BrandYourself Profile: Founders, History and What It Does

Originally published June 2026. Updated October 19, 2026.

What is BrandYourself?

BrandYourself is a New York online reputation software company founded in 2010 by Pete Kistler, Patrick Ambron and Evan McGowan-Watson, led by CEO Ambron. It sells a freemium tool that lets individuals audit what appears when their name is searched, with paid software and managed services for people who want the work done for them.

How did BrandYourself start?

The three co-founders started the company while at Syracuse University, according to Wikipedia. Central New York Business Journal reported that the company incubated in Syracuse's Tech Garden through the Student Sandbox program in 2009.

The firm's origin story says Kistler struggled to find an internship because his name was confused with a man convicted on drug charges, and that reputation firms quoted $25,000 minimums. NPR said it could not find a drug dealer named Pete Kistler, per the same source, so the story is the firm's account.

What makes BrandYourself different from managed reputation firms?

BrandYourself built a do-it-yourself model for individuals, where a user submits the links they want to rank and the software helps those pages climb for their name. CEO Patrick Ambron told BetaKit at its launch that the company targeted individual users rather than businesses, and that hiring a reputation firm cost far more than an average person could pay.

The company's free audit tools act as the entry point to paid software and managed services. That structure explains why it competes on volume with consumer products, not with the executive-focused firms in EPR's reputation profiles.

How has BrandYourself been funded?

TechCrunch reported in 2016 that BrandYourself raised another $2 million, two years after a $3.3 million Series A. The round came from FF Angels, the early-stage fund of Founders Fund, plus earlier backers New Atlantic Ventures and Barney Pell. Ambron said then that the company had grown to an 80-person team and become profitable.

Latka estimates total funding of about $6.8 million across four rounds, roughly 77 employees in 2026 (down from 93 in 2020) and about $6.4 million in revenue. These are third-party estimates, not company disclosures.

What happened on Shark Tank and Dragons' Den?

In 2015 Ambron pitched on ABC's Shark Tank, and Inc. reported that Robert Herjavec offered $2 million, which Ambron declined because the company had recently raised $3 million at a roughly $15 million valuation. Sources differ on the equity involved: Inc. says Herjavec asked for 20 percent, the Daily Orange says 25 percent, and SlashGear puts Ambron's original ask at $2 million for 13.5 percent.

In 2018 Ambron and COO Nathan Evans appeared on the BBC's Dragons' Den and accepted an offer from Peter Jones, according to Wikipedia. SlashGear put that investment at 100,000 pounds.

What is HelloPrivacy?

HelloPrivacy is a privacy product Ambron started in 2019 that helps people protect personal data online, per SlashGear. It sits alongside BrandYourself's reputation tools and covers the privacy side of what the company sells.

What do users say about BrandYourself?

TrustRadius summarizes reviewer feedback as positive on the guides that teach users how to improve their search score and on help getting recent press and profiles onto the first page of Google. Reviewers also raised concerns about the billing model and the interface, which is common feedback for self-serve tools.

How does BrandYourself compare with other reputation firms?

BrandYourself sells software to individuals, whereas many peers sell managed services to executives and companies. See EPR's profiles of Status Labs, Terakeet, NetReputation, Igniyte and Reputation.com, and the pillar on online reputation management.

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Related: PR agency profiles directory · Online reputation management · Reputation firms ranking · Go Fish Digital

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