Most startups face the issue of getting brand awareness when they first emerge on the scene. This is where clever and precise marketing efforts will help spread the word of their existence. But this is only a start and the word going out sounds like "Hey, there is this new kid on the block .....".
Marketing doesn't truly help say how credible you are. And given the amount of exaggerated advertising out there, even the consumers have become generally more skeptical. Thus, any business expecting to operate into the distant future would require integrity and credibility to substain itself. Even corporations with long history of excellence and tradition fall prey when they harbour key employees with less than expected integrity. Such is the importance be staying true to your values and that of the company to bring it further. Often there are occasions where it seems more lucrative to shake off ones integrity for a while, but it sure isn't going to pay off in the long run.
However, it sometimes does takes a lot for a company to 'do the right thing'. When there has been a dangerous defect with a product, would it immediately issue a recall order or would it just send its PR Crew to clean up the toxic 'reputation' spill ?
Back to the startup scenario, besides the initial funds on hand, credibility is the best asset which you have. The industry you startup in is more often than not going to be a tight community where word spreads fast. So don't blow away your credibility because it's never coming back after that.
To quote J.P. Morgan Jr. in a statement made about being a banker -- "Since we have no power of knowing the future than any other man, we have made many mistakes (who has not during the past five years?), but our mistakes have been of judgment and not of principle."
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