Sam G. Winsbury

We Create Thought Leaders Through Personal Branding | 150+ Personal Brands Built | Founder & CEO Kurogo

-- DM for Speaking Enquiries --

We turn entrepreneurs into credible thought leaders through personal branding so they can scale their businesses, unlock untapped opportunities and outlast their competition.

If you’re anything like our clients, you’re an expert in your field. One of the best.

But you just don’t seem to have the reputation you deserve.

You want to be the go-to authority in your industry and become an opportunity magnet.

That way you could…

- Generate inbound leads consistently
- Win clients and customers with ease
- Attract media features
- Attract top talent
- Speak on stage

The list is endless.

We help our clients do just that through the power of personal branding, by:

1. Giving them clarity on their brand and positioning them as industry leaders.
2. Blowing up their social profiles and landing them high-profile media features.
3. Helping them convert their new-found reputation into meaningful opportunities and ROI

And having built 300+ personal brands, we’ve got quite good at it, achieving results like these in the process:

🚀 Jack generated 2.5M views and 6 figures in revenue in 90 days with us 
🚀 Joe and Olly generated millions of views and saw a record month
🚀 Guy added 5 figures of pipeline value in a matter of months
🚀 Shan Grew 24,000 followers and landed $200,000 in sales
🚀 Olie added £50K of inbound revenue to his pipeline
🚀 Sue generated over 8.3 million views in 4 months
🚀 Jemma increased her views by 51,347%
🚀 James became an Amazon Best Seller 
🚀 Tom generated 5M views in 3 months 
🚀 Anna doubled her followers in 1 year
🚀 Debbie generated 11M Views

Your reputation is your biggest asset. Take control of it! 

If you want to see how we could help you build your personal brand, shoot me a dm saying ‘Personal Brand’

If you're not quite ready yet, I post daily content on here showing you how to do it yourself.

Founder

Pret A Manger CEO Pano Christou's journey is incredible.

2000: Assistant Manager
2019: Became CEO

In a world that pushes you to start a new job every 6 months or build a 6 figure business in 3, it’s nice to see there's still a case for working your way up in one place.

Personal Brand Advisor To Leading Entrepreneurs & Execs | 350+ Brands Built | Speaker | Sky, Entrepreneur, Insider | Founder & CEO Kurogo

Between us, there are 101 reasons not to do the thing.

Not experienced enough 
Not qualified enough 
Not skilled enough
Not rich enough
Not old enough 

There might only be one reason to do it. 

But I promise you this: 

For every single one, someone else has already overcome it. 

That means it’s possible. You can too. 

So write down all the excuses. 
Scrunch up the piece of paper. 
And chuck it in the bin. 

Now go do the thing ✌️

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Newsletter 1

I share in-depth breakdowns around this content every week here: https://bit.ly/44kBkHE

Hiring!

Wanna come and join us? We're hiring!!

https://kurogo.co.uk/careers

Studio

Filmed this in the Kurogo Studio! Check it out:

https://kurogo.co.uk/studio

Positioning Plug

Quickfire example: You’re a personal trainer. 

Message: Empathetic but encouraging personal trainer who helps clients push their comfort and achieve results without destroying their confidence. 

Mission: I help mums in their 40s lose stubborn fat and discover their best body again without unsustainable training programs. 

Credibility: I’ve helped 100 women lose 8lbs in their first 90 days with my training. 

Yours will be way better because you live and breathe your brand, rather than making them up on the spot like I just did.

Story Club

This was from the Story Club Podcast with Jonny Rose - check out the full episode here where we spoke brand building, leadership and building an empire: 

https://open.spotify.com/episode/7r50h3Z2JblXx8X07L8gq1?si=258d83b79be7447b



Newsletter Training Tease

ps. Sending a free training here later today to reveal the untapped system I’ve been using to win clients like clockwork for the past few months: https://bit.ly/3ODjl9x

Scorecard

kurogo1

the-marketing-voice

founderscollective

authority-agency

brandly-group-ltd

personal-branding-wisdom

demo-data

infinity-media-group1

infinite-linkedin-growth

No more excuses

On paper, I look self made: 

- Started Kurogo at 20
- Entirely bootstrapped 
- No loan from mum and dad

 But in reality: 

- Parents never questioned me
- Mentors helped when they didn’t have to
- Friends liked my posts before anyone cared
- My first clients took a chance on a kid with no portfolio
- Teammates believed in the vision when it was just an idea

Every “self-made” story has invisible scaffolding: support, belief, opportunity.

Ps. Who's supported you recently? This is Chris who's been one of the most supportive people I've met in this crazy 6 year ride. 👇

I don’t care if you start early and have a longer lunch. 
I don’t care if you have to finish earlier to take care of your kids.
I don’t care if you work better in a cafe than at home.

I care that our clients are getting results and you like your job.

13 honest opinions of a 26 year old entrepreneur:

1. Proven formula + slight differentiation is a way smarter way to build a business than raising £10M to build the next unicorn.
2. Your life will most closely correlate to the standards you set for yourself, not the aspirations you have.
3. Early stage founders should be more dictatorial. As you grow you should be more democratic. 
4. There is not a single thing in your business that was not either created or allowed by you. 
5. A surprising amount of decisions are made from ego and self-preservation, not reason. 
6. Nothing in and of itself is either good or bad - just your perception of it.
7. You’d be a lot further ahead if you just asked for help a bit earlier.
8. You’ll win just be sticking around longer than your competitors.
9. Marketing is not a hard job (gonna get hate for that one).
10. The ‘perfect’ business model does not exist.
11. It’s the best time ever to be an entrepreneur. 
12. Most people shouldn’t be entrepreneurs.
13. We’re all just making it up.

What’s your hot take?

2020

- Struggling freelancer
- Constantly ignored
- Insecure

2021

- Started taking LinkedIn seriously
- Began building my personal brand
- Started signing more clients

2022

- Hired team members
- Signed loads of clients
- Was the ‘kid with potential’

2024

- Grew rather fast
- Got rather stressed
- Increased my prices

2026

- Run quite a good personal brand agency
- Helped 350+ people build their brands
- Happiest I’ve ever been

What changed? 

1. 6 years of trial and error 
2. Huge focus on authority over everything
3. Realising everything you want is the other side of reach and reputation

More people trusting you as an expert will never not be useful.

So start sharing your ideas/opinions/expertise online.

60 days ago I realised I needed help. 

I was WIRED. 

Sleep was terrible. 
Could never switch off. 
Felt like I couldn’t focus. 

I was always working. But rarely progressing.

I told my brother about it. 

He sent me a one-page doc with 6 exercises. 
Combined they took me ~10 minutes per day. 

“Evidence-based mindfulness” he called it. 

Honestly, I was sceptical.

But since then: 

Productivity 📈
Performance 📈
Decision Making 📈

Even a record month in January. 

The way I operate has changed for good.

Older brothers eh… always wiser. 

What’s even cooler is James is now helping entrepreneurs / senior leaders who constantly work in high-stress environments to improve their performance through the most underrated tool we have: our minds. 

Drop him a follow, or even a message, if you want to experience the kind of change I have in the last 2 months.

Most people build trust in one big effort:

A sales call, a pitch or a presentation.

In reality, trust is built through repetition.

By the sales conversion, the decision is often already 80% made.

The Trust Loop:

1. Someone comes across you for the first time
2. They see how you think about a problem they care about
3. They see you again, somewhere else, saying something consistent
4. You start to feel familiar
5. Familiar starts to feel trustworthy

That process takes time.

But you can intentionally speed it up.

Here’s how:

1. Get clear on your positioning (how you want to be seen) 
2. Build a plan for publishing content online (every week) 
3. Share opinions, thoughts, frameworks as content 
4. Look for signals of interest from your audience 
5. Analyse what worked, iterate, and repeat

People are searching your name and judging you anyway. 

You might as well put a positive bias on what they think.

In the reputation economy, trust is currency.

Most people forget this.

They tweak websites
They change offers.
They test prices.

Then they wonder why nothing moves.

Here’s why: People do not trust you enough.

90% of execs think people trust them. 
Only 30% of consumers do.
(The Trust Gap)

The best way to close that gap is with a personal brand.

→ Proof that shows you get results
→ Clear positioning that shows who you are for
→ Consistent content that shows how you think
→ A real face and real story behind the company

You give people reasons to believe you before they buy from you.

You with me?

Went skiing for a week. Didn’t do any work. 

Kurogo functioned exactly as normal.

I think this is good?

Ps. okay I checked my emails but I PROMISE I didn’t do actual work.

Company Page (60K Followers): 17 Likes per post

4x Senior Team (23K Total Followers): 268,000 Views per month

Here’s the 6-step system to turn executives into profit centres: 

Step 1: Identify who to spotlight

Look for 2 things:

→ Deep domain expertise
→ Willingness to be visible

--

Step 2: Interview and audit

We run a 60–90 minute interview and ask things like:

→ What decisions do you make each week?
→ What changes are you observing in the industry?
→ What are common challenges customers raise?

--

Step 3: Define positioning

Build out 3 statements:

→ Promise: Clear outcome they help people achieve
→ Proof: Numbers, case studies, logos, career story
→ Packaging: Tone, topics, story types, visuals

--

Step 4: Amplify through content

We use a simple mix:

→ 40% growth: stories and wider industry takes
→ 40% authority: frameworks and “how I think” posts
→ 20% conversion: product, hiring, events, lead magnets

--

Step 5: Convert visibility to pipeline

We link content to:

→ A clear next step (guide, webinar, event, pipeline asset)
→ Simple tracking: sourced calls, influenced deals, talent inbound

--

Step 6: Cadence and governance

This process has to work for busy execs: 

→ Monthly content sessions
→ Quarterly profile and positioning audit
→ Shared comms channel with wider marketing

Detailed breakdown here: https://lnkd.in/egy-68-K

There you go, you can do it yourself now. 

Or just DM me if you’d rather us do it for you. 

Image: Charlie Heritage

Somewhere there’s a graveyard of brilliant, invisible CEOs.

People who built great businesses.
Solved meaningful problems.
Delivered genuine results.

And still lost deals to people who were simply… more visible.

Here’s the thing: 

Doing great work quietly is no longer net-neutral.
It actively works against you.

Today, buyers don’t “discover” expertise by accident.

They form opinions long before their first conversation with you.
(based on what they see, recognise, and remember online)

Imagine this scenario:

Two founders. Same industry / experience / product.

- One is visible, sharing how they think, decide, and lead.
- The other is quiet, assuming product will do the talking.

Six months later, who’s further ahead? 

Today’s markets don’t just reward the best products.
They reward the most visible experts.

So ask yourself this, if someone Googles/Linkedins you today, they’re forming a judgement. Are you controlling that judgement or leaving it to chance?

Ps. This 5 step personal branding roadmap from Charlie Heritage is a good place to start if you’re in the ‘leaving it to chance’ camp.

I don’t have a marketing degree or work experience.

But today I’ve built personal brands for 350 people. 

How we got here: 

Age 17: Started blogging 

Age 18: Self-taught basic marketing 

Age 19: Did a few freelance gigs (mostly unpaid) 

Age 20: Discovered LinkedIn and got quite good at it

Age 20.5: Consulted on LinkedIn for a few business owners

Age 21: Launched Kurogo (it was called Brandly back then!)

Age 26: Now well over 350 execs and entrepreneurs helped

At every age one thing was true: 

I did things I wasn’t qualified for and figured it out. 

Best life skill ever.

For 15 years, the growth playbook was “send & spend”.

Run ads → generate leads → sales grinds → numbers game → maths works.

And to be fair… it did work when buying was simple and linear.

2005 buying: see ad → click → buy.

But 2026 buying is not linear.

2026 buying: see you → ignore you → see you again → ask a friend → google you → check your LinkedIn → read comments → watch a video → forget → come back 3 weeks later → then enquire.

It’s not a funnel anymore. It’s a squiggly line.

Inside the chaos, only one thing matters:

Trust.

Because when buyers have unlimited choice and unlimited information, they don’t pick the “best” option on paper.

They pick the option that feels safest.
The one they trust most.

Here’s the truth:

If you still rely on “cheap leads + pushy sales” to do the heavy lifting,
you’re betting against how modern buyers behave.

They do the work before they ever speak to you:

- searching your name
- checking your LinkedIn
- looking for social proof
- scanning for authority
- testing if you’re credible

So if your marketing is only designed for volume

but not designed to create trust…
you’re just paying to enter the messy middle 
(where you’re judged, compared, and forgotten)

That’s why trust-based marketing is winning.

And the best way to collapse the timeline for trust? 

Personal brand.

- 89.4% are more likely to trust a company if a senior leader is seen as an expert
- 98.2% say leadership expertise affects purchasing decisions
- 85.9% would pay at least 2x more to work with a leader in their space

The top 1% in every industry are exploiting this.

Over the last few years, I’ve even used it to:

- help 350+ execs build their brands
- generate 100M+ views
- drive £10M+ in pipeline

And I’ve seen the same patterns again and again.

There are 5 trends the top 1% of industry leaders are using to dominate 2026.

I’m breaking all of them down in a new live training:

“The 2026 Personal Brand Playbook: How To Build A $1M Personal Brand.”

If you want your reputation to do more of the heavy lifting…

Join the live training here: https://lnkd.in/e6ZKYnmB

Ps. Everyone who attends will get our FULL LinkedIn Profile Optimisation Blueprint for free (usually £79)

People don’t buy the way they did in 2005.

They don’t click and decide.

They click → contemplate → Google you → read reviews → check your LinkedIn → watch a YouTube video → forget about you → come back later → see your content → then decide.

If there’s nothing there, they pick a competitor.

This is where personal brand is non-negotiable.

When people already recognise you, everything works better.

Ads convert more easily.
Outbound feels warmer.
Sales starts closer to “yes”.

Their snap judgement and long term decision is biased by trust in YOU. 

If you’re selling $7 ebooks, probably not that useful. 

If you’re selling 4, 5, 6+ figure deals, probably very useful.

Ps. For those 4/5/6 figure deal people I'm jamming with Louis Butterfield, Alex Vacca 🧠🛠️ and Niall Ratcliffe later today on how we're signing clients through LinkedIn. 

1pm GMT here: https://lnkd.in/ePfG_Cyr

$2M generated from 1 video/week → 122/250 founders (and counting)

Alex Vacca 🧠🛠️, Niall Ratcliffe and Sam G. Winsbury

3 of LinkedIn's most respected agency owners in 1 room.

We've all spent 100s of hours here. Maybe 1000s.
So why are we still relying on referrals?

Because there is SO MUCH content out there that just straight up isn't helpful.

Otherwise, we'd all be swimming in clients, right?

But these guys have built 7-figure agencies from the ground up.

Niall Ratcliffe (noticed.) 
Alex Vacca (ColdIQ) 
and Sam G. Winsbury (Kurogo - Personal Branding Agency) 

So if you want to know how the best agencies in the world close clients on LinkedIn,

Then this event was made for you, amigo.

45 mins.
no pitch.
🫶

When a CEO says they don’t want to post because it feels egotistical, I usually agree with them.

Most content IS egotistical.
That’s also why it performs badly.

The mistake is thinking personal branding = talking about yourself.

It isn’t.

Good personal branding isn’t “look at me!!”.

It’s “have you seen this?”.

Here’s my framework for low-ego content (The Authority Filter)

Before you post anything, ask three questions 👇

1. Does this help someone make a better decision?
2. Does this have utility in their day to day life?
3. Does this come from lived experience?

If the answer is yes, post it and don’t second guess yourself. 

Some examples that pass the filter:

“A mistake I see founders make when hiring senior leaders”
“Why this deal stalled and what I’d do differently next time”
“A pattern I keep seeing in companies that plateau”

All add to your personal authority. 
But none come across egotistical.

Hope this helps ✌️

Ps. if you do just want me team and I to do this for you, we take on 3-5 execs every month to build their personal brand strategy and produce their content. Just drop me a DM.

Pps. Graphic is from Satwik!

For years, 'having a great product' was enough.

Your work would do the talking... That world is closing. Fast.

Here is what the data says:

→ 90% of executives think people trust them
→ 30% of customers actually do

Pwc call it 'The Trust Gap'.

That gap is where deals are won and lost.

Best way to close it? Personal branding.

When I look at the 350+ brands we have built, the ones who win treat personal branding as a tool, not an ego trip.

They follow a simple flow:

1️⃣ Position

You become “THE person for X”, not “Another option”.

→ Clear proof
→ Clear promise
→ Clear point of view

2️⃣ Amplify

You show up where your buyers already spend time.

→ Content that speaks to their pain
→ Opinion, frameworks, predictions
→ It acts like a 24/7 salesperson

3️⃣ Convert

You turn attention into pipeline.

→ Clear, low friction next steps
→ Nurturing focus, not chasing
→ Ecosystems, not funnels

We are in the reputation economy.

So today I'm breaking down the 5 trends that will separate the top 1% of leaders from everyone else in 2026:

→ The rise of the executive personal brand
→ The shift from posting to positioning
→ Fame vs authority
→ Ecosystem-driven growth
→ How AI will make or break your reputation

If you want your face to be the one people trust in 2026, now is the time to build it.

Join us for our workshop later where I have nothing to pitch to you:

https://lnkd.in/e6ZKYnmB

In this session, Sam Winsbury (Founder of Kurogo) will walk through the 5 Trends That Will Separate the Top 1% of Thought Leaders From Everyone Else in 2026:

✅ The rise of the executive personal brand (and why people trust individuals far more than companies

✅ Why positioning beats posting (and how authority compounds)

✅ Why fame ≠ authority (and how ‘smaller’ brands are winning higher-value deals)

✅ The “ecosystem” strategy replacing funnels (how modern consumers really ‘buy before they pay’)

✅ How to use AI without damaging your reputation

Plus everyone who attends will get 3 exclusive bonuses:

🎁 Bonus 1: Our Complete Guide To Building A Personal Brand in 2026
🎁 Bonus 2: Our Profile Optimisation Checklist For Free (Worth £79)
🎁 Bonus 3: A Free 30 Day Trial To The Thought Leader’s Academy (Worth £97)

This session is designed for:

- Founders, CEOs, and marketing teams
- Consultants, coaches, and professional services
- Anyone whose business depends on trust, credibility, and reputation

If you feel like:

- opportunities are harder to come by
- sales cycles are getting longer
- competition feels louder but not better
- or you’re being overlooked despite having a great offer

This session will give you the roadmap to dominating your industry in 2026. 

🗓️ 5th February 2026
⏰ 18.00 GMT / 12.00 CST

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