Building Trust, Focus, and Personal Branding in Startups: An Interview with Kaylin Trychon (CMO, Edera)
An Interview with Kaylin Trychon (CMO, Edera)
Interviewed by Xiao He for Mother of Success · Practical Guides Series
Introduction
In this Practical Guides interview, we sat down with Kaylin Trychon, Chief Marketing Officer at Edera, a Series A startup in the cloud infrastructure and security space. Kaylin has worked across both large organizations (Google, Raytheon) and high-growth startups (Chainguard, valued at over $1B). She brings a wealth of experience in communications, marketing, and building trust from scratch.
This conversation dives deep into practical strategies for founders: how to build trust without a big brand behind you, how to prioritize channels, how to guide reluctant founders to build a personal brand, and how to focus when overwhelmed by too many platforms.
From Big Tech to Startups
Xiao He: Kaylin, thank you so much for joining. To start, could you introduce yourself to our readers?
Kaylin Trychon: Of course. I’m the CMO at Edera, a Series A startup in cloud infrastructure and security. Before this, I worked at Google and at Raytheon, and my entry point into startups was at Chainguard, which I joined at the very early days and stayed through their Series C raise.
So I’ve had a range of experiences—from highly regulated, traditional industries, to fast-moving tech giants, to hypergrowth startups that scale into unicorns. I feel really lucky to have had those opportunities, and now I’m back at it again, building.
Differences Between Google and Startups
Xiao: You’ve worked at both startups and very large companies. How would you compare the two?
Kaylin: I started my career in communications and public affairs, and then moved into marketing, which includes digital, growthmarketing, events, and more.
At Google, I worked on communications. What’s fascinating is that while Google is huge, it still felt like a startup—the pace, the energy, the innovation. But compared to a startup, the biggest difference is resources. At Google, you have an endless amount of resources and the strength of a global brand. People take your calls simply because you’re at Google.
At a startup, you don’t have that. You have to earn trust without the halo of a big brand. It forces you to get scrappy, creative, and innovative. You test things, you try, you fail fast, and you keep building.
Building Trust from Zero
Xiao: I can relate. At Apple, people respected the brand instantly. But when I started my own startup, RegHero, I was a nobody in a new space. We couldn’t afford marketing or ads, so we invested in design—making everything from our landing page to our product polished and professional. Customers trusted us because the design communicated that we cared.
When you work with startups, how do you build trust?
Kaylin: For me, it always starts with communication and storytelling. You have to own your authentic voice and prove you’re an expert in your field.
The best, most resource-efficient way is often organic: pitching reporters, writing content, publishing on social media. It’s free, but it takes time and consistency.
Another key element is leveraging the personal brands of founders and employees. In security and open source, many founders are already active in large communities. Their reputation becomes the company’s reputation. When you can connect that to the business, trust follows.
Helping Founders Build Personal Brands
Xiao: Many founders now post on LinkedIn—not just selling, but sharing authentic wins, failures, and lessons learned. But what if a founder is shy, reluctant to use social media, and has never posted before? How do you guide them from zero to one?
Kaylin: That’s a common situation. Sometimes, founders actively resist building a personal brand. But the truth is: as a founder, you must. It comes with the role—you’re a leader, and the industry expects it.
The first step is buy-in. They have to trust you as a marketing leader. Then, you coach them step by step: start with LinkedIn posts, prep them for press briefings, get them media-trained for conferences.
I can’t be their voice, but I can help them find it. Some prefer their co-founder or another executive to be the face, which can also work. But someone has to represent the company. Employees themselves are part of the brand—if they don’t live and breathe it, it won’t take off.
Choosing the Right Channels
Xiao: Social media feels overwhelming. Founders face LinkedIn, YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Reddit, Substack, podcasts, and many other platforms. How do you recommend they prioritize?
Kaylin: It depends entirely on your audience.
For me, in B2B cloud security, the buyers are on LinkedIn, Reddit, and technical forums. That’s where we focus.
For consumer brands, TikTok and Instagram Reels are far better, because that’s where customers are browsing and buying.
The principle: know your audience, know where they are, and go all in there.
Focus: Less is More
Xiao: That makes sense. For me personally, it’s overwhelming to juggle LinkedIn, Substack, Squarespace, newsletters etc…
Kaylin: Exactly. It is overwhelming. That’s why my number one advice is: focus.
In early-stage startups, you don’t have resources to be everywhere. Pick two, maybe three channels, and go all in. Measure results every quarter. If it’s not working, pivot fast.
The biggest mistake I see? Teams trying to do too much at once. You spread yourself thin and make no real impact. Narrow focus wins.
What to Post on LinkedIn
Xiao: Let’s say a founder decides to go all in on LinkedIn. What should they post? Many feel it’s just full of fundraising announcements.
Kaylin: Yes, fundraising posts get likes, but what truly resonates is connection and authenticity. People want to learn, be inspired, or relate to your journey.
Key tips:
Consistency is everything. Post daily if you can. The algorithm rewards it, and it helps you discover what works.
Mix content types. Share challenges, lessons learned, personal stories, and occasional big wins. Show that you’re human, not just a CEO robot.
Monitor performance. See which posts get engagement and adjust your strategy.
Leverage tools like AI. Large Language Models are great for brainstorming or breaking through the blank-page problem. But it must still be rooted in your authentic voice.
Recommended Books & Resources
Xiao: This has been incredibly insightful. One last question: are there any books or podcasts you’d recommend for founders?
Kaylin: Yes—three that stand out:
Busting Silos (Snowflake’s go-to-market team) – on aligning sales and marketing under a unified revenue operations model. Essential for startups hiring first sales and marketing leaders.
The Revenue Operations Model – a practical, case-study-driven guide that helps marketers understand sales, ARR, and the business side.
On Writing (Stephen King) – a timeless book on storytelling fundamentals, which I reread every year.
And one more: Diary of a CEO by Stephen Bartlett (book and podcast). It’s excellent for leadership and entrepreneurial reflection.
Closing
Xiao: That’s amazing. Thank you so much, Kaylin, for sharing all of this.
Kaylin: Thank you. It was wonderful to be here.