THREE MILLS BAKERY

Founder

A. BAKER

Co-Founder

Two Before Ten Coffee Roasters

Founder / Director

I’ve built multiple businesses over the last 20 years, and the biggest lessons didn't come from scaling. They came from repairing.

Three Mills grew fast. Too fast. 0-140 people in the first 5 years.

We hit walls financially, operationally and culturally.

We were innovating at warp speed. Everything we implemented was soon outdated. It was chaos.

Instead of continuing to the point of failure, I started the hard work of fixing. 

Our crew fixed our margins, cleaned the legacy debt, reengineered products, rebuilt the team, redefined the story — and found clarity in the chaos.

Now, alongside leading Three Mills, I have a passion for helping other founders do the same.

What I talk about:
– Finding clarity when your story’s gone stale
– Maintaining company culture under pressure
– Fixing bloated businesses and broken margins
– Leading like a founder when everything feels heavy

What I (sometimes) offer:
– 1:1 advisory for brand-led businesses in the messy middle
– Practical systems for fixing without burning out
– Strategic intensives (in-person or virtual)

Where to read more:
Every Sunday, I drop one email about fixing businesses and the founder mindset. 
100% practical. No spam. And no, I'll never sell your details... Ever.

You might like reading it here - www.jarroddeaton.com.au

Otherwise, drop me a DM. 

I'd love to hear your story.

Jarrod Deaton

Last year, we took a bit of a risk and opened a new bakery outlet inside a Harris Farm supermarket

It's a bit of a new concept for us to be in this environment.

A full-scale artisan bakery inside the shop serving coffee, pie and pastries outside too was a stretch of the imagination.

We normally like stand-alone bakery stores tucked away in parts of the city where our wonderful clients are.

This one felt like a risk tbh.

It felt like we didn't have control over the customer experience or the types of people who interacted with our brand.

That can be problematic when there are competing values or customer perceptions don't align.

Thankfully only good things have happened since we open at Harris Farm in Majura Park.

It’s a great store.

The people are wonderful.

And our team is ripper.

Hope to see you out there.

three-mills-bakery

li_at

JSESSIONID

Talks about #brand, #business, #personalgrowth, #entrepreneurship, and #customerexperience

Founder & CEO, Three Mills Bakery | Building the next generation of food brands through craft, tech & culture | Writer of Fix Before You Scale

I baked these in my home oven on the weekend. 

They're a new version of our bake-at-home croissants.

Stored frozen. 

Ready to bake in one hour instead of doing them overnight.

You just gently egg-wash the top. 

And bake for 15 minutes. 

Pretty spectacular results in the home oven.

My house smelled so damn good.

No alternative text description for this image

Most founders only tell the story after they’ve won.

I’d rather share mine before the ending gets too shiny.

We were losing $40K cash a week and I thought selling more would fix it.

It didn’t.

If you’re in the messy middle, this one’s for you.

Swipe through these lessons would’ve saved me years.

The $40k per week reality check

I’ve had weeks recently where my calendar owned me.

Back-to-back meetings.
Lunch as an afterthought.
Late to the gym or not at all.
Zero time to actually think.

Here’s the uncomfortable truth:

If you’re in a leadership role and your week leaves no time for thinking, you’re not leading. You’re reacting.

So, here's my plan to get it back on tack:

Block 2 x 60-minute “no meeting, no calls” slots in the calendar weekly. 

Use them for one thing only: deep work on the 1–3 priorities that define your year.

Thinking is part of the job description.

If your schedule doesn’t reflect that, you’re playing an operational role with a leadership title.

Most people only focus on the wins. 
 
But in 2016 I lost everything. 
 
Financially wiped out when I walked away from a business partnership. 
 
But I wasn't done with business. 
 
Even though I interviewed at a few other places to work, each time it didn't feel right. 
 
It wasn't ego this time. 
 
Something in my bones told me to give business another go. 
 
With the support of my family, I accepted the terms to buy the used bakery equipment from my business partners and start again. 
 
I only had 2 weeks to pull it off if it was going to work... 
 
That's: 
 
- start a company 
- find bakery space 
- fit it out and open a cafe 
- handle legal, finance, banking, branding 
- move all the bakery equipment across town 
- and maintain the dozen or so wholesale clients we'd built up during that time. 
 
Crazy when I think about it today... 
 
I've always admired people who have started with nothing and built a life for themselves and here I was doing the same thing. 
 
It's incredible what you can do when your back is against the wall. 
 
But in saying that, none of it was a solo effort. 
 
Along the way, I've had incredible support from friends and family. 
 
Not to mention the wonderful team who've contributed to building each part of the vision. 
 
I rarely step back and admire it but I'm proud when I do. 
 
- 140 employees 
- Loads of wonderful clients 
- And some of the best sourdough and pastries around 
 
It's been a wild ride! 
 
Hugely grateful for every bit of it. 
 
My mates who lifted all the bakery equipment out of the basement and drove it across town. 
 
Those first few clients who walked in the door on day one. And every single one since. 
 
Our amazing team and all our families who back us. 
 
And a long list of wonderful suppliers, advisors and partners. 
 
Thank you all!

Most founders don’t fail because of their product.

They fail because they try to build everything alone.

This one’s for the founders grinding it out solo - thinking working harder is the answer.

It’s not.

Swipe through if you’ve ever felt like you’re carrying it all on your own.

Building solo feels noble. It’s actually reckless.

I never had an office at the start. 
 
I spent two decades hot-desking and working from cafe tables. 
 
But a couple of years ago I set one up above the bakery.
 
The result? 
 
My work output exponentially increased. 
 
Having a private space to focus on deep work for 3-4 hours daily has changed the game for me as an entrepreneur. 

- No distractions
- No juggling/multitasking
- No temptation to jump in and help.
 
I can only imagine the waste this must have created in huge corporate workplaces when the world switched to open-plan offices and hot-desking. 

For me, locking myself away for blocks of time has massively boosted my productivity. 

I highly recommend it.

The world didn't need another bread book.

So we wrote one that uses leftover bread!

You know all those bits you have left in the freezer or the tips of your artisan loaf that are too small to do anything with?

That's what we decided to focus on when we wrote ours.

We set out to make stale bread sexy.

So we got a bunch of talented chefs together who've worked the fine-dining scene all over the world and created dozens of recipes that you can recreate at home.

Whether you like cooking or not, we leaned into bespoke ceramics and incredible photography, and then really dialed up the quality of the printing. 

It's such a nice object to have on the coffee table.

We still have a few left from this batch if you're looking for Christmas presents!

Bread with No Added Nasties...

That's the game we're playing. 

And in this game, our villain is fluffy white supermarket bread. 

You know the super white, super soft, super flavourless bread that has an unusually long shelf life because of additives?

Yep, that's the stuff we're up against. 

Don't get me wrong, I ate that stuff most of my childhood. 

But back then I didn't have a choice. I was a kid in a country household who didn't know any better. 

But after I started to learn about the wonderful world of sourdough, everything changed. 

I started thinking about how much the world screwed up with bread making.

And in the tiniest way, we're going to do our bit to correct course by making things like this:

Our Quinoa and Walnut Sourdough. 

It pairs perfectly with cheese and wine. 

And it makes the most incredible base for a Chicken Sando. 

Bring on the good bread revolution!

--- 

Love to know what your favourite sourdough is. Drop me a comment.

I used to be afraid of sucking at things. 
 
Always practicing in private before revealing a skillset in public. 

But the problem is, when you keep it a secret, you miss out on rich feedback that can help you level up faster. 

Most people genuinely want to help you succeed.
 
The key is to switch to a student mindset, and not an expert.

Being prepared to suck at something first and make tiny rapid improvements using loads of feedback. 

That type of vulnerability has helped me so much in my career. 

Not to mention the accountability it's added to my life as an entrepreneur.

Apart from the occasional idiot who laughs at you from behind the screen, it's been all upside.

I'd encourage you to put yourself out there, openly try new things and be prepared to ask for help along the way.

If your company falls over when one person’s on holiday, you don’t have a team. You’ve built a shrine.


Too many businesses are built around a hero.


The rainmaker.

The genius founder.

The “only one who really knows how it all works.”


Looks impressive from the outside.

Feels powerful on the inside.


But it’s also weak, fragile, and one crisis away from breaking.


As entrepreneurs, you want to push through that phase as quickly as possible, making yourself redundant at every stage as you hand things over.


The ones that don't, say things like: I wish the team would “take ownership” or “demonstrate autonomy”...


Meanwhile they design systems where:


Decisions bottleneck through one inbox.

Information lives in one person’s head.

Clients only trust one name.


I don't claim to have the solution here in this Linkedin post, but I do know exactly what I'm trying to build.


And it isn't a shrine.


We need more antifragile businesses.

I often catch myself focusing on urgent tasks instead of the important ones. 
 
You know those easy things you tick off the list instead of the hard ones that really need to be done. 
 
I've become way better at catching myself these days but it took building a tiny system first. 
 
Here's what it looks like: 
 
1. I locked in time for doing the hard thing. 
 
If it required thinking time, I blocked out space on the calendar. 
 
If I had to make phone calls or write, I made time for that too. 
 
Give it the space and attention that it needs in your day/week by scheduling enough time. 
 
2. Accountability. 
 
I made sure I told someone that's what I was working on that week knowing that they would ask me how I went with it. 
 
Just the thought of them asking made me get it done more often. 
 
3. Mental capacity. 
 
Every time I found myself avoiding something was because I had way too many things on or big decisions to make. 
 
The mental load screwed everything up. 
 
So in those times, I paused on all other things to focus on building momentum on ONE thing. 
 
4. Incentive 
 
I use fear and rewards on myself all the time to drive action. 
 
I think of the bad result occurring if I continue to not act (the fear incentive). 
 
OR 
 
I dangle a reward for myself after doing something I've been putting off. 
 
Something as simple as - as soon as I finish the thing, I leave work and go for a run in the forest. 
 
Over time, this builds momentum for crushing things you've been avoiding. 
 
--- 
 
I don't think I'm unique here. 
 
Maybe others are facing the same challenge of avoiding important work. 
 
In that case, I hope this helps!

I'm an entrepreneur. It means I get distracted by lots of shiny things. But this helps me stay focused on the right things:

Some days I catch myself getting distracted by shiny new products, platforms, or ideas pulling me away from what's already working.

I have to keep remembering that it's not only about innovation and pioneering new frontiers with less competition. 

The best companies optimise relentlessly.

They follow the real 70/20/10 rule:

70% of effort into what’s already working. Your proven products, best customers, top-performing channels.

20% into adjacent plays. The small twists, repackaging, bundling, new segments.

10% into testing bold new things, The long shots, market-changing bets.

But what do most teams do (including me, at times)??

We try it backwards.

70% on distractions and shiny objects,

20% trying to fix what’s broken,

10% (if that) doubling down on the things that are already working.

Then we wonder why it feels like pushing a square boulder up a giant hill.

If your business feels stuck, it’s probably not your product. Or a lack of effort. It’s how you’re allocating your focus.

You rarely need more ideas.

You need more discipline around the ideas that already work, and you need to do some much more volume of them.

It’s not sexy.
It’s not exciting.
But if you do it, your business will grow and eventually, you can stay do whatever you want with your time while it runs.

Before we could use the 70/20/10 lens, we needed to identify a few things:

- What were the handful of processes that gave outsized results.
- What were the handful of profitable products we sold over and over.
- Who were a small group of like-minded clients who bought way more than others.

Knowing these helped us double down on what works. Then everything got easier.

I won’t lie: doubling down on the "boring" things isn’t always fun.

But having a business that finally works? 

That’s very fun.

---

You can read other articles like this on my website - I've been uploading 3 years worth of newsletter content there recently.

Running a test bake in my home oven on our new bake at home croissant.

This one spent months in the freezer with things stacked on it. I wasn't sure how it would go. 

But, it was a freaken lovely result. 

Can't wait to share this product with the world!

Most businesses don’t get taken out by competition, they get taken out by denial. 

I learned that the hard way. 

From the outside we looked like we were winning... but the numbers told another story. 

Growth doesn’t fix broken foundations. 

It just makes the cracks louder.

If you’ve been avoiding a number, a conversation, or a cultural problem hoping it fixes itself, it won’t. 

The fire costs 10x more next year.

Swipe through the carousel to see the lessons I wish someone told me before I paid for them the expensive way.

The warning signs I ignored for too long

We grew top line 23% one year and had less cash at the end than when we started.

On paper, it looked like a win.

Revenue up.

Sites busier.

More customers served.

From the outside, everyone assumes growth = progress.

Inside the bank account, it was a different story.

Here’s what I’ve learned the hard way:

A lot of “growth” is just you working harder to stand still.

Here're three places the money quietly disappeared:

Discounts and “deals” that felt harmless
We said yes to little things that shaved a few percent here and there especially with legacy customers. On a big enough base, those “small” give-aways add up to serious cash.

Operational drag
More volume and more SKU complexity through a system that wasn’t ready. Add in overtime, wastage, rework, fire-fighting and as revenue went up, every extra dollar was more painful to earn.

Overhead creep
As soon as topline lifted, we felt justified adding headcount, tech, and “nice to have” projects and weren't as disciplined looking at costs. We chased instead of fixing. 

Growth didn’t fix broken economics. It multiplied them.

If your topline is climbing and you still feel broke, sanity check your numbers. 

Fix them before you scale.

Building this tiny habit has transformed my business: 
 
Every business has a daily rhythm. 
 
The things you do on autopilot. 
 
But most of the time they're designed to sustain what is there and not improve things. 
 
That was exactly what was happening with my business... 
 
We'd come in each day and do the: 
 
Same actions 
Same processes 
Same conversations 
 
Over and over. 
 
It's hard to see new things when you get in that habit. 
 
So you need to make a conscious effort to reprogram your daily rhythm. 
 
For example: 
 
Instead of walking straight in the door, pause for a moment and see the place like a customer would. 
 
Look around like they would. 
 
Stand where they would stand. 
 
Sit where they would sit. 
 
It's powerful stuff when you do things like this daily. 
 
You start to see improvements everywhere that make your business better instead of just walking in on autopilot. 
 
The key is to program the right things into your daily rhythm that sustain what's there as well as growing it.

It's tempting to relax a bit once your business is out of the start-up phase. 

And after years of working your face off to build something from scratch, who can blame you? 

But complacency can destroy things. 

If it's about getting your time back, delegate things instead. 

If it's about enjoying yourself, find someone who's hungry to grow your business for you.

Because even if you deserve a break.

Even if you don't have competitors chasing you. 

Things that are hard to build can be shattered easily. 

And the bottom line is, instead of taking your foot off the gas at the first sign of success.
 
It's best to use that time to double down on what's working and leap further ahead after years of grinding.

Business isn't cut-throat. It's just that some people playing the game think there's not enough to go around...

Which can send them a little mad trying to keep everything to themselves.
 
Here's what happens when you stop competing and start collaborating: 
 
Seeing everyone as your competitor is one of those old-school things you hear and then adopt without question. 
 
It makes sense but it's also incredibly limiting in business. 
 
It makes you think that there's not enough to go around. 
 
That you can't share ideas, resources or even your kindness with others on the journey.
 
I mean, why help another business get ahead of you right? 
 
It's a bullsh*t mindset. 
 
And I think realising that takes a whole lot of time/experience. and a few nudges to snap out of the negative mindset.
 
For me, I started shifting my perspective the more I learned about positioning and understanding that execution is everything. 
 
For example - You can give people all the opportunities, ideas and knowledge, but they rarely act on it. 

At least not with any urgency. 
 
It was the starting point for having the confidence to stop holding on and start living a more open life in business. 
 
Sharing information, spreading creativity and helping others get ahead. 
 
Some of the most successful and accomplished entrepreneurs are the ones who believe in collaboration over competition. 
 
They surround themselves with supportive, like-minded individuals who challenge them, inspire them and help them achieve their most ambitious goals. 
 
Sometimes these can be competing businesses! 
 
So ditch that 'lone wolf' mentality and start looking for shared wins. 
 
When you help others level up, you all level up together.

Unique 𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲s are 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿 today.

Everything else can be copied or purchased.

Even though we don't always nail it, we're pursuing excellence in this space. Constantly meeting about it, doing case studies on others and testing ways to level up our game.

Fundamentally, service needs to be part of your culture if you're striving for long term customer delight. 

If you get that bit right, it's nearly impossible for competitors to buy the trust and connection you've established.

But the problem is, most established companies are on autopilot.

They're so busy just keeping up with the volume of work these days that they've shifted their focus from delight, to delivery.

Nailing it doesn't mean transforming your business, it's about leaning into a few key moments in your customer journey. 

If you're an established business looking for ways to retain clients and build a stronger organisation, I talk about what we've done often in my weekly newsletter.

I share real strategies that are working right now to build culture, increase retention, and drive impact.

I'd love to see you there when you're ready.

Postwise AI

Imagine creating engaging, viral LinkedIn & 𝕏 posts using AI magic.

Meet Postwise. Trained on the world's best-performing content, Postwise empowers individuals and businesses to communicate more effectively using the power of AI.

Warmer.ai

Warmer uses AI to add personalization to email outreach. Increase your replies, meetings and sales with dynamic email personalization uniquely written to the person receiving it.

Lightning Social Agency

Lightning fuses cutting edge tech with viral marketing. 

Partnered with every major music label, we've executed global influencer campaigns. You've probably seen our work without even knowing it.

- Worked with Eminem, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Dua Lipa, Selena Gomez, Nicki Minaj (plus many more)
- Custom tech built to discover talent and maximise campaign ROI
- Over 800m people reached across campaigns

Co-Founder & CTO

WebProtect

WebProtect secures both organizations and high value individuals against the threat of credential theft

- Featured in MSN.com, TheVerge, DailyMail, CNET
- Discovered critical data breaches affecting Facebook, Toyota and more
- Working actively with Fortune 500 companies to mitigate data risks

Digital Consultant

Privately working with leading startups, agencies and brands across Europe to analyse and build bespoke technology to improve internal processes. 

- Conversion rate optimization
- Bespoke growth hacking
- Efficiency and improved workflows for client

Social Chain

Created tech to power our award winning social campaigns for leading brands like:

- Apple Music
- Amazon
- Coca-Cola

Head of Innovation

Helped Justin Bieber win on TikTok. Now building AI for Linkedin (create a week's worth of content in seconds)

From Bieber to AI
↓

I created an agency helping the world's biggest stars dominate TikTok.

Bieber, Cardi B, Eminem - they all crushed it with our strategies.

Chance is, you've seen our work without even knowing it.

But then I had a lightbulb moment 💡

"What if I could train an AI on the best creators' content and help LinkedIn writers level up their game too?"

So I locked myself in my coding cave.

A thousand Nespresso "pour" button presses later, Postwise was born.

An AI trained on the world's best content to generate personalized posts, just for you.

The goal? To help you create thumb-stopping content that gets you noticed.

Imagine having the power of Bieber's content team at your fingertips.

That's the magic of Postwise.

So if you're ready to take your LinkedIn content to the next level...

Try Postwise and unleash your inner creative genius 🧠

Because the world needs your voice, right now.

↓

https://postwise.ai

Elliott Murray

LinkedIn gave me everything and I mean EVERYTHING.

Sitting here at 12:03 AM thinking about how LinkedIn became my entire life without me noticing.

Like, when did that happen? When did refreshing notifications become breathing? When did your comments start feeling more real than conversations with people I can actually touch?

Postwise was already alive (an AI ghostwriter for Twitter, Threads, and LinkedIn creators).

Three years of quiet existence, Twitter customers, doing fine, nothing special...

Then I started documenting here.

And holy shit!!!

Suddenly, people weren't just customers. They were... invested? Like actually giving a f*ck about product updates? Sending DMs about feature requests at midnight? Sharing posts like they owned equity?

Someone in Singapore started evangelising it to their network. Someone in the UK wrote, “I think I have found my new best AI friend 🫶🏻” and meant it. Meant IT.

This platform. God, this platform.

Everyone's sleeping on it. Treating it like a CV graveyard when it's actually a TRIBE-BUILDING MACHINE if you just... show up. Share the real stuff. The messy middle.

Twitter gave me users.
LinkedIn gave me believers.

See the difference? Users click buttons. Believers build movements. Users churn. Believers recruit.

You weren't passive observers. You were in my DMs at 12 AM. In the comments encouraging me to keep going. Making me realize Postwise wasn't just a tool, it was bigger than that.

Listen, if you're reading this and still treating LinkedIn like a job board, you're missing the whole fucking game.

This place rewards radical transparency. Documentation. Showing up consistently even when you think nobody's watching.

(They're always watching.)

Anyway...

Just wanted to say that...

Whatever this is...

Whatever we're building...

It exploded the moment I stopped hiding behind polish and started being real here.

Wake up.
Document everything.
Watch what happens.

Love, 
Elliott

Founder @ Postwise | building the greatest AI ghostwriter on earth | ex-growth lead for Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga, Cardi B

The reason you WON'T sign any clients?

Monday: You rant about mental health.
Tuesday: You rant about toxic leadership.
Wednesday: You rant about remote work.
Thursday: You ship your weekend workout.
Friday: You finally mention your coaching offer.

Tf is going on?

Your feed looks like 5 DIFFERENT people.

And your ideal client?

They're lost.

They don't know what you actually DO.

Because you've spent 80% of your time complaining.

And 20% selling.

That's backwards.

Every single post should build toward ONE thing:

"This person can solve my problem."

Not:

"This person has a lot of problems."

Focus your message.

Or lose your audience.

Love,
Elliott 💜

"LinkedIn is just NPCs" - X users.

Meanwhile, on LinkedIn:

→ A founder shares their failure openly
→ Someone lands their dream job
→ Strangers offer genuine career advice

This platform is beautiful.
Not perfect, but beautiful.

Where else can you:

Watch people grow in real time?
Learn from industries you've never touched?
Get actual feedback on your ideas?

X is optimised for anger.

LinkedIn is optimised for opportunity.

Sure, we have our "thought leader" moments.

Every family has that one uncle.

But the potential here is insane.

I've seen careers launched.
Partnerships formed.
Mentorships born.

That's not NPC behaviour.

That's human potential unleashed.

X can keep their algorithm of outrage.
I'll stick with the algorithm of growth.

A love letter to all ANXIOUS creators:

"Should I..."

☑ Do videos or text?
☑ Schedule or wing it?
☑ Post daily or weekly?
☑ Go full AI or not?

Look.

No one's stopping you from trying everything.

But please.

For the love of algorithms...

Don't quit.

Just keep going.

My dear buttercup...

Try stuff.
Fail stuff.
Learn stuff.

But never.
Ever.
Quit.

♻️ Share if you needed this today.

Love,
Elliott

"What if nobody reads my posts?"

What if 1 person sees it and it changes their life?

What if it goes viral and lands me my dream job?

What if someone screenshots it and shares it everywhere?

What if a CEO reads it and wants to hire me?

Always lead with delusional optimism.

That's how I grew my LinkedIn to 16,000+ creators.

That's how I built my SaaS to 38,000+ users (no VC).

Be delusional. It works.

+ 6 ways to practice delusional optimism:

1. Reframe every setback as a setup.
2. Ask "What if this works?" before "What if it doesn't?"
3. Celebrate small wins like big ones.
4. Surround yourself with other delusional optimists.
5. Write down your craziest goals daily.
6. Act as if success is inevitable.

Realistic expectations = realistic results.
Delusional expectations = extraordinary results.

DOMINATE.

Shoutout to LinkedIn creators who turn buying coffee into a 31-part story about leadership.

The barista misspelt your name, and now you understand what it means to be a CEO.

Insane stuff.

"Your content’s cringe."
Post anyway.

"Nobody cares what you think."
Post anyway.

"LinkedIn’s just fake positivity."
Post anyway.

"You’re not even an expert."
Post anyway.

"Why would anyone follow you?"
Post anyway.

"Your niche is oversaturated."
Post anyway.

"You're posting too much."
Post anyway.

"You need a pro setup."
Post anyway.

The people saying this?

→ Have 0 posts themselves
→ Are stuck at 500 connections
→ Hide behind LinkedIn lurker mode

And my dear buttercup...

They ain't gonna write your posts for you.
They ain't gonna sell your offer for you.
They ain't gonna believe in you.
They ain't gonna clap for you.
They ain't gonna SAVE you.

Don't ask yourself:
"What if I started sooner?"

You get one shot at LinkedIn growth.

Don’t waste it because some random weirdo told you to wait.

Start posting today.

♻️ Share this if you’re ready to grow.

PS - If you want to grow while touching grass, sleeping properly, and actually living your life...

Hop on Postwise.

38,000 creators use this ghostwriter to do what most people are too scared to even start.

Love,
Elliott 💜

"LinkedIn is dead"

No mate... you just don’t understand how the best creators operate.

The best creators...

- Are addicted to consistency.
- Document daily micro-stories.
- Build swipe files for inspiration.
- Always lead with their philosophy.
- Obsess over audience psychology.
- Actually care about their audience deeply.
- Own a movement/idea (eg, solopreneurship).

Creating with intention is powerful.

i'm tired of the grey LinkedIn.

you know what i mean? that particular shade of linkedin grey where everyone's "thrilled to announce" and "humbled to share" and mate, MATE—we've become NPCs in our own lives... scrolling through our own obituaries.

(yeah, i just used an em-dash above and i don't give a f)

so yeah. i'm done.

that image down below, the one about wasted talent, it's been rattling around my skull like a marble in an empty can because what's more wasteful than having this ENTIRE platform where brilliant minds gather and we're all just...

performing professional?

cosplaying corporate?

nah.

i'm going feral. going to start dropping insightful bombs in your feed. make you FEEL something between the job updates and humble brags.

i know we're all desperate for someone to be REAL on here. to admit they don't have it all figured out. to share something that doesn't sound like it was written by chatgpt's boring cousin.

i want linkedin to be BEAUTIFUL again.

sounds mental when i type it out but fuck it, someone has to try. someone has to prove that professional doesn't mean dead inside. that business conversations can have soul. poetry. mess.

the newsletter's (Notes from Elliott Murray) where i'll spill everything. the experiments. the failures. the small victories when someone messages screaming "finally, something human!!!"

we're all falling anyway.

might as well fall towards something beautiful.

you in?

"You'll fail without investors", they said.

Best advice I ever ignored.

I'm glad I built Postwise (AI ghostwriter for LinkedIn creators) MY WAY.

1/ rejected VCs who promised 'rocket fuel' 🚀

2/ said no to big creators wanting equity

3/ bootstrapped from day zero

4/ built with A-players who GET IT

Why this makes me SO happy:

☑ complete creative freedom
☑ no quarterly investor reports
☑ profits = OURS
☑ build what users want
☑ zero external pressure
☑ team owns their destiny

And guess what?

We're growing faster than most funded startups.

Bootstrapped ≠ slow growth

♻️ Share if you believe in bootstrapped entrepreneurship.

Your deathbed self doesn't care about your LinkedIn achievements.

There's ONE thing I'm pretty sure my 90-year-old self will thank me for...

Living my life with the sole purpose of being a vessel for love and value creation.

For myself. For others. For anyone whose path crosses mine.

I used to think success meant:

1/ Accumulating the most stuff
2/ Climbing every ladder I could find
3/ Proving myself to people who didn't even matter

But here's what I've learned over these past few years living this miracle of a life:

The moments that matter most aren't the ones where you're taking. They're the ones where you're giving. Where you're creating something that makes someone else's day a little brighter, their load a little lighter.

Every conversation where I choose understanding over being right. Every project where I focus on serving rather than just selling. Every day where I ask "how can I add value?" instead of "what can I get?"

These small choices compound.

You can never go wrong with love and value creation. Never. Even when it feels like you're getting nothing back in the moment.

Because decades from now, when I'm looking back at this life, I won't remember the money I made or the recognition I received.

I'll remember the love I gave and the value I created.

That's the legacy worth building.

This STUPIDLY simple hack will help you get LinkedIn rich:

(save and steal this):

First of all, h/t John Nathaneal Galliguez.

I got this little framework from him.

The "Voice Mirror" method:

→ Step 1: Record everything:
• Customer calls
• Support tickets
• Sales demos
• Onboarding sessions

→ Step 2: Hunt for gold:
• How they describe their problems
• Words they use for solutions
• Emotional language patterns
• Specific phrases that repeat

→ Step 3: ???
→ Step 4: ????
→ Step 5: ?????

Read the carousel for the full framework...

Repost ♻ if this helps you sell better.

This STUPIDLY simple hack will help you get LinkedIn rich

Just made one of the toughest calls as a founder.

Had to let someone go today.

Our remote team at Postwise is back to 3.

It's never easy.

But that's the reality of building something.

You make hard decisions.

You live with them.

You keep building.

Excited for his next chapter.

And ours too.

Just saw someone bragging about their "80-hour work week."

Mate, that's not a flex.

That's a confession.

You're basically saying:

"I'm so bad at prioritising that I need 80 hours to do what others do in 40."

Or worse:

"I've built a business that requires me to be a martyr."

Neither is impressive.

Here's what I learned building Postwise:

Working 80 hours doesn't make you dedicated.

It makes you inefficient.

The best founders I know work 6-7 focused hours daily.

They spend the rest of their time:
• Reading
• Walking
• Thinking
• Living

Because that's where the breakthrough ideas come from.

Not from your 14th consecutive hour staring at Notion.

Your brain needs white space to connect dots.
Your body needs rest to perform.
Your relationships need attention to survive.

And your business?

It needs a leader who can think clearly.

Not a zombie who mistakes exhaustion for effort.

If you're working 80 hours a week, you're not winning.

You're burning out in slow motion.

And calling it ambition.

Love,
Elliott 💜

How to NEVER run out of post ideas (ever again):

- Listen to a niche podcast.
- Take notes.
- Take a nap.
- Wake up, go for a walk.
- Open Postwise while walking.
- Brain dump all the ideas.
- Hit 'create'.
- A week's worth of content ready in 10 mins.

Repeat this forever.

toxic boss made you cry? 
"grateful for the learning experience" 

company went under?
"excited for what's next"

we're all (on LinkedIn) stockholm syndrome patients with premium subscriptions

The real reason your content flops:

You're writing for everyone.

Let me tell you about my mate Dave.

Dave runs a £2M agency.
15 employees. Crushing it.

But his LinkedIn?
Ghost town.

"Elliott, I post quality content daily.
Engagement is dead.
Algorithm hates me."

I checked his posts.

Generic leadership advice.
"5 tips to motivate your team"
"Why culture matters"

Boring. Forgettable. Skip.

Here's what I told him:

Stop writing for "entrepreneurs."
Write for ONE person.

Picture them:
- What keeps them up at 3am?
- What lie do they tell themselves?
- What dream feels too big to admit?

Dave picked his past self.
Age 28. First hire. Terrified.

Now his posts hit different:

"I almost fired my first employee after 3 days.
Here's why I'm glad I didn't..."

Boom. 50k views.

Why?

Because 10,000 other founders
felt that exact same fear.

They weren't reading advice.
They were reading their diary.

Content that converts isn't clever.
It's a mirror.

Show people themselves,
and they'll follow you anywhere.

Love,
Elliott 💜

taplio

The Battle

Jarrod Deaton

Elliott Murray

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Performance ScoreJarrod Deaton's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreElliott Murray's LinkedIn Performance

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taplio

The Battle

Jarrod Deaton

Elliott Murray

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);}Jarrod Deaton's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreElliott Murray's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreJarrod Deaton's LinkedIn Performance