What to post on LinkedIn as a founder
Most founders stall on LinkedIn for one reason: the blank box. Nobody is short of stories; they are short of a question. Here are twelve beats that always have an answer, and the shape each one takes as a post.
The twelve beats
Shipped: what went out this week and what it cost you. The number: which one changed and what you think moved it. The mistake: what you would take back. The customer’s words: what someone said this week, verbatim. The decision: what you are stuck on and which way you lean. Why: why this, why you. Behind the scenes: the unglamorous part of today. The ask: one thing you need and who has it. The lesson: what you believed a month ago and don’t now. An opinion: what everyone in your space gets wrong. What’s next: next week, and what would make it good. The origin: the moment you decided.
Rotate them. The beat never repeats two days running, and the ones that bring replies get asked more.
The shape of a post that gets replies
The first line is the most concrete sentence you have: a number, a name, a quote. Not a greeting, not a wind-up. Then one idea, in short paragraphs with blank lines. Then stop. A question at the end ("thoughts?") reads as a plea and lowers replies; a specific line invites them on its own.
Keep your own sentence length. If you swear, swear. The post that sounds like you is the one people reply to.
Say it out loud first
Founders talk better than they type. Record the answer to the question in under three minutes, then write from the transcript. You will keep the specifics you would have edited out: the 2am, the name of the customer, the exact number.
How to know it worked
Not likes. Replies, clicks on your link, and the people who signed up or followed. Keep a list of names and the post that brought each one; after a month, the beats that bring people are obvious, and you ask more of those.