Serial Entrepreneur (2 exits) & Growth Advisor • Founded AllPaws (Sold to PetSmart) • Co-Founded Saturday App & Snap Interactive (100m users & $100m revenue)

𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝘁 𝗺𝘆 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗽 𝘁𝗼 𝟭𝟬𝟬𝗠 𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘀 & $𝟭𝟬𝟬𝗠 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘂𝗲 • 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗘𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘂𝗿 𝘄/ 𝟮 𝗲𝘅𝗶𝘁𝘀 • 𝗔𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗮𝗱𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽, 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘀𝗲𝘁, 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴.

Serial tech entrepreneur, business operator, and strategic advisor with deep experience starting and growing consumer-digital businesses. 

As a growth and product-driven startup founder, I have a proven track record of building and growing innovative products used by millions. I have achieved successful exits while overseeing multiple C-Level executive roles for publicly traded, growth stage, and venture-backed startups. I have a bias for action and a passion for solving big problems. Proven ability to innovate and deliver rapid revenue and user growth. 

At the intersection of my passion for pets and online dating expertise, I co-founded AllPaws. This innovative, online dating-style pet adoption platform quickly gained millions of users and was acquired by the pet industry leader, PetSmart. 

Before that, as co-founder I helped build and lead publicly traded SNAP Interactive from inception to rank as the 36th fastest growing technology company in North America with 4,400% revenue growth over 5 years, $20 million+ in annual revenue, and over 100 million users of our online dating apps and social products. 

Today, I advise businesses and startups on optimizing their digital and product growth strategies. Additionally, I coach entrepreneurs and business leaders on building high-income personal brands, and advise top influencers, models, and creators on growing and monetizing their audiences.

I continue to work on new projects, explore new opportunities, and advise. 

Been featured in ABC News, Bloomberg, Good Morning America, TechCrunch, Fox 5 News,  Huffington Post, Mashable, Forbes, Fast Company, Business Insider, and many other top tier publications. 

SPECIALTIES: Growth, Optimization, Digital Strategy, Product Strategy, Personal Branding 

Start-ups | Digital Strategy | General Management | Product Strategy and Development |  Rapid Revenue Growth | Strategic Vision | User Growth & User Acquisition | Marketplaces | Business Strategy | Business Operator | Problem-Solving | Business Operations (CEO, COO, GM) | Product Management | Conversion Optimization | A/B Testing | Web and Mobile Analytics | Mobile Applications | Mobile Growth | iTunes App Store Optimization | e-Commerce | Social Media Marketing & Strategy | M&A Process | Pet Industry | Online Dating Apps

Darrell Lerner

The key to growing a startup in 3 steps.

Test → Learn → Iterate

Then double down on what’s working.

Tight feedback cycles let you gather data and make progress as quickly as possible.

(Quick clip from a podcast I did with Adam Metwally on growth + why virality is harder than people think.)

But here’s the part nobody really wants to admit:

You can’t really “engineer” virality.

Everyone thinks they know what will go viral…

until they post something they’re sure will rip, and it flops.

Then they post something random…

and it takes off...

That’s why “going viral” isn’t a strategy.

The right systems are.

You can’t force outcomes.

But you can run enough reps to find them.

That’s how you win in growth when there’s no formula.

The winners don’t predict virality. They build systems that find it.

What’s the most surprising post you’ve ever had take off?

--

If you found this post helpful:

♻️ Repost to share it with your audience

🔔 Follow me Darrell Lerner for more on entrepreneurship, startups, personal branding, and mindset.

2x Exited Founder & Growth Advisor • Built AllPaws (Acquired by PetSmart) • Co-Founded SNAP Interactive (100m users & $100m revenue)

Charlie Bennett

Helping entrepreneurs build high-income personal brands. Sharing tips on turning your audience into income.

Most B2B founders post on LinkedIn but nobody knows what they stand for.

They get engagement from peers, not recognition from their ideal clients. 

I help experienced founders build thought leadership that makes them known, not just visible.

Not followers for vanity. Not viral posts that attract the wrong people.

Real authority that positions you as the voice in your space, so opportunities come to you instead of you chasing them.


How it works:

I reverse-engineer your expertise and build a LinkedIn personal brand around what makes you different.

The content filters out noise and establishes you as a thought leader. Someone people want to hear from, work with, and put on stage.

Your LinkedIn presence becomes a reputation tool. Wrong-fit people scroll past. Right-fit people pay attention.


What you get:

Personal brand positioning that makes you the recognised expert in your field.

Content pillars built around your lived experience, insights, and philosophy. Not generic business advice.

Consistent thought leadership content that builds authority and attracts speaking opportunities, partnerships, and high-value inbound.


The process:

You show up for 30-minute strategy calls every two weeks.

I handle the research, content creation, posting, and turning your expertise into a reputation engine.

LinkedIn works as an authority-building platform without you becoming a full-time content creator.


Results:

I've worked with 90+ founders and helped generate over $10M in pipeline.

Clients include founders who've raised $500M+, exited for $2.5B, and run NYSE-listed companies.

I only work with 4 clients at a time because building real thought leadership requires deep understanding of your market, your philosophy, and what actually makes you worth listening to.

If you're ready to be known as a leader in your industry, let's talk.

📩 DM me or visit charliebennett.com

Founder

We grow loyal audiences for top entrepreneurs, founders, and business leaders through industry leading content strategy, creation, and distribution. 

Achieve your business goals faster by letting us take the hassle out of building your personal brand on X
and Linkedin.

2025 was probably the toughest year I've had as an entrepreneur.
 
Me and a co-founder scaled two businesses to $30k/mo.
 
Then it we wen't separate ways because we became misaligned.
 
Here's what I learned:
 
I built business around cold email because it seemed like the smart move, big demand and a relatively high barrier to entry.
 
But I've always been best at relationship-driven work.
 
That's why I was attracted to ghostwriting and personal branding in the first place.
 
It's how I generate most of my revenue.

I'm best when working closely with a handful of clients - and frankly, it's way more fun. 
 
Some things don't come naturally to me, and that's fine.
 
Helping entrepreneurs sign more clients from LinkedIn by ghostwriting and converting warm conversations to leads however... 

Well, that does.
 
So the biggest lesson I've taken from this whole saga?
 
Do what you're actually best at.
 
Stay within your circle of genius.
 
Because when you build a business around something you don't enjoy, you're fighting an uphill battle every single day.
 
And eventually, it catches up with you.

So cheers to 2026

And the next evolution on my entrepreneurial journey.

LinkedIn Personal Branding for Founders Who Want to Be Known, Not Just Visible. 90+ clients helped. $10M in attributed revenue.

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"We already know who you are."

That's what the prospect said 

When my client Adam joined the discovery call.

This wasn't from a referral. 

They found him from his LinkedIn content.

Here's how I made that happen:

Adam runs an AI company in a super-niche B2B sector.

When he came to me, his content was generic founder-led marketing stuff.

• Features
• Benefits
• Boring

When I write content for my clients, I take a very different approach. 

I don't ask "what problems do your dream clients have?"

Instead I want to know "what keeps them awake at 3am?"

The stuff that has them sweating bullets in the middle of the night because they don't know how they're going to solve it. 

Real nightmare scenarios. 

So I pulled Adam's sales call transcripts.

Found online forums and WhatsApp groups where his ICP went to share ideas.

Went full Matrix mode, plugging myself in to learn as much as I could about these people. 

Then reverse-engineered their nightmare scenarios.

Not surface-level pain points.

The exact thoughts running through their heads when they're stuck, scared, and don't know how to fix it.

We built his entire content strategy around those scenarios.

And what happened?

Prospects walked into tender calls already half-sold.

They'd read his posts and felt: "This person gets me."

His sales cycle shortened significantly - which when you're talking about $250k/year deals, is big. 

The content did the heavy lifting before he even opened his mouth.

So here's the takeaway for you:

Stop just "adding value" with your content.

Start showing buyers you understand how they think.

--

If you're a founder or business leader and want to turn your LinkedIn into your most reliable source of leads...

Book a strategy call, and I'll show you how we can do exactly that

(Link on my profile)

I'm 32 today.

And I've decided to do the most insufferable thing possible: 

Write a birthday wisdom post.

(I promise it's actually useful.)

After three years of entrepreneurship, here are the three lessons that I believe are the most valuable things to understand:


1. Distribution is everything

The world's richest people aren't buying factories.

They're buying media companies, social platforms, news outlets.

For one simple reason...

Because if you control the narrative, you control the outcome.

An audience gives you that power.

And although a LinkedIn audience might pale in comparison to buying a news outlet for example - within you own category, you can be THE person people turn to. 

And don't underestimate how powerful that actually is. 


2. Great offers don't sell themselves

I've had brilliant products that got no sales. 

And I've had 'meh' products that have made me quite a bit of money. 

Why? 

Because I was too scared to send the DM or pick up the phone.

The best clients I've ever worked with were hard to reach.

They guarded their time, needed multiple follow-ups, and rarely came inbound.

If you're waiting for demand to find you, you'll starve on scraps.


3. Authenticity isn't a content tactic

I've built a cold email agency, a coaching community, and a personal branding business.

Only one felt like me.

The one where I get to talk to top entrepreneurs, learn from them, and share their ideas.

It's my passion, my hobby, and the thing I'm lucky enough to get paid well for.

That's authenticity.

Not chasing the bag, but being true to yourself, and staying aligned with that. 


What's the best 'real' lesson you've learned in business?

Most people automate their LinkedIn DMs in 2026.

Here's why that's 100% the wrong approach:

I'm watching founders rush to automation tools that blast the same copy-paste message to hundreds of people.

They think they're being efficient.

But what they're actually doing is training their dream clients to ignore them.

Because when you automate, you lose three things:

• Correct targeting.
• Your actual personality.
• The personalisation that makes someone reply.

Here's what I've found works best:

1. Post content that attracts your dream clients and actively repels everyone else. (This is VERY important)

2. Then manually send thoughtful, targeted DMs to the 20-40 people every day who engage or match your dream client ICP.

Not to your entire connection list.

Just to the people who actually fit your client profile and are showing interest.

Combine those two things and you can easily sign 3-5 new clients every month.

While everyone is spamming the same message to 500 people a week and wondering why they're getting no replies. 

I'm sending targeted and personalised messages and booking discovery calls every day for my clients. 

That what makes it powerful. 

--

I help B2B founders turn LinkedIn into qualified pipeline without becoming full-time influencers through content that filters your audience and outreach that actually converts. DM me "pipeline" and I'll send you a breakdown of how it works.

How to ensure you never grow on LinkedIn: Don't comment. Don't send any DMs. Be a ghost and expect everyone to come to you.

Posting and attracting people to want to get to know you is important, we all know that.

But there's power in being the first person to say hi.

Don't be like the 'mysterious' person all alone in the corner of the club when everyone else is chatting and having fun on the dance floor.

Being someone that people want to connect (and work with) comes down to more than just posting.

It's being open, willing to look silly, willing to take the risk of being ignored.

That doesn't make you a lower-status person.

If anything it's the opposite.

It makes you REAL.

And in my experience the people who drop the mysterious BS and are fun to talk to and be around?

They're the ones who do best in business.

My client did something most founders think is impossible:


He became the most popular person at a 600-person conference.

Without speaking on stage.
Without a booth.
Without introducing himself to anyone.

Well, maybe not THE most popular... 

But he said it sure felt like it.

And it didn't happen by accident.

3 months earlier, I got to work building his authority on LinkedIn.

So when he got around to the conference, something awesome happened...

All day, people kept walking up: "I saw you on LinkedIn, love your content."

He just had conversations.

He didn't need to pitch, he didn't need to go around the place introducing himself. 

People already knew who he was. 

That's the real power of LinkedIn.

It builds your authority publicly so when you walk into a room, people already recognise you. 

There's no better place where you can display your expertise before you ever pitch in my opinion. 

But here's where people mess it up:

They post generic, safe content trying to sound like everyone else.

Or they copy viral posts hoping it'll translate into authority.

Hint: it won't...

You can't fake authority - it comes from sharing YOUR lived experiences.

Things you've done that no one else can talk about.

When you do that, people see the world the same way you do.

And that makes networking & opportunity generation child's play. 

--

If you're a founder or business leader who wants to unleash the full benefits of being a respected authority on LinkedIn.

Book a free strategy call using the link on my profile and I'll show you how.

Most LinkedIn content is becoming slop.
 
And it's killing people's ability to generate leads.
 
Here's what's happening:
 
Founders and entrepreneurs are writing their own content, but heavily leaning on AI with zero personalisation.
 
And the result of that?
 
Content that adds no value to the reader.
 
But the real problem runs deeper than that.
 
Most people write about themselves more than they write about their potential clients.
 
So the only people who see their content are their peers.
 
Not the people they actually want to work with.
 
You end up in an echo chamber where no one generates any beneficial outcomes.
 
Because you're not speaking to the right people.
 
If you want to build authority and generate warm inbound leads, your content needs to speak directly to your ICP.
 
Not to other founders trying to grow their brands.
 
I help B2B founders turn LinkedIn into qualified pipeline by building content around proven buyer psychology & opening up warm conversations in the DMs with your dream clients. DM me 'pipeline' and I'll send you a breakdown of how it works.

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Ghostwriting + DMs Plug

I help founders & execs turn LinkedIn into their unfair advantage by ghostwriting content that attracts your dream clients, and creating warm opportunities with outreach without needing to lift a finger - charliebennett.com

Business Manager

I Help B2B Founders Turn LinkedIn Into Their Most Reliable Source Of High-Value Leads. $10M+ Generated For Clients. Make LinkedIn Your Unfair Advantage.

LinkedIn Personal Branding + Pipeline Growth For Founders & Execs

Most founders don't have writer's block.

They have audience block.

You know your subject inside out.
You could talk about it for hours.

But when you sit down to write?

Nothing.

The problem isn't that you don't know what to write.

It's that you're writing for ghosts instead of real people.

Your dream clients are already telling you what they want to read about.

On every discovery call.

Every sales conversation is a goldmine:

•What they've already tried (and why it failed).
•The real objections hiding under the surface.
•Why they finally decided to reach out.

I review every transcript and pull out those patterns.

Then I turn them into content.

Because who better to tell you what to write than the exact people you're trying to work with?

A few questions to unlock it:

What are your clients overthinking?
What mistakes do they keep making?
What question do you answer on every call?

The new LinkedIn algorithm will match your posts to the right prospects.

But only if what you write comes from real experience.

Not regurgitated advice you've seen 1M times on the timeline.

Real stories. 
Real insights. 
Real conversations.

Do that, and your inbound leads will start to tick up week on week.

Because reach without revenue is pointless on a business platform.

AI dropped the cost of creating content to almost zero.

Many founders think that's a good thing.

It’s not. 

What it's done is flood LinkedIn with generic content, which makes authenticity exponentially more valuable.

And I say that because I can see many founders are outsourcing their thinking to AI. 

They post just to stay "consistent". 

And the result is content that sounds like everyone else. 

Bland, generic, forgettable.

It actively hurts your authority.

As a founder, your value isn't just what you know. 

It's knowing how to communicate it in a way people can actually use.

That depth and nuance only comes from your lived experience.

The stories only you can tell. 

The perspectives shaped by the specific problems you've solved.

When you let AI do the thinking, you're not building a brand.

I’d argue you’re actually doing the complete opposite - destroying it. 

One post at a time. 

My prediction for where personal branding will move towards in 2026: 

People will post less, but what they post will be sharper. 

Less quantity, more substance coming from real experience.

That's how you stand out when everyone else is posting five times a week with nothing to say.

I spent this morning vibe coding a LinkedIn plugin to hide AI slop comments.

Probably not the most productive use of my time.

But the flood of robotic "great insights!" and "thanks for sharing!" comments was driving me mad.

So I built something to filter them out.

And the success rate is surprisingly good, and it'll be even more accurate once I've fed it more data. 

But it works well enough that my feed actually feels human again.

Here's why I did it:

When half the comments are AI-generated crap, real conversations get buried.

It's getting harder to spot the people who actually give a damn enough to write something themselves. 

And if you're serious about building genuine relationships with potential clients, you can't have your feed clogged with bots.

So yeah, I built a plugin to fix it.

Is it perfect? No.

But it's better than drowning in fake engagement.

Think I should release it to the public?

Also, isn't Tanmay such a cutie <3

Personal branding for Founders who want to be known, not just visible. 90+ clients. $10M attributed revenue.

taplio

The Battle

Darrell Lerner

Charlie Bennett

Followers

Posts

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Performance ScoreDarrell Lerner's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreCharlie Bennett's LinkedIn Performance

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taplio

The Battle

Darrell Lerner

Charlie Bennett

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Darrell Lerner's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreCharlie Bennett's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreDarrell Lerner's LinkedIn Performance