/ Insight Partners

For over 25 years, Insight Partners has brought a powerful blend of experience and operational expertise to high-growth software companies, making them one of the most influential investors in the world. Recently, however, they began experiencing a bit of an identity crisis. That’s because Insight wasn’t part of the founder-obsessed VCs of Silicon Valley, nor were they among the spreadsheet-driven private equity firms of New York. Instead, they focused on the trajectory in the middle, scaling tech companies for long-term success. But what was once a unique differentiator was beginning to feel like a gray area. The brand had yet to clarify or take ownership of the space they occupied and employees struggled to tell a cohesive story.

Surviving the startup phase may seem like the key to success, but for most new companies, it’s only just the beginning. And Insight knows the stakes better than anyone. So much so, they’ve claimed ownership of the word ScaleUp – the high-growth trajectory between startup and “grown-up.” Insight also understands that these founders and executives don’t just need an investment partner, they need an invested partner. Someone they can trust with their company. Someone who can deliver the deep expertise, the proprietary database, and unmatched connections to the key players across the globe that can help their business take flight.

Since Insight really wasn’t like anyone else in the industry, it was important that they didn’t look and talk like anyone else in the industry. This meant walking away from some of the common tropes of the category – like the founder focus of Silicon Valley, or the numbers-based intensity of Wall Street – and instead amplifying what made Insight the true leader that they are. It was time that they defined their own space, and not let anyone do it for them.

We then set out to create an identity that captures the exhilaration of success by embracing the raw emotion and power inherent in the startup journey. To do this, we dramatized those critical moments when a company either falls off a cliff or soars to unimagined heights. Insight’s courage to take a stand – like owning and defining ScaleUp in a completely different way – gave us the freedom to breathe new life and meaning into existing assets. And instead of creating a new logo, we built on the value of the existing one, extending it into the future. Further proving you can create an awesome and inspiring representation of what you do, even if it looks nothing like what you do.

While our work was heavily influenced by themes of nature and movement, tension and torque, our messaging and identity had to ground this idea of flight in the science behind it. Our communications had to be hard-working and do the heavy lifting required to contextualize what makes Insight’s process so unique, while also bringing their robust offering to life.