A logo sounds simple it's just a little image, right? Pick some colors, find a font, call it done. But when you've spent years building businesses, coaching founders, and figuring out who you actually are underneath all the titles and roles, suddenly that "little image" carries a lot of weight.
This is the story of how I got to my logo. And why it took longer than I expected.
It Started with a Name
For a while, I wrestled with what to even call this brand. I knew I wanted to build something that brought together everything I do the coaching, the Birthing of Giants cohorts, the advisory work, the content under one roof. Something that felt like me, not a corporate-sounding firm name.
Then it clicked: by Mathias.
It's personal. It's mine. It scales across everything I do and plan on doing.
- Reclaim Code by Mathias the framework for getting yourself back
- Meditations by Mathias slowing down to go deeper
- Business Coaching by Mathias helping founders build without losing themselves
- Investments by Mathias putting resources behind what matters
- Events by Mathias bringing the right people into the same room
The lowercase "by" was intentional — approachable, not arrogant. It signals that what follows was made with care by a real person, not a faceless company. And it creates a through-line across five very different offerings that are really just expressions of the same belief: that how you build matters as much as what you build.
I want to be clear about something: this is not meant to become a scalable organization with hundreds of employees. That's not the point. The point is that my handwriting is on every single thing I do. Personable. Customized. Real. What I will leverage is something far more valuable than headcount with an extensive network of founders, executives, mentors, and experts who bring depth and perspective to the people I work with. The brand is small by design and powerful by relationship.
Once I had the name, I thought the rest would be easy.
It wasn't.
The First Round: Text-Only Options
I started with typography. Three text-based options, all variations of "MATHIAS" and "by Mathias" in different weights and arrangements. Clean. Professional. Fine.
But fine isn't memorable.
Looking at those three options side by side, I knew something was missing. A wordmark tells people your name. A logomark tells them something deeper it creates a visual shorthand for everything you stand for. I needed a symbol.
The Mark That Changed Everything
But I didn't get there alone. I have to give a massive shoutout to my friend, neighbor, and creative collaborator Randy Varela (@randy-varela) the person who brought this mark to life.
Randy isn't just a talented designer. He's someone I trust. Our daughters are best friends and we live a few steps from each other. The truth is, once I finally approached him, it came together quickly. The long part was all me — the internal wrestling, the clarity-finding, figuring out what I actually wanted to say before I ever said it out loud. By the time I brought Randy in, I knew what I was after. He had the skill and the instincts to bring it to life fast. He understood what I was trying to build not because I gave him a detailed brief, but because he simply knows me. That's a rare thing to have in any creative process, and I didn't take it for granted for a single second.
So when I say the logo captured something true, a big part of that is because I did the hard inner work first and Randy was ready to run with it.
Then came the icon and honestly, when I first saw it, I knew we were onto something.
A double "M" forming two mountain peaks, sitting inside a warm gold circle. Where the peaks meet at the center, a water droplet flows downward. Below it, the wordmark: "by" in a lighter weight, "Mathias" bold and confident. And one small detail that most people won't consciously notice but will feel — the dot on the "i" in Mathias is gold, pulling the eye back up to the mark and tying the whole thing together. It represents creativity, ingenuity, ideation, and attention to detail.
At first glance it reads as my initial. Look a little longer and you see the mountains — the climb, the ambition, the view from having actually made it to the top. Then the droplet at the center where the peaks connect — not floating on its own, but emerging from the relationship between the two sides. That detail matters. The meaning isn't in either peak alone. It's in where they meet.
That's not just a logo. That's a metaphor for what I actually do.
I've spent my career climbing — bootstrapping woom bikes USA from zero to $20M+, eventually leading a $100M+ global operation. I've felt the altitude and the isolation that comes with it. And somewhere along the way, I learned that what keeps you going isn't grit alone. It's the connection. It's the people. It's having the right relationships around you, the right frameworks, the right energy.
The logomark held all of that without saying a word.
Then Came the Color Problem
Eight versions. Eight different colors. Navy. Teal. Olive. Bronze. Sage. Charcoal. Rust. Deep teal.
All of them worked. None of them were obviously right.
This is where the process got genuinely interesting and a little humbling. Because choosing a color isn't just an aesthetic decision. It's a brand values decision. It's asking: What do I want people to feel when they see this?
For a coaching brand, I needed something that signaled both trust and warmth. Credibility and approachability. The charcoal and navy felt premium but a little cold. The greens felt nature-forward in a way that didn't quite land for executive coaching. The warm browns felt artisanal, handcrafted close, but not quite.
I kept coming back to the gold. That warm, earthy circle around the "M" it felt like a seal. Like something worth paying attention to.
What the Logo Actually Represents
Here's what I want you to understand about the final mark:
The mountains are the journey. Every founder I work with is climbing something scaling a company, navigating a transition, trying to figure out who they are on the other side of a big chapter. I've been on that climb. The peaks in the logo aren't aspirational decoration. They're real.
The connection of the mountain tops was is the anchor. My whole coaching philosophy is built around sustainability and relationships not just building a bigger business, but building a better life. Energy management. Integration. Staying whole while doing hard things. I I wanted to show the trusted relationship and the connection. That's the kind of leadership I'm trying to help people grow into.
The circle is community. None of us do this alone. Birthing of Giants, SKU, the Austin founder ecosystem the best thing I've ever done is stop trying to climb in isolation. The circle holds everything together.
The Lesson in All of It
I used to think branding was something you did at the beginning and then moved on from. Design some stuff, print some cards, launch.
What I've learned is that the brand process when you take it seriously is actually a clarifying process. Every decision forces you to answer a deeper question: What do I actually stand for? What do I want to be known for? Who am I trying to reach, and what do I want them to feel?
The logo didn't come first. The clarity came first. The logo just captured it.
If you're in the middle of building something a company, a personal brand, a second chapter I hope this gives you permission to slow down on the surface stuff long enough to get the foundation right. The mark matters. But only because what it represents matters more.
Mathias Ihlenfeld is a 3x Inc. 5000 entrepreneur, Birthing of Giants Central Texas Cohort Leader, and founder of the by Mathias coaching and advisory practice. He works with founders and executives navigating growth, transition, and leadership without losing themselves in the process.