You're Probably Googling Yourself Right Now, Aren't You?

Spoiler: If nothing comes up, you're basically a ghost in 2025.

Get this, I had Paige Arnof-Fenn on the podcast this week—founder of Mavens and Moguls, Stanford grad, Harvard MBA, works with Microsoft and Virgin, the whole nine yards—and she said something that made me physically uncomfortable:

"If someone Googles you and nothing comes up, that's the kiss of death."

Oof. Right in the professional ego.

But here's the thing that really twisted the knife: she's absolutely right. And if you're a health tech or SaaS executive trying to close deals in this dumpster fire of an economy, you can't afford to be a digital ghost. Your prospects are Googling you before they even open your cold email. Your investors are stalking your LinkedIn at 2am. Your potential hires are checking if you're actually as "culture-forward" as your careers page claims.

The AI Wrote Your Bio, Didn't It?

We need to talk about your AI problem. Not the "oh no, robots are taking our jobs" problem. The "your entire online presence sounds like ChatGPT had a fever dream" problem.

Paige dropped this truth bomb that I'm still recovering from: everyone's using AI to write their content now, which means everyone sounds exactly the farcking same. Generic. Robotic. Buzzword soup.

You know that feeling when you're reading a company's About page and every sentence could apply to literally any business? "We're passionate about innovation and delivering value to our stakeholders through synergistic solutions..."

throws laptop out window

That's what happens when you let AI do all the talking. You disappear into the sea of sameness. And when you're a commodity, you compete on price. And brother, that's a race to the bottom nobody wins.

Your Brand Has Multiple Personality Disorder

Here's where it gets spicy. Paige and I got into this whole thing about brand consistency, and honestly, most B2B companies are out here operating like they have dissociative identity disorder.

Think about it:

Your marketing team is all warm and fuzzy, talking about "partnerships" and "collaboration." Then your sales team comes in hot with aggressive tactics and discount pressure. And then—THEN—your customer success team ghosts people for three weeks before sending a canned response that sounds like it was written by a depressed Roomba.

It's like walking into a Starbucks expecting your usual and finding out this location is actually a CrossFit gym that serves kale smoothies and judgment. The cognitive dissonance is exhausting for your customers.

The Southwest Airlines Secret (It's Not Cheaper Tickets)

Paige told this story about Southwest that made me want to call up every SaaS company I've ever worked with and shake them.

When you fly Southwest, even with your eyes closed, you know you're on Southwest. The crew doesn't robotically recite FAA scripts—they crack jokes, they use their personalities, they make the safety announcement feel human. You'd never mistake it for United's "we're legally obligated to tell you this" energy.

Now think about your company. If someone removed your logo from everything—your emails, your website, your pitch decks—would anyone know it was you?

Or are you just... beige?

The Wealth Manager Who Stopped Being Boring

This is where Paige blew my mind. She told me about a wealth manager client who came to her with the most generic, forgettable branding you've ever seen. "We provide comprehensive financial solutions for discerning clients." Cool story, bro. So does everyone else.

But when they dug deeper, they found her superpower: she specialized in helping women navigate sudden wealth events. Inheritance. Divorce. Lottery wins (yes, really). Sale of a business. These are emotionally loaded moments, and she was basically becoming their financial therapist through these transitions.

Once they rebranded around that specific niche, the entire community became her marketing department. People would literally call their newly divorced friends like "Susan just sold her company? Oh honey, I have THE person for you."

She went from invisible to indispensable. All because she stopped trying to be everything to everyone and started being something specific to someone specific.

The Vulnerability Thing You're Scared Of

Here's what makes me laugh: everyone wants to "build authentic connections" but nobody wants to show the dents in their armor. You want people to trust you, but you're terrified to admit that time you completely face-planted on a product launch or lost your biggest client because you got cocky.

But those stories? Those cracks and rough edges? That's where people actually connect with you.

Paige said it perfectly: "Show where you're vulnerable. Tell those stories so people remember you. You want to own that real estate in their brain."

When someone in your network hits a problem, you want them to think, "Oh shaet, I gotta call Karl—he told me about that nightmare situation he navigated. He gets it."

Not: "Hmm, what was that guy's name again? The one with the blue logo?"

P2P, H2H, Human-to-Farcking-Human

Paige calls it P2P (person to person). I call it H2H (human to human). Potato, po-tah-to. The point is: stop hiding behind corporate speak and professional polish and just... be a person.

Tell the story about where you came from. Talk about when you failed. Share what you learned when you got back up and dusted yourself off. Make people laugh. Hell, make them cry if that's what it takes.

Because at the end of the day, nobody remembers the company that had the slickest pitch deck. They remember the founder who told them about the time they almost went bankrupt and had to let their best friend go.

That's the person they call when they need help.

So What Now?

Do yourself a favor: Google yourself. Right now. Go ahead, I'll wait.

What comes up? Is it consistent? Is it you, or is it a sanitized, AI-generated version of what you think you should be?

Then do a social media audit. Does your LinkedIn say one thing while your Twitter (sorry, "X" 🙄) says something completely different? And when people meet you in real life—at that conference, that investor dinner, that coffee meeting—are you recognizable?

The executives who win in health tech, med tech, and SaaS right now aren't the ones with the biggest budgets or the fanciest tech. They're the ones who show up as actual humans. Who tell real stories. Who build relationships instead of just hunting for transactions.

Watch the full episode with Paige here [link] because she drops about a dozen more truth bombs I didn't even have space to unpack. (Including some gems about active listening that will make you rethink every sales call you've ever had.)

And remember: you're not LeBron James or Taylor Swift. But you're still a brand. So make it one worth Googling.

P.S. If you're reading this and realizing your entire digital presence is basically AI-generated oatmeal, we should talk. Not because I want to sell you something, but because watching good companies disappear into the sea of sameness is painful, and I've got thoughts about how to fix it. Hit me up. Let's connect you with somebody who can make you un-ignorable.

Karl Pontau hosts The Human Connection Podcast, where we talk about the stuff that actually matters in business: the humans running it. Because whether you're B2B or B2C, it's really H2H, human to human. Subscribe so you don't miss the next episode where we probably say something that'll make your HR department uncomfortable.