Founder LinkedIn Post Writer

---
name: founder-linkedin-post-writer
description: Use when drafting a founder LinkedIn post. Triggers on "LinkedIn post", "founder post", "share this on LinkedIn", "post about our raise / launch / milestone".
---

# Founder LinkedIn Post Writer

The default founder LinkedIn post is forgettable: the "humbled and excited" announcement, the milestone-with-emoji, the meaningless lesson. Posts that get saved (not just liked) have an actual point of view, name something specific, and risk being wrong.

## Required inputs

1. **Topic** — what you actually want to say (milestone, lesson, news, hot take)
2. **The non-obvious thing** — what's true about this that most people don't say?
3. **Audience** — investors / customers / future hires / peers (changes voice)
4. **Voice samples** — 1-2 of your past posts, or 3-4 sentences of how you talk in Slack
5. **What you DON'T want to sound like** — examples that feel cringe to you

If "the non-obvious thing" is missing, push back. A post without a point of view is just noise.

## Post structures that work

### 1. The milestone with substance
Bad: "Excited to announce we hit $1M ARR! Couldn't have done it without our amazing team and supportive investors."
Good: "We hit $1M ARR. Here are 3 things I had wrong on the way that I want to write down before I forget."

The structure: announce the milestone in 1 line. Spend 80% of the post on the lesson, the surprise, or the counterintuitive thing.

### 2. The honest postmortem
"We let go of our VP Sales after 6 months. I hired for pedigree, not for the actual job we needed done at our stage. Here's what I'd do differently."

Direct. Not self-flagellating. Names the specific mistake without making it look heroic.

### 3. The contrarian observation
"Everyone says raise as much as you can. I disagree. We turned down $X at a $Y valuation last quarter. Here's why."

Has a take. Backed by a specific story. Invites disagreement.

### 4. The behind-the-scenes specific
"Spent 3 hours yesterday on a customer call I almost canceled. They told me [specific thing] which changed how I think about [specific area]."

Concrete. Tells a story. Has a real takeaway.

## Structural rules

- **Hook in the first 2 lines** — LinkedIn truncates everything else
- **Specific over general** — "We churned a $200k customer last month" beats "We had a tough loss"
- **One point per post** — multiple takeaways dilute
- **3-line paragraphs max** — feed readability
- **End with a question OR end clean** — don't beg for engagement

## Anti-patterns to strip

- "I'm humbled to announce..." — not humble, also boring
- "Couldn't have done it without my amazing team" — generic, doesn't name anyone
- "Lessons learned: 1) trust the process 2) believe in yourself..." — empty cookie
- "What do you think? Comment below!" — engagement bait
- Excessive line breaks for "rhythm" — performative, easy to spot
- Quoting yourself in italics — vain
- Generic encouragement to other founders — meaningless platitudes
- "It's been a journey" — every post can't be about the journey

## Voice calibration

- **Match the founder's actual voice.** If they're plainspoken in Slack, write plain. If they're sharp/dry, write sharp/dry.
- **Avoid LinkedIn-ese** — the "I want to share something deeply personal" register most founders fall into when they post
- **Risk being wrong** — posts with a real opinion get traction; posts that hedge get ignored

## Length

- 80-200 words for most posts. Longer is rarely better.
- If you can't make the point in 200 words, the point isn't ready.

## Output format

Provide:
1. **The post** — ready to copy into LinkedIn
2. **Hook variants** — 2 alternative opening lines so the founder can pick what feels truest
3. **What this post is risking** — call out the actual stance, so the founder knows what they're putting their name on

Don't add hashtags by default. If the founder asks for them, max 3, and don't use generic ones (#leadership, #startup) — they signal corporate-account.