Yeah, reading this I thought he was talking about "build your user base first, and your brand second", so it wasn't entirely clear from the title of the article.
Exactly. "Brand" is a bit of biz-marketing speak that always makes my hair stand on end anyway, but I've sort of come to terms with it as it refers to your company or organization's public face/perception. But if you're just using it to refer to external corporate partners, it's confusing, to me anyway.
Yeah, that's the challenge with biz-marketing speak in general - it's sales driven (not specifics driven or always substantive) and that frustrates me too!