LS #57: LinkedIn Strategy for Technical Founders (Who Hate Posting)
You don't need to become a content creator. You just need to think like an engineer about LinkedIn.
Hi there,
I study top LinkedIn posts to help you create content that connects.
In this issue, you'll find:
The 3 high-performing LinkedIn posts this week
LinkedIn Strategy for Technical Founders (Who Hate Posting)
The 3 high-performing posts this week
1. I fired myself as CEO. Because after building $500M in revenue, I realized I was the problem.
Why this post?
This post went viral, receiving almost 6.9k likes in 7 days. It received 11-36 more engagement and views than Devin's posts this week.
BREAKDOWN
Shocking headline: "I fired myself as CEO" - immediately grabs attention with unexpected action
Success contradiction: "$500M in revenue" but "I was the problem" - creates cognitive dissonance
Powerful quote: "You built an empire, but forgot to build a home" - emotional gut punch from employee
Pattern revelation: "Businesses that last aren't built on strategy. They're built on Sunday dinners"
Specific examples: Lost deals, quit employees, crushed competitors - concrete proof of the problem
Vulnerability principles: Lists counterintuitive truths about leadership and relationships
Deep insight: "The metric that matters isn't what you built, it's who still texts you 'Happy Birthday'"
HOW TO CREATE YOUR OWN POST:
Start with a paradox: Share something that seems impossible or contradictory
Use specific credentials: Show you have real success before admitting your failures
Find the turning point moment: Identify the exact time when everything changed for you
Reveal the hidden pattern: Connect your experience to a bigger truth about business or life
List counterintuitive insights: Principles that go against what most people believe
POST IDEAS FOLLOWING THIS TEMPLATE:
I sold my $10M company because I realized I hated my customers"
"I fired my entire sales team after discovering they were the reason we were losing deals"
"I stepped down as founder when I realized my employees were afraid to disagree with me"
"I closed 3 profitable locations because success was killing my family"
"I shut down my agency after learning my team was doing all the work"
TOGETHER WITH POSTHERO
Grow your audience faster on LinkedIn. With an AI-powered tool that helps you create content and grow on LinkedIn.
Create high-converting content that helps you grow on LinkedIn
Create a weekly content in 76 seconds
AI Voice assistant for creating content in seconds
2. On Wednesday, I got the craziest cold email
Why this post?
Another post that went viral this week—it got 1.5 likes in a day and performed 10-30 times better than Umesh’s other posts this week.
BREAKDOWN:
Mystery hook: "I got the craziest cold email" - makes people curious about what's coming
Experience credibility: "best one I've seen in over 15 years" - shows he's seen thousands of emails
Personal connection: Founder made video starring Umesh as character from popular show
Immediate reaction: "Instant hook" - confirms it worked right away
Strategy breakdown: Explains why it worked (original, thoughtful, aligned with their product)
Proof of success: "I took the call immediately" - shows concrete results
Industry insight: "Cold outreach isn't dead. But the bar is higher than ever"
HOW TO CREATE YOUR OWN POST:
Start with superlative claims: Use words like "craziest," "best," "most amazing" to grab attention
Show your experience: Mention how long you've been in the field to build credibility
Use popular culture visuals: Memes or references everyone knows make posts more shareable
Break down what worked: Don't just show the example, explain why it was brilliant
Give specific details: Share exact subject lines, messages, or tactics that worked
3. Startups use a lot of complicated terminology in their job descriptions.
Why this post?
This post performed 5-15 times better than Theo’s other posts this week.
BREAKDOWN:
Universal problem setup: "Startups use a lot of complicated terminology" - everyone has seen confusing job posts
Perfect meme choice: Lion King "Look Simba" format showing overwhelming scope of deception
Brutal honesty: Each translation reveals the ugly reality behind fancy corporate speak
Dark humor: Makes serious workplace issues funny through exaggerated translations
Pattern recognition: Shows multiple examples so people see this isn't just one bad company
HOW TO CREATE YOUR OWN POST:
Pick industry jargon: Find phrases that sound good but hide bad realities
Position as translator: Act like you're helping people decode secret languages
Use popular memes: Choose formats everyone recognizes to make your point
Mix humor with truth: Make serious problems digestible through comedy
Show patterns: Give multiple examples so it feels like a widespread problem
LinkedIn Playbook
LinkedIn Strategy for Technical Founders (Who Hate Posting)
"I'd rather debug production code at 3am than write a LinkedIn post."
That's what my CTO friend told me last week. He's built an amazing product, scaled to $1M ARR, but his LinkedIn has 3 posts from 2022.
Meanwhile, his less technical co-founder gets all the speaking gigs, investor meetings, and industry recognition.
Here's the truth: You don't need to become a content creator. You just need to think like an engineer about LinkedIn.
The Technical Founder's LinkedIn Problem
What you're probably thinking:
"LinkedIn feels fake and salesy"
"I don't have time for social media"
"My code speaks for itself"
"Marketing isn't my job"
Why this hurts your business:
Customers don't know you exist
Investors can't find you
Top talent goes to more visible founders
Partnership opportunities pass you by
The reality: Your brilliant product means nothing if the right people don't know about it.
The Engineering Approach to LinkedIn
System 1: The Minimum Viable Content Strategy
Time investment: 30 minutes per week
Output: 1 post per week
ROI: Massive brand visibility with minimal effort
The Template System: Instead of staring at a blank post, use these 4 templates that work every time:
Template 1: The Technical Problem "Spent 3 hours debugging [specific issue]. Turns out the problem was [simple explanation]. Lesson: [insight that applies to business/life]."
Template 2: The Architecture Decision "Why we chose [technology A] over [technology B]:
[Reason 1]
[Reason 2]
[Reason 3]
Results after 6 months: [specific outcome]"
Template 3: The Developer Tool Review "Been using [tool/library] for [timeframe]. What I love: [2-3 specific benefits] What could be better: [1-2 honest critiques] Would I recommend it? [Yes/No and why]"
Template 4: The Team/Hiring Insight "What I learned hiring [role] for our team:
[Insight 1]
[Insight 2]
[Insight 3]
Technical skills are table stakes. [Soft skill] matters most."
System 2: The Content Automation Framework
The Sunday Planning Ritual (15 minutes):
Review your week's technical work
Pick 1 interesting problem you solved
Choose appropriate template
Write post using template
Schedule for Tuesday 9 am
Content Ideas Bank: Keep a running note of:
Bugs that taught you something
Technology decisions and outcomes
Tools that saved you time
Hiring lessons learned
Architecture choices you made
Example from my client’s content bank:
"Debugging memory leak → Post about performance optimization"
"Chose PostgreSQL over MongoDB → Post about database decisions"
"New developer struggled with our codebase → Post about documentation"
System 3: The Engagement Hack for Introverts
You don't need to be social. You need to be helpful.
The 5-Minute Daily Routine:
Check LinkedIn notifications
Respond to comments on your posts (be technical and specific)
Find 2 posts from other technical founders
Leave helpful comments (not "great post" but actual insights)
Done.
Comment Templates That Work:
"We faced a similar issue with [technology]. What worked for us was [specific solution]."
"Interesting approach. Have you considered [alternative method]? We saw [specific improvement] when we tried it."
"This reminds me of [related technical concept]. The parallel is [specific insight]."
Content That Works for Technical Founders
High-Performing Post Types:
1. The "Simple" Problem That Wasn't
"Thought this would be a 2-hour fix. Took 2 days.
The 'simple' feature: Add user authentication.
The reality: OAuth integration, session management, security headers, rate limiting, and database migrations.
Lesson: Always 3x your estimates. Always."
Why this works: Other developers relate to scope creep
2. The Technology Comparison
"6 months with Kubernetes vs Docker Compose:
Docker Compose:
✅ Simple setup
✅ Perfect for development
❌ Limited scaling options
Kubernetes:
✅ Infinite scalability
✅ Production-ready
❌ Steep learning curve
For startups under 10M requests/month: stick with Docker Compose."
Why this works: Saves other founders from your research time
3. The Hiring Reality Check
"Red flags I wish I'd caught earlier when hiring developers:
❌ Can't explain their previous project in simple terms
❌ Blames everything on 'legacy code'
❌ Never asks questions about our product
❌ Talks about technology but not problems solved
Green flags that matter:
✅ Shows curiosity about our business model
✅ Asks about our biggest technical challenges
✅ Shares specific examples of problem-solving"
Why this works: Other founders stealing your hiring playbook
The Anti-Marketing Marketing Strategy
Instead of: "Our AI-powered platform revolutionizes customer engagement" Write: "Built a simple recommendation engine with 50 lines of Python. Increased user engagement by 40%."
Instead of: "Thrilled to announce our Series A funding" Write: "What I learned about term sheets as a technical founder (and the 3 things I wish I'd negotiated differently)"
Instead of: "We're disrupting the industry" Write: "Why we built our own solution instead of using [popular tool] (and whether you should do the same)"
The Technical Founder's Content Calendar
Week 1: Technical Decision Share a recent architecture choice and why you made it.
Week 2: Tool/Library Review Review something you've been using and give honest feedback.
Week 3: Problem-Solving Story Share a debugging story or technical challenge you overcame.
Week 4: Team/Hiring Insight Share something you learned about building or managing a technical team.
Repeat monthly. Same formula, different examples.
Common Technical Founder LinkedIn Mistakes
1. The Jargon Overload
Writing only for other senior developers instead of potential customers/investors.
2. The Perfectionist Trap
Spending 2 hours writing one post because it's not "perfect."
3. The Ghost Approach
Posting once and never engaging with comments or other content.
4. The Humble Engineer
Never sharing wins or insights because "someone else probably did it better."
Advanced Strategies for Technical Founders
The Open Source Content Strategy
Share code snippets that solve common problems
Document your architecture decisions publicly
Create simple tools and share them
Write about lessons learned from open source projects
The Technical Tutorial Approach
"How to set up [technology] in 10 minutes"
"3 SQL queries that will save you hours"
"The deployment script that prevented our downtime"
The Behind-the-Scenes Technical Content
Server architecture diagrams
Database schema decisions
Performance optimization results
Security implementation approaches
The Technical LinkedIn Formula
Authentic Technical Stories (real problems you solved) + Practical Insights (lessons other founders can use) + Consistent Schedule (1 post per week minimum) = Technical authority that drives business results
You don't need to become Gary Vaynerchuk. You just need to share what you're already learning.
That's a wrap for today.
See you next week! If you want more LinkedIn tips, be sure to follow me on LinkedIn (link).
If you love this episode and want to support us, spread the word about us by sharing The LinkedIn Secrets with colleagues. I really appreciate it!
Thank you for reading!
What'd you think of today's edition?
Help me to understand what you think about this episode. Just reply with a number (1, 2, or 3) to this email.
1 - Damn good
2 - Meh, do better
3 - You didn't cook it
Your compadre,
Anton "LinkedIn growth strategies" Cherkasov