| Aspect | What Works for Founders on LinkedIn | What Trips Founders Up |
|---|---|---|
| Positioning | Clear niche, simple promise, problem-focused profile | Generic “founder / entrepreneur / advisor” labels |
| Content | Stories, lessons, proof, consistent posting | Random topics, only sharing links, posting once a month |
| Credibility | Case studies, screenshots, client wins, comments | Vague claims, buzzwords, no receipts |
| Network | Targeted connections, comments, DMs with context | Mass spam, “let’s hop on a call” messages, no follow-up |
| Time Investment | 30-45 minutes a day, focused on posting and commenting | Overthinking posts, lurking, no consistent system |
LinkedIn is where your customers, partners, and future hires search your name, judge you in three seconds, and decide if they take you seriously. Your personal brand there either warms people up before a sales call or makes every conversation harder than it needs to be. For a founder, that difference compounds. Technically, you could grow without it. In practice, it becomes a tax on every deal, every hire, and every fundraising round.
What “personal brand” on LinkedIn really means for a founder
Forget the vague buzz. On LinkedIn, your personal brand as a founder is just the answer to three questions:
1. Who are you for
2. What problem do you own
3. Why should anyone trust you
Everything else is decoration.
If someone lands on your profile, reads two posts, and scrolls your activity for 20 seconds, they should be able to answer those three questions without thinking. If they cannot, you do not have a brand. You have a profile.
Your profile is a static brochure. Your brand is the living pattern in your content, comments, and messages.
For founders, this matters because people rarely buy only the product. They buy your judgment. They buy your thinking about the problem. LinkedIn is where you show that thinking at scale.
Step 1: Decide your founder positioning on LinkedIn
You wear multiple hats in your company. On LinkedIn, you need one clear hat.
Are you the:
– “technical founder who turns messy processes into clean systems”
– “B2B sales founder who knows how to get first meetings”
– “product founder obsessed with customer research”
Pick your main lane. Then lock it into every part of your profile and content.
Choose your “problem sentence”
You want one sentence that lives in people’s heads when they think of you. Start with this template:
“I help [very specific audience] get [clear result] by [simple method].”
Examples:
– “I help B2B founders book qualified demos using simple LinkedIn outbound.”
– “I help early-stage SaaS teams turn churned users into referral engines.”
– “I help DTC brands raise AOV through honest email marketing.”
Keep it grounded. No fluff. No vague “scale your business” stuff.
Ask yourself:
– Would a stranger instantly know if this is for them
– Could someone repeat this to a friend after seeing it once
If the answer feels like “maybe”, it is not clear enough yet.
Place your positioning in three core spots
You want consistency across:
1. Headline
2. About section
3. Top of your Featured section
Your headline does most of the work. It follows you everywhere: comments, search, DMs.
Bad founder headlines:
– “Founder | CEO | Advisor | Investor | Speaker”
– “Helping businesses grow”
– “Passionate about innovation and leadership”
Strong founder headlines:
– “I help B2B founders book 10+ qualified demos / month with LinkedIn outbound”
– “Founder at [Company] | We help HR teams fill roles 40% faster with referral hiring”
Notice how these talk about who you serve and what they get, not your ego.
People should know what to pay you for before they know your title.
Step 2: Turn your profile into a landing page
Think of your profile as a landing page for your brain. A stranger lands there from:
– a comment you wrote
– a post that showed up in their feed
– a search for your name
Your job is simple: help them decide if they want more from you. That could be:
– following your content
– visiting your site
– booking a call
– replying to a DM later without friction
Headline and profile photo: pass the 2-second test
In two seconds, someone should get:
– who you help
– the main result
– a sense that you are a real person
Profile photo basics:
– Clear, front-facing, neutral background
– You looking at the camera
– Simple, calm expression
Banner:
Use it to repeat your promise, not to add chaos.
Simple banner structure:
– Left side: short line like “Book 10+ qualified demos / month from LinkedIn”
– Right side: your name, maybe your logo
Keep it clean. People glance, they do not study.
The About section: write it like a short sales letter
Do not write a life story. Treat it like a direct response email.
A basic structure that works well:
1. Start with the problem your audience feels
2. Show that you understand the context
3. Share relevant proof
4. Invite a clear next step
Example outline for a founder helping B2B teams with outbound:
1. “Most B2B founders hate outbound because it feels spammy and random.”
2. “You tried automation tools. The meetings are low quality or no-shows.”
3. “At [Company], we have built outbound systems for 47 B2B teams… etc.”
4. “If you want to see what this would look like for your pipeline, send me a connection request with the word ‘Outbound’ and I will send you our simple playbook.”
Keep language simple. Read it out loud. If you would not say it in conversation, rewrite it.
Featured section: show outcomes, not opinions
The Featured section is where you show evidence.
Good items for founders:
– Case study posts
– A short “How we helped X go from Y to Z” breakdown
– A no-gate “mini playbook” in Google Docs
– Podcast interview where you share a clear strategy
– Your best performing posts that show your thinking
Bad items:
– Random link to homepage with no context
– Old press that does not match your current positioning
– Generic “our story” page
Ask: “If a potential customer clicks only these 3 items, do they get why people hire us?”
Experience: clarify what your company actually does
Instead of a vague paragraph, write:
– 1-2 sentences on who you help and the problem
– 3-5 short lines on the main services or offers
– A summary of results you have created
Example:
“At [Company], we help B2B SaaS founders build LinkedIn outbound engines that bring in 10+ qualified demos per month without spam.
We do this through:
– Offer positioning and ICP refinement
– LinkedIn profile and messaging setup
– Inbox management and meeting booking
Recent wins:
– Helped [Client] book 32 demos in 30 days
– Cut cost per demo by 57% for a Series A SaaS team”
Again, keep it focused. One clear story.
Step 3: Build a content system that you can actually keep up
Most founders stall here. They know they “should post more”, then life gets busy, and LinkedIn becomes a graveyard of random updates.
You do not need viral posts. You need consistency.
Your personal brand is the byproduct of what you publish and how often people see it, not the result of one clever post.
Aim for a simple system you can maintain:
– 3 posts per week
– 15-20 minutes of commenting per weekday
– 1 deep post per week that shows real thinking
Pick 3 core content pillars
Everything you post should reinforce your positioning. Choose 3 pillars:
1. Problem and mistakes your audience makes
2. Methods and frameworks you use
3. Proof: case studies, screenshots, behind the scenes
Example for a founder whose company builds outbound engines:
1. Problems / mistakes:
– Why your outbound messages feel like spam
– 3 reasons your SDRs burn out
– Why copying templates from gurus fails
2. Methods:
– How we write first-line openers that get replies
– Our daily inbox workflow
– How we choose who to contact on LinkedIn
3. Proof:
– “Client went from 3 to 14 demos / week in 6 weeks” breakdown
– Screenshot of calendar with context
– “We tested 4 subject lines; here is what happened”
This way, your content creates a pattern in the reader’s mind:
“This person understands my problem.”
“This person has a clear method.”
“This person gets results.”
Use simple post formats that work on LinkedIn
You do not need fancy carousels. Text posts still work very well.
Here are some battle-tested formats:
1. “Here is the mistake” posts
Start with a strong, specific line:
– “Your outbound is not failing because of your script. It is failing because you wrote it in a vacuum.”
Then explain the problem, show a better way, and close with a short line like:
– “If you fix only this part, your reply rate will usually jump.”
2. Story with lesson
Real, specific, short story:
– “We had a founder come to us with 1200 unread LinkedIn messages…”
– What happened
– What you changed
– What you learned
3. Before / after breakdown
– “Client before: 2 demos / week, 40% no show. After: 9 demos / week, 10% no show.”
– Explain the 2-3 levers you pulled.
4. “What I would do if…” posts
– “If I were starting LinkedIn outbound from scratch as a founder with 0 audience, here is exactly what I would do for 30 days.”
The key is clarity. Short paragraphs. White space. One main idea per post.
Create a weekly content ritual
To avoid the “what do I post today?” stress, give yourself a tiny system.
Example weekly rhythm:
– Monday: Problem / mistake post
– Wednesday: Method / framework post
– Friday: Proof / story post
On Friday afternoon or Sunday, spend 45-60 minutes:
– Gather 3-5 ideas from the week: sales calls, client chats, internal discussions
– Turn each idea into a short outline with 3-5 key points
– Write or at least rough-draft the posts
Then each posting day:
– Spend 10-15 minutes polishing the post
– Publish
– Reply to comments at two points in the day
This keeps your brand alive without taking over your calendar.
Step 4: Comment strategy for founders
Your posts are one channel. Your comments are the other. For many founders, strong comments on the right posts bring more reach and leads than their own content for the first few months.
Think of comments as micro-posts placed in front of someone else’s audience.
Who to comment on
Build a small daily “comment list” of people whose audiences overlap with yours:
– Thought leaders your buyers already follow
– Non-competing founders who sell to the same ICP
– Partners: agencies, consultants, service providers
– Existing customers who post about relevant topics
Follow 20-30 of them and add them to a bookmark folder. Each weekday, spend 15-20 minutes:
– Check their 5-10 most recent posts
– Leave real comments on the ones that match your expertise
How to write comments that get noticed
Bad comments:
– “Great post!”
– “Totally agree”
– “Love this”
Good comments:
– Add one nuance they did not include
– Share a quick example from your own experience
– Ask a specific question that opens the conversation
Example:
Original post: “Cold outbound is not dead if your targeting is right.”
Flat comment: “So true.”
Stronger comment:
“We saw this with a B2B SaaS client. Their script was fine. The problem was that 70% of their prospects had no buyer intent and no budget. Once we restricted outreach to 3 trigger events (new funding, new role, active job post) reply rates jumped from 3% to 18%.”
That comment:
– Shows experience
– Shares a result
– Feels concrete
– Attracts profile views
Even if you never post, 5-10 of these comments a day start building your brand.
Step 5: Use your personal brand to drive actual business
Views and likes are nice. Revenue, hiring, and partnerships are what matter for a founder.
You want a clear path from:
Content and comments
↓
Profile views and follows
↓
Conversations
↓
Deals, hires, intros
Create simple “entry points” for conversations
You can gently invite people to talk to you without sounding pushy.
Examples you can embed into posts:
– “If you want the message script we use, comment ‘Script’ and I will send it to you.”
– “If you are a B2B founder and want a quick teardown of your LinkedIn profile, send me a DM with ‘Profile’.”
– “We put our outbound playbook into a free doc. Reply ‘Playbook’ and I will send the link.”
This does a few things:
– Signals what you actually help with
– Starts conversations with people who already showed interest
– Feels natural for them
Do not overcomplicate it. One clear invitation per week is enough.
Handle DMs like a human, not a bot
Once people reach out, your brand is on the line.
Guidelines:
– Always reference the context: “Saw your comment on X’s post” or “Thanks for reading my post about Y.”
– Ask one or two questions to see if you can help at all
– If it makes sense, ask permission before sending a calendar link
Example flow:
“Hey [Name], appreciate your comment on the outbound post.
Out of curiosity, what does your current flow look like for booking demos from LinkedIn right now?”
After they answer, you might say:
“Got it. From what you shared, there might be 2-3 quick tweaks that could help.
If you want, happy to walk through them on a short call. No pitch, just a teardown. If it is helpful and you want help implementing later, we can talk about that then.”
Simple, honest, clear.
Step 6: Balance founder authority with real vulnerability
If your content is only wins and bragging, people tune out. If it is only struggles, it signals chaos. You want to show that you are a real person who is still learning, but also someone who gets things done.
Authority without vulnerability feels distant. Vulnerability without authority feels unstable.
Aim for a mix over time:
– 50-60%: teaching and proof
– 20-30%: stories of mistakes and lessons
– 10-20%: personal angles that tie back to your work
Examples:
– “We tried to automate our outbound replies. It backfired, here is what happened.”
– “We almost churned one of our best customers because I ignored this small signal.”
– “What I got wrong about hiring SDRs for our own team.”
Share the mistake, own it, show the fix.
Avoid turning LinkedIn into your diary. Your audience follows you because you help them move forward. Personal content works when it makes your business content more believable.
Step 7: Use your team without losing your authentic voice
Many founders want to build a brand but do not have the time to do all of it alone. You can involve your team. The key is to keep the voice real.
There are three main options:
1. You write everything yourself
2. You write outlines, team polishes and posts
3. Team drafts, you edit for 10-15 minutes and add your voice
For most busy founders, option 3 works well.
A simple system:
– You send voice notes with ideas and stories
– A marketer or writer turns them into posts
– You edit, tweak examples, and add personal angles
– You handle DMs and high-stakes comments yourself
If you go this route:
– Avoid generic phrasing that you would never use
– Keep your quirks: certain phrases, ways of explaining things, favorite analogies
– Give your team feedback on which posts feel most “you”
People can feel when a founder’s content is ghostwritten with no soul. The goal is not perfection. It is consistency with your real thinking.
Step 8: LinkedIn for fundraising, hiring, and partnerships
Your brand on LinkedIn carries weight far beyond direct customer acquisition.
Using LinkedIn for fundraising
Investors and angels search your name. They scroll your posts. They look at who comments.
You want your content and profile to show:
– Clear understanding of your market and customer
– Proof that you can attract and communicate with your audience
– Evidence of momentum: wins, product updates, customer love
Content ideas in a fundraising season:
– Honest updates about what you are learning from users
– Short “behind the scenes” of product decisions
– Metrics snapshots with context (no vanity, just clarity)
– Lessons from experiments that failed and what you changed
You are not pitching in your posts. You are showing that you think clearly and execute.
Using LinkedIn for hiring
Great candidates scroll your LinkedIn before they apply or reply to a recruiter.
If they see:
– No content
– Vague messaging
– Signs of chaos
They pass.
If they see:
– Clear vision
– Honest stories about building the company
– Evidence that you care about your customers
They lean in.
You can post things like:
– “We made our first non-founder sales hire. Here is why and what we learned.”
– “We lost a candidate we really wanted because of X. Here is how we changed our process.”
– “What we look for in early team members.”
These posts self-select the people who resonate with how you build.
Using LinkedIn for partnerships and collaborations
A strong founder brand:
– Makes intros easier
– Helps you get replies from busy people
– Shortens the time needed to build trust
You can reach out to potential partners referencing:
– Posts of theirs you engaged with
– Overlap between your audiences
– Clear, small, low-risk starting point
Your profile and content become your warm intro, even when you have no mutual connection.
Step 9: Measure what matters (without obsessing over vanity)
Metrics help you know if your brand is taking shape, but they can also distract you.
Here are useful signals for founders:
– Profile views: trending up over 60-90 days
– Connection requests: more from your target audience
– DMs: more messages that reference your posts
– Sales calls: more leads saying “I have been following you”
– Inbound opportunities: podcasts, webinars, guest posts
What matters less:
– Raw follower count
– Viral posts that attract the wrong audience
– Engagement from people who will never buy, partner, or refer
Set rough expectations:
– Months 1-3: foundations, low visible traction, a few warm conversations
– Months 3-6: more consistent profile views and comments, some inbound leads
– Months 6-12: people start to “know” you for a specific problem
This takes time. But once it compounds, it keeps working while you are in meetings, building product, or taking a day off.
Step 10: A practical 30-day LinkedIn plan for founders
To make this real, here is a simple 30-day starter plan.
Week 1: Foundations and profile
– Clarify your “problem sentence”
– Rewrite your headline, About, and Experience sections
– Create or update your banner to repeat your main promise
– Choose your 3 content pillars
– Build your “comment list” of 20-30 profiles
Posting:
– Publish 2 posts: one on a problem, one on a method
– Comment on 5-10 posts per weekday
Week 2: Content rhythm and comments
– Post 3 times
– Keep comments at 5-10 per weekday
– Add one “soft CTA” post that invites DMs for something simple
Watch:
– Types of people viewing your profile
– Which posts trigger comments or DMs from your target audience
Week 3: Add proof and stories
– Post 3 times again
– Make one of them a case study or a “before / after” breakdown
– Share at least one story of a mistake you made and the fix
Reach out manually to:
– People who engaged more than once
– People who fit your ICP and liked or commented
Start low-pressure chats. No generic pitch.
Week 4: Refine and double down
Look back at the first 3 weeks:
– Which topics got saves, sends, or thoughtful comments
– Which people seemed most engaged
– What questions people asked in comments or DMs
Use that to:
– Refine your headline if needed
– Create 3 new posts that go deeper on the topics that resonated
– Craft one small “offer” for people who want more (e.g., free teardown, quick audit, short strategy call)
By the end of 30 days, you will not have a massive audience. You will have:
– A sharper LinkedIn presence
– A repeatable posting habit
– A comment routine
– First real signals of what your audience cares about
From there, it is just repetition and small adjustments.
