Personal Brand LaunchPad
Learn how to leverage strategic partnerships to gain traction more make sales at the Traction Academy!
About
Personal Brand Lab is a practical program for individuals who want to build a clear personal brand, tell their story with confidence, and become monetizable through their identity, experience, and contribution.
This program is designed for people, not companies. Whether you are early in your journey, in transition, or already making progress, Personal Brand Lab helps you understand who you are, how to communicate your story, and how to turn that clarity into real opportunities.
You do not need to be an influencer, a founder, or have an audience. You do not need a startup idea or visible traction. The program starts from where you are and helps you build forward.
Inside Personal Brand Lab, you learn how to:
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Build a clear and authentic personal brand
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Craft and tell your story at any stage, from zero to growth
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Communicate progress, learning, and value without exaggeration
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Build trust and visibility through storytelling, not self-promotion
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Create monetization opportunities aligned with your brand
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Use your personal brand to unlock income, collaboration, and long-term optionality
Personal Brand Lab is for individuals who want to be understood, trusted, and valued for who they are and what they bring, and who want their personal brand to create real outcomes, not just attention.
This program is designed for people who are early, curious, transitioning, or starting from zero.
Who Is This For?
This program is for you if:
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You are early, exploring, or in transition
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You want to build something, but do not want to rush into a startup
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You want clarity, not hype
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You care about long-term leverage, not quick wins
This program is not for you if:
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You are looking for shortcuts or hacks
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You want a guaranteed business idea
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You are only interested in raising money
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You are not willing to reflect or participate
Curriculum
#1 PERSONAL READINESS
10 March,
4:00 PM - 5:00 PM JST
#2 PERSONAL STORY & STORYTELLING SKILL
17 March,
4:00 PM - 5:00 PM JST
#3 NETWORK, COLLABORATION & ACCESS
24 March,
4:00 PM - 5:00 PM JST
#4 MONETIZATION & EQUITY READINESS
31 March,
4:00 PM - 5:00 PM JST
# Format:
2 videos per week + deliverables
# Focus:
clarity → story → network → monetization & equity
Module #1
PERSONAL READINESS
Participants understand what they can already leverage even before progress exists.
Description:
This module helps you identify your real starting point. Instead of waiting for an idea, traction, or confidence, you learn how to recognize and use the assets you already have: your experience, context, skills, and curiosity as the foundation for entrepreneurship.
You’ll Learn:
Why entrepreneurship starts with the individual, not the idea
How to identify personal assets beyond titles or achievements
How experience, failure, and curiosity become leverage
How to gain clarity without pretending expertise
Module #2
PERSONAL STORY & STORYTELLING SKILL
Participants learn how to create and tell a clear personal story, whether they are just starting, making small progress, or gaining early traction.
Description:
This module teaches storytelling as a practical skill rather than self promotion. You learn how to turn experiences, learning, and small wins into clear narratives that people can understand and trust. Whether you are going from zero to one or from 100 to 5,000, you learn how to communicate progress without exaggeration or hype.
You’ll Learn:
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How to build a clear personal story from your current stage
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How to tell progress stories from small or early wins
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How to communicate learning and momentum when results are still limited
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How to craft a zero to 100 story when you are just starting
Module #3
NETWORK, COLLABORATION & ACCESS
Participants learn how to build a warm, trusted network and create access through collaboration rather than networking or pitching.
Description:
This module focuses on relationships as the real driver of opportunity. You learn how to build meaningful connections without selling yourself, how to contribute before asking, and how collaboration creates trust, visibility, and access to opportunities that are not publicly available.
You’ll Learn:
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Why warm relationships matter more than visibility or follower count
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How to build a trusted network without traditional networking
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How to approach people through contribution instead of pitching
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How collaboration creates access to opportunities and deal flow
Module #4
MONETIZATION & EQUITY READINESS
Participants learn how to create income and long term ownership opportunities without rushing to start a company.
Description:
This module reframes monetization as validation rather than hustle. You learn how individuals generate early income and small equity stakes by creating value, building trust, and contributing to startups and communities. The focus is on aligned monetization and contribution-based ownership, not fundraising or speculation.
You’ll Learn:
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Why monetization is a signal of value, not a goal
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How to create early income through aligned and ethical paths
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How personal brand and contribution lead to small equity opportunities
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How to think about building an equity portfolio before building a startup
What do people say? 💬
Takamichi Matsusako
Achieving the first
wave of traction is a game-changer for startups.
With openfor.co, I've grasped the significance of harnessing partnerships.
The resources they provide,
from a collaborator academy
to a unique incentivization model, and the online platform are noteworthy.
Hyunho
Kim
I have been using Openfor.co platform to define, search, and ideate potential collabs. It is easy to find various collaborations on their marketplace also. Partnering with them helped us to get more exposure and created more opportunities to engage collaborations. If you want to generate more collaborations, Openfor.co is the way to go!
Einstein
Rojas
The diversity of the international cohort at Openfor.co is one of its standout features. Gaining momentum for our startup has been vital. Their approach has allowed us to delve into the intricacies of partnership dynamics, and provides resources, including online tools and a specialized academy, making it a valuable platform for growth and collaboration. This will be essential as we venture into an international collaboration of innovation and startup ecosystem building
Yu
Yamanaka
After collaborating with Openfor.co,
I got to know how to find, ask, offer, initiate,
or maintain meaningful and profitable collaborations with other people and organizations.
Now I’m already partnering
with openfor.co
and plenty of other collaborations are lining up! It is highly recommended!
Naoko
Fujihira
Our partnership with Openfor.co brings a new perspective and highlights that even start-ups can grow through strategic partnerships. Insights and guidance from Erdinc, Yuli, and their dedicated team guided us towards an ideal collaboration for market validation and traction. They generously shared their precious time and passion with us. Also, the tools combined with training are essential and highly recommended.
Deniz Aygün
Benba
Joining Openfor.co
made me realize that partnerships are beneficial for companies of every size, even if you are an early-stage startup! Erdinc, Yuli and their team have been proven to be helpful to identify which types of partnerships are needed for validation, traction, and market adoption. I’m looking forward to collab more!
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Michelangiolo Mazzeschi
Collaborating with openfor.co is one of the most beneficial ways to ideate, identity, and initiate meaningful collaborations. On their marketplace, it’s easy to browse any type of partnership to grow your business. You can get essential partnership development know-how, platform, and exposure in one place conveniently.
Dogukan
Atar
As a graduate of the first cohort, I have to say that it was quite helpful. Whether you're just starting out or already have experience with partnerships and collaborations, the Openfor.co, Inc. team teaches how to make good collaborations. It is also another opportunity to network with quality entrepreneurs and give and receive feedback on each other's businesses.
Wait! There is even more.
This will be a valuable opportunity to rapidly prepare for partner development and engage at a high level!"
- Daisuke Ito - Founder and CEO of Ad-Dice
"Looks interesting. I know you both have succeeded at making many partnerships in Japan and also Korea too now!"
- Tyson Batino - Founder and CEO - Scaling Your Company
"🚀 Congrats to Openfor on launching this golden opportunity for startups! A comprehensive boot camp to master collaboration and supercharge growth. 🤝"
- Khatanbold Bat-Erdene - Co-founder and CEO of GerTech - OkusuriAI
"This looks great! Thanks for providing opportunities to collaborate and build our network!" - Raghvendra Jain Ph.D. - Co-founder at Optimays Inc.
"Absolutely thrilled about this! 🚀 Sounds like an opportunity not to be missed."
- Ace Apolonio - CEO at Fusionate AI
"This looks like a really unique opportunity! Partnership development has become a new focus for my company, so I will definitely look into applying for the cohort!"
- Devin Overman - Founder - Banter English
"The fact that the first pilot cohort is FREE makes it even more exciting – kudos for making it accessible to aspiring entrepreneurs."
- InGyn Nyi - Assistant Business Advisor at SME intellect