You already know LinkedIn can really feel like a spotlight reel the place everybody appears to be crushing KPIs, scaling seamlessly, and elevating one other spherical earlier than breakfast. As a founder, you may really feel the strain to play that recreation, even when your precise day seems to be extra like debugging a product problem between investor calls. The reality is that the perfect founders on LinkedIn quietly function by a unique algorithm. They put up much less, sign extra, and use the platform as a strategic asset as an alternative of a conceit scoreboard. For those who’ve ever puzzled what they’re doing in another way, you’ll see the actual patterns under and how one can apply them with out turning right into a full-time content material creator.

1. They ignore the dopamine chase and concentrate on sign high quality

The best founders don’t optimize for likes or impressions. They optimize for who sees their exercise. They perceive LinkedIn’s feed rewards emotional spikes, however constructing an organization rewards readability. When Marc Andreessen wrote in regards to the significance of narrative management early in a startup’s life, he by no means stated founders ought to chase engagement. He stated they need to personal their positioning. High founders use LinkedIn to bolster that positioning in small, constant indicators that compound over time. You would possibly solely get 50 likes, but when three of them are clients or future hires, you’re successful.

2. They share the unpolished model of the constructing

Founders who carry out effectively on LinkedIn share the messy center in a approach that’s trustworthy however by no means self-pitying. The founders who stand out speak about mis-hires, failed experiments, dash resets, and moments they almost ran out of runway. While you articulate classes from actual scar tissue, you instantly entice the type of people that favor substance over polish. It strengthens your hiring model and makes future traders belief your self-awareness.

3. They use lengthy feedback as development engines

You hardly ever see prime founders dropping generic “Nice put up!” feedback. As an alternative, they go away replies that learn like mini-essays. They know the remark part is a attain multiplier. A considerate 4–6 sentence remark can outperform your individual posts, and it positions you as somebody who thinks deeply. Founders who persistently do that find yourself forming relationships with operators they’ve by no means met offline. These relationships usually flip into heat intros, deal circulate, and surprising hires. One YC alum advised me she received her first enterprise buyer as a result of a VP observed a remark she wrote on another person’s product teardown.

4. They highlight their group as an alternative of themselves

For those who watch high-performing founders on LinkedIn, you’ll discover they speak extra about their groups than their very own achievements. It’s not humblebragging. It’s a recruitment technique. Showcasing group wins shows tradition, provides credit score the place it’s due, and indicators to potential hires that the founder is somebody value working for. Analysis from Harvard Enterprise Faculty on high-trust groups discovered that public recognition considerably will increase group loyalty. A easy put up about an engineer delivery a troublesome characteristic can do extra to your hiring pipeline than any careers web page copy.

5. They hardly ever put up product pitches

As an alternative of pushing demos and low cost codes, prime founders speak about the issue area. They clarify the ache factors clients face, the damaged workflows they’ve noticed, or the macro shift that creates alternative. This positions them as market thinkers reasonably than product pushers. When Superhuman was scaling early, its founder shared insights on e-mail fatigue earlier than discussing options. That constructed demand with out trying like an advert. For those who concentrate on drawback storytelling, you attract clients who already see themselves within the narrative.

6. They use LinkedIn as a silent credibility builder

Nice founders know essentially the most invaluable a part of LinkedIn isn’t the feed. It’s the lurkers. Traders, journalists, enterprise patrons, and senior expertise all stalk founders quietly earlier than taking conferences. Posting persistently, even when flippantly, indicators that you’ve got momentum and readability of thought. You don’t have to go viral to win this recreation. You simply have to look alive, intentional, and aligned along with your firm’s mission. A number of founders have advised me that their seed spherical diligence included traders studying six months of their posts to evaluate communication skill.

7. They deal with LinkedIn like an extended recreation, not a funnel

Founders who thrive on LinkedIn perceive it takes months to develop a recognizable voice. They don’t obsess over weekly metrics. They merely keep current. They deal with it like a public model of constructing in a neighborhood. A constant cadence of considerate insights, group highlights, market views, and private reflections creates compounding belief. And belief, over time, turns into alternative. It turns into an inbound investor curiosity. It turns into a senior operator DMs. It turns into model gravity. Your job is to indicate up in a approach that feels pure and sustainable. The lengthy recreation at all times outperforms the hacks.

Closing

The founders who win on LinkedIn aren’t making an attempt to beat the algorithm. They’re making an attempt to attach with the appropriate individuals and share the fact of constructing one thing from nothing. You don’t have to reinvent your self or faux you’re additional alongside. You simply want to indicate up with readability, intention, and honesty. While you method LinkedIn this manner, it stops feeling like strain and begins feeling like leverage. And each early-stage founder wants extra of that.

Photograph by Souvik Banerjee; Unsplash