How To (And How Not To) Write A Bio For Your Website

Posted on | August 20, 2010 | 15 Comments

First, a quick hello to my friends and colleagues attending the Grow 2010 technology conference in Vancouver today. I wish I could be there. Sadly, other business took priority. Looking forward to seeing some write-ups on what went down.

I took the liberty of checking out the speaker bios and realized I also had the chance to provide a bit of a teaching moment. To wit, How To (And How Not To) Promote Yourself In A Bio On A Website:

First, showing how not to do it, we have Dave McClure of 500 Startups. Dave decided to take the quick attention-getting route of making himself out to be kind of a weirdo. I’m not sure it paid off for him, unless you subscribe to the idea that all publicity is good publicity — which hasn’t really worked out that well for BP, Conrad Black or the junta in Burma.

(And before any of Dave’s friends start talking about stones and glass houses, I know very well that I’ve crossed the line on a number of occasions using this very strategy [examples here and here]. So yes, I’m a hypocrite. Such is life.)

I’ve highlighted the, uh, best bits:

Dave McClure is a greedy, blood-sucking venture capitalist & founding general partner at 500 Startups, an internet startup seed fund and incubator program in Mountain View, CA. He likes to hang out with entrepreneurs, and occasionally help or invest in their startups if they are foolish enough to let him. Dave has been geeking out in Silicon Valley for over twenty years, and has worked with companies such as PayPal, Mint, Founders Fund, Facebook, LinkedIn, SlideShare, Twilio, Simply Hired, O’Reilly Media, Intel, & Microsoft. Years ago he used to do real work like coding or marketing or running conferences, but these days he mostly does useless stuff like sending lots of email, blogging, and hanging out on Facebook and Twitter. Dave also likes to play ultimate frisbee when his knees don’t hurt

As I said, I’m not too fond of the above. But what do I know? I just put words together for a living.

Next, to show what I think is a good example. To compare, I’ll use Clarity Digital President Leonard Brody’s bio. It’s a bit long, but it works. Again, I’ve highlighted the parts I like — phrases that focus not so much on who he is as what he does and why he appears to rock the flock:

Leonard has been called “a controversial leader of the new world order”. He is a highly respected entrepreneur, venture capitalist, best-selling author and a 2 time Emmy nominated media visionary. He has helped in raising millions of dollars for startup companies, been through one of the largest internet IPOs in history and has been involved in the building, financing and/or sale of five companies to date. In 2004, Leonard co-founded, and was CEO of, NowPublic.comnamed by Time Magazine as one of the top 50 websites in the world, was inducted into the Newseum in Washington and was recently acquired by the Anschutz Corporation. Currently Leonard sits as the President of the Clarity Digital Group responsible for overseeing one of the largest online news conglomerates in the world including Examiner.com and NowPublic, which between them, share over 20 million unique visitors a month and over 200,000 contributors. which is a pioneer in the field of citizen journalism. The company was

I see the difference. Can you see the difference?

Category: business website copywriting, copywriting tip, Marketing strategy, Vancouver copywriter, website content
Tags: Grow technology conference > Vancouver Grow 2010 > Vancouver writer > website content copywriter > write corporate bio

Comments

15 Responses to “How To (And How Not To) Write A Bio For Your Website”

dave mcclure
August 21st, 2010 @ 9:03 am

well, i’m used to being called a weirdo (or a nerd, or a dork) so that’s actually ok. regardless, i got a ton of positive comments about that bio.

i just can’t stand all the BS-promoting copy that most people write about themselves as if it’s in the 3rd person.

your mileage may vary.
Cofounder
August 21st, 2010 @ 9:17 am

Dave’s salaciousness is EXACTLY part of his attraction-plan and it is working extremely well for him. In an environment where those who take themselves too seriously are quickly losing credibility, Dave’s controversality is designed to be a signal to all other Pirates out there that are committed to taking the booty from those who guard it too loosely. Given that he just closed a $30 Million Super-Angel fund, I’d say he’s doing everything pretty damn correctly.
Vincent van der Lubbe
August 21st, 2010 @ 9:19 am

Sorry, I fell asleep reading the second bio. What was the question again?
Stanley
August 21st, 2010 @ 9:25 am

Who is higher profile? Dave McClure or Leonard Brody? Dave.
AmitK
August 21st, 2010 @ 10:46 am

What makes the second bio stand out are the numbers. If you got ‘em, use ‘em!
Daniel
August 21st, 2010 @ 10:52 am

Dave’s has personality and humility, though. Two valuable characteristics to myself and many people. Leonard’s is quite bland and self-indulgent. Much more of a turn off than Dave’s sloppy style.
Jonathon Narvey
August 21st, 2010 @ 11:45 am

Hey Dave,

Thanks for responding. I actually agree with you here where you wrote: “I just can’t stand all the BS-promoting copy that most people write about themselves as if it’s in the 3rd person.”

I like that you tried something different. It certainly did stand out. But overall, I just thought it was an experiment that didn’t pan out.

Daniel pointed out that Leonard’s bio was “bland and self-indulgent”. I’m not sure that I agree. Yes, definitely more generic than Dave’s example. But ALL bios are self-indulgent. It comes with the territory.

I liked that Leonard’s was kind of over-the-top self-indulgent. Whether you take Dave or Leonard’s path, either way, you don’t want to be restrained.
Patrick Vlaskovits
August 21st, 2010 @ 2:28 pm

@Jonathan

This is pure and utter link-bait, right? I mean, come on…you got it all wrong.

Forget the false dichotomy of “irreverent bio” style vs. “professional bio” style.

One has to consider the:

a) subject of the bio

b) intended audience for the bio

c) objectives of the bio

In Dave’s case, it is pretty clear that Dave’s bio works for him as it is a authentic representation of his personality and writing style – which if someone else, say me, tried to replicate, i.e. smart, obscene, witty, sarcastic and ironic – it would fail miserably.

But for him and for folks like him, it is a perfect fit.
Jonathon Narvey
August 21st, 2010 @ 6:54 pm

Hey Patrick,

I agree that the subject, intended audience and objectives need to be taken into account. I did.

And it was on that basis that I said the experiment failed.

I understand you’re a fanboy, but you may want to remind yourself that there’s just the faintest possibility that Dave’s style — “smart, obscene, witty, sarcastic and ironic” – actually did fail.

I’m looking at it from an objective vantage point — I’d never heard of either Dave or Leonard before I wrote my post. And I’m sticking to my original statement.
Patrick Vlaskovits
August 21st, 2010 @ 8:14 pm

Coming out swingin’ with a dismissive and ad hominem “I understand you’re a fanboy”, eh?

Nice. Very professional. Couple of things:

1) I am completely open to the irreverent bio style failing — so please tell me, how are you defining failure in this context? Please be specific, because you certainly aren’t in the post.

BTW picking one metric at random, googling the two returns more than twice as many mentions of Dave as it does Leonard.

2) But again, I interpret this as a false dichotomy: what works for a guy like Dave might not work for a guy like Leonard or me or you.

3) So by simply disagreeing with you, I am apparently a “fanboy” – how are you “objective”?
Jonathon Narvey
August 21st, 2010 @ 8:54 pm

I don’t consider fanboy a pejorative term. It’s slang. I merely assumed you were a fan of Dave.

In any case, you’re being deliberately obtuse. Get bent, troll.
Jodi Henderson
August 21st, 2010 @ 8:59 pm

I love Dave’s bio. It made me laugh. It shows his style and some creativity, which makes it a big win in my book.

Hearing this kind of review actually scares me a bit because I’m in the process of looking for a new job. I’d reeeeallly like to have a cover letter and resume that show a little humor or creativity (a la Dave’s bio) because 1) I’d like to show my personality a little bit and 2) I’d like to have a way to stand out on paper. If folks are out there looking for stuff written in Leonard’s style, that sucks.
Jonathon Narvey
August 21st, 2010 @ 9:15 pm

Hey Jodi,

I’m not really a cover letter expert, but it seems to me that creativity and humor might be good things to include.

Some words you might want to avoid in your cover letter, though: “blood-sucking”, “foolish” and “useless”.

Best of luck with the job search!
Zuco
August 22nd, 2010 @ 5:05 am

It depends about the target. Who is going to read that Bio. In fact the point of writing a Bio is not only to show other people our story but also to attract people.

It’s impossible to write something that will be perfect for everybody.

I prefer Dave’s Bio because he wrote it in the way he liked it. Expressing his personality on it. If somebody doesn’t like it, it means that person maybe won’t like Dave as well.

If I have to write a short Bio for myself, I will think about: Why should I try to attract people that at the end I know will not like me and my ideas? Why should I try to be perfect for everybody? If I do that I have to think that I will end up being false all my life.

In Leonard’s Bio I cannot understand how is him. It’s so plain and impersonal that it’s like seeing an old style ad.
Dave’s one is fresh and funny, exactly as he is.
don don
August 22nd, 2010 @ 6:37 am

I like both. I’m not quick on judging people by style, instead when I see value such as learning something from the individual I immediately develop respect for him or her… so, it’s true I like steak and in the meantime I enjoy seafood as well, they don’t have to be mutually exclusive.

A valedictorian may not turn out to contribute more to a company or entity that he/she is working for than a salutatorian… a salutatorian may not turn out to be equally productive than her peer who’s only among the top 10% of his class later in real world…
can we confidently claim a valedictorian is better than a salutatorian? Among the brilliant(s) one is better than another?