just with customers but also with employees. “If you’re thinking about building a company that’s going to last for decades… it takes a lot of intentionality around the product strategy, the purpose strategy, the people strategy, the culture strategy,” Lacerte says. “These are all the things you have to put intentional thought to.” That steady sense of purpose helps customers and employees see what the company stands for through the person leading it.

This philosophy permeates all facets of Lacerte's business. When speaking about his products, he builds trust with clients by presenting them with solutions that solve their immediate pain points with minimal friction. "We want to meet businesses where they are. Our goal is to make it simple for our partners to include our capabilities inside their own systems." Lacerte's values-driven approach to establishing client trust is how a founder can make the transition from holding a personal belief to executing a company mission.

Fiona Scott, who won UK Solopreneur of the Year in 2025, has seen the same dynamic play out in her own work. She says the trust between a founder and an audience isn’t built through features or stats but through what feels real. “It’s about what resonates,” she says. “People buy from people. Any small business owner will tell you that’s true, whether they’re in the UK or anywhere else.”

Relatability Builds Loyalty

Being able to identify with customers’ shared experiences can go a long way toward building lasting customer relationships. Hannah Choi and her Spotlite co-founder Benjamin Hori sought to solve problems that existed in the modeling industry, including the lack of freelance representation, as well as image and likeness protections for models. Choi says her co-founder was a professional model for ten years and witnessed how AI was being used to replicate and alter creators’ images without consent. “One day he [Hori] walked up to me and said, ‘There are a lot of problems in this industry. I’ve done this for a decade, and it’s about time for a change.’”

This drove the two to create an agency that leverages tech to protect clients' interests. Models quickly began trusting them to handle their rights and representation, leading to a sharp early spike in new users who saw Spotlite as a platform built by insiders, not outsiders.

"Spotlite is about protecting creators in the AI era. We wanted to give models and artists control over their own likeness, and that meant building trust first. We built a platform where our team, our community, and even our investors can see exactly why we're doing this. That transparency makes the brand feel human."

Meanwhile, Scott agrees that relatability can give you a kind of celebrity status, especially with younger customers. "Younger generations will look for the personalities who speak to them and they will then work out 'how to afford' to be aligned with those people/brands. Taylor Swift is just one rather extreme example. The way she, and her team, have served their audience deserves admiration in my view."

Personality Drives Visibility

Strong founder personalities - whether they be in sports, entertainment, media, or business - make an impact. Scott, the straight-shooting solopreneur award winner, is one such example. She's built her firm around directness and transparency.

Scott says her no-nonsense presence and approach to business differentiates her from competitors and gets clients in the door. “In a world where you can choose from multiple suppliers offering similar services, how do you stand out, how do you stop your brand from becoming part of an amorphous mass? It’s personality, personality, personality.”

Her clients find this approach refreshing because of the authenticity it demonstrates in a landscape increasingly dominated by the digital. "In the age of AI, I predict personality and authenticity will become even more important," says Scott. "As human beings we emotionally connect with any personality that resonates with us and our own experience. We don't have to know them to relate to them."

Choi agrees that a personality that displays a clear intention creates customer loyalty. "People connect with your intent before your product. If they believe you actually care, they'll give you time to figure everything else out."

René Lacerte believes authenticity means your personality is the same with both customers and employees. “There’s no way to see me other than me. Our employees see that, and I expect them to bring the same authenticity when they talk to each other.”

It's the People Behind the Product

Leadership expert Simon Sinek once remarked, "The goal is to do business with people who believe what you believe." In short, customers don't buy what you sell. They buy who you are. When CEOs demonstrate qualities like honesty, relatability, and authentic personality, they make connections with customers that advertising, a website, or a chatbot could never achieve.

René Lacerte, Hannah Choi, and Fiona Scott are all examples of founders who do not just lead their brands, they embody them. Their actions become synonymous with what their brands represent. In an era of AI, automation, and tech-driven marketing, these CEOs are investing in personal connections with customers, which is one thing that cannot be outsourced. It has to be owned. Fiona Scott sums it up perfectly by stating, “Why does the UK abound with business networking groups offering 1000s of opportunities a week to network with others? It’s the need for human connection and it’s real whether that is on or offline.”