Lendio is a marketplace for small business lenders. Think KAYAK but for funding small business rather than finding travel arrangements. The good news: They had a pretty good sense of who they are and a foundation for a strong brand before I began working on the project. The challenge: The logo lacked any real meaning and looked like they bought it from an online logo store. It’s generic and could be slapped on any business anywhere.
But a brand is more than a logo. With company values already clearly defined and articulated, and with a fantastic mission and vision driving them, I felt like they needed a rallying cry to help ignite the passion of Lendio employees. So I wrote a manifesto.
We believe in the business owners of America. The visionaries. The dreamers and the doers. We’re for those who roll up their sleeves and build something by their own industry, sweat and sheer determination. We’re for the driven few who imagine possibilities and then dedicate day after day to making them real. We’re for fueling the American Dream.
We believe in: Growth, Results, Winning. Our customers’ business is critical to them, so it’s critical to us. We believe nothing is “not my job” and we’ll roll up our sleeves, shatter our comfort zones and dive into the details to drive profit for customers and partners. We’re for doing then doing better. We’re for moving quickly with calculated risk. Launch. Gather data. Iterate. Rinse and repeat.
We believe Customer > Company > Team > Self. We believe in each other and the power of the collective. We believe we can. We’re for passion, confidence and putting in the effort it takes to be great. We’re for the people in the game (and we’re all in the game—there are no sidelines here). We’re for dropping whatever we’re doing when somebody needs our help.
We believe life is seriously fun We’re for sticking to a task until the task is done. We’re for following through and following up. We’re for the therapeutic value of ping pong. We’re for breaking ground, finding a way where there aren’t paths to follow. We’re for open, honest, direct communication, even when it’s uncomfortable.
We’re humble. Hungry. We’re Lendio.