Or, why it might not be a good idea to use a fake name for your business.

Australian business man Craig Steven Wright, the Sydney based computer engineer and entrepreneur, is the latest business profile to be identified as the creator of Bitcoin. He claims he and Dave Kleiman (now deceased) were the inventors of Bitcoin, that they are the real people behind the fake name Satoshi Nakamoto.

Theories on who is actually the entrepreneur behind the pseudonym have abounded since Bitcoin's founding and many a nerd tech-savvy investigator have tried to track down the originators behind the online currency for some time now. While they've found many different candidates with varying degrees of plausibility, Craig Wright has been identified based on some hacked emails and files. He has also himself stated that he is in fact the co-creator on several occasions.

Taking a brand persona too far

So then, why the pseudonym? Why bother creating a fictional persona behind which you launch your company? If all you create is a situation where suddenly you have to prove you are who you say you are. It was probably linked to his announcement last year that he would establish the world's first Bitcoin bank. So he launched a business he wasn't sure he wanted his name attached to but following its success he later decided to seize an opportunity to expand. Maybe.

Or possibly neither Craig Wright nor Dave Kleiman were ever involved and the real Bitcoin founder is quietly chuckling to him/herself, like Clark Kent with his glasses on.

You are your business

This all highlights the issue of using your identity, your actual self, to launch your business. Bringing your personality into what you do isn't just a marketing ploy; it's a way of life, corny though it may sound. Did Satoshi Nakamoto really bring anything to the success of Bitcoin? You could suggest that the ongoing search for the real creators has added some good ‘ol marketing hype. But that isn't worth much compared to a solid, well-rounded marketing campaign that relies on more than some temporary excitement to introduce a brand. The hype is also not much compared to the lengths the creator, whoever he/she/they actually are now has to go through to prove they were in fact the innovators.

Yes, of course Bitcoin are hugely successful in the eyes of most people, despite their value diminishing lately. However, that was not due to their misguided attempt at creating mystique, or hype, or just general confusion - whatever the thought behind Mr Nakamoto may have been. They were successful because their value proposition was good and their execution was well timed and well planned. The hype was not needed, which is the most important lesson to be learned here from any future (or present) entrepreneur.