We do thought leadership social media content for Founder-led sales. In just two 30-minute interviews a month, we create one post per weekday for you, and help you start more sales conversations.

Founders, social sellers and thought leaders: I can help you book more meetings from your social media content.

I’ll help you build a simple, time-effective workflow that will help you build your influence on LinkedIn with content (in your own words) and fill your inbox with sales leads automatically.  

We’ve helped dozens of tech startup founders and CEOS from many industries with founder-led sales. Our systems help them grow their qualified leads and revenue. 

Happy to walk you through the systems on a quick call. Click the link below my name above; my calendar loads on that page.

Jordan Behan

Frosted Flakes good? They’re GRRREAT!

When I was a kid, I wanted to eat Frosted Flakes so bad. 

I would see those commercials every single morning, and I would ask my dad if we could just have Frosted Flakes this one time. But no, it was always Corn Flakes. 

But... that was a prime example of advertising doing its job through repetition.

B2B sales isn’t all that much different. Back in the day, when we used to meet in person and actually shake hands, they said it would take seven touchpoints for a B2B sale to happen. 

These days, that number is much higher. Experts are saying that it’s north of 28 touchpoints. 

So, how are you going to get all of those touches? Content can handle a lot of those touchpoints, even before you ever meet with somebody.

You can have the same effect as those cereal commercials had on a young Jordan, simply by putting your message out there with a certain amount of repetition and clarity so that people understand how you can help them.

It works! Ask me how.

Founders and CEOs: give me two 30-minute meetings a month and I’ll make your personal social content kick ass and drive business outcomes. Done-with-you content production for leaders, in your OWN words.

Here's how I use AI to help with content, WITHOUT sounding like AI: 

DON'T let AI write your content for you. 

I'm a futurist, and I know I'll have to revise this advice soon, but right now even the best custom GPTs and AI writing tools aren't as good as YOU. 

But look, I get it. It's also hard to know what to say and to make sure you get it "right." So here's how to use AI to help with that: 

-Fire up your AI buddy and give it some background. Your history, your product or service, your customer profile, your goals. You don't need a 32-page dossier; just your LinkedIn profile and a few notes about what you hope to accomplish. 

-Ask it for ideas about what you can talk about on LinkedIn to achieve those goals. 

-Here's the trick: Don't rely on it to output content for you, but instead, record your thoughts on those topics. Voice-to-text is very handy here, as it forces you to speak clearly, on the spot, about the things that matter, IN YOUR OWN VOICE. There are tools that can help; Wispr Flow is a popular one. 

-Then, take your transcript and ask your AI pal to clean up the grammar and punctuation for written text. You can even ask it for a strong hook or think of one yourself. And if you like, give it an image prompt sometimes. Something fun. 

-Publish. Repeat. See what resonates and do more or less of the topics that get a reaction. 

That's all there is to it. If you're really smart, you'll do this in batches with a dedicated spot on your calendar when you create. 

And if you're really, REALLY smart, you'll reach out to me to help you with it: https://lnkd.in/gFZkrAVZ

Here's why all Founders who sell should be sharing content regularly: 

It helps you make sales. Need a better reason than that? Probably not. 

Showing up on social media, especially with video, gives you an advantage over the version of you that doesn't. And over your competitors. 

If you're doing Founder-led sales, this is the best move you can make. 

And you don't need Hollywood production values or studio quality. After all, you watched this video, right? It was recorded in my office with an iPhone and took me no more than a few minutes. 

If you're curious about how to go about it and need a little help, let's chat. Learn more here: 

https://lnkd.in/gKaP9SB3

Here's a story about how a prospect stole one of my clients' branding IP, and then ghosted. Buckle up. 

Some quick background: Starting my agency was one of the hardest things I've ever done. Six months of little to no revenue, doing all the right sthings, waiting for something good to happen. 

I had a partner at the time. We were responding to RFPs and trying to get portfolio work from friends and family. And so it was that a so-called "friend" double-crossed us in the most brazen way. 

They asked for a proposal to do some branding and design work. We built the most amazing proposal deck and included past freelance work as proof of proficiency. We priced it so it was fair to all involved. 

After weeks of back-and-forth, this prospect, this "friend," ghosted. 

About a month later, we realized why. They did their rebrand, all right. And they stole their tagline directly from one of my past clients' branding. 

No changes. They used my client's brand name in their promotional materials and then went quiet, likely too embarrassed to admit what they had done. 

And how did we respond? We didn't. It wasn't actionable, and it wasn't worth fighting over. And apparently, the friendship wasn't worth trying to save either.

We carried on, assuming better things were on the horizon. And in the long run, it all worked out. But I still think about that sometimes, that there are people who operate like that.

Give me two 30-minute meetings a month and I’ll make your personal social content kick ass. Done-with-you content production for leaders, in your OWN words.

Here's another benefit of regularly sharing content on LinkedIn: 

You can test ideas, concepts and keywords to see what will resonate with actual humans. 

Then, you can take the themes that have proven to be popular and explore them further. The stakes are low with any given piece of content, but the upside could be huge. 

Try it!

Canadian Founders and Executives, here's why your marketing strategy should NOT have a US accent. 

Even if you're selling in the US. 

As Canadians, we operate a little differently from our neighbours to the south. And yes, I said neighbours, not neighbors. 

And I don't mean to disparage our American cousins. Some of my best friends and clients are American. 

But sometimes it helps to have an advisor who speaks the same language and understands the various cultural nuances between our two great nations. 

Beyond just knowing how to say toque or sing "O Canada" en français. 

As Canadians, we tend to err on the side of politeness rather than assertiveness. We value pragmatism over aggression. We tend to put community ahead of individualism. 

And even though we say "sorry" a lot, we're actually NOT apologetic about those distinctions. It's what defines our character as a nation. 

The other day, I was speaking with a prospect from Montreal, and I asked, as I always do, "How did you find me?" She had seen one of my posts and clicked through to my profile. 

"I said, this guy's a fellow Canadian, he gets it." 

It made me think carefully about the differences between working with someone who knows the words to "Ahead by a Century" or "Bobcaygeon" and someone who doesn't. 

And it occurred to me that I would be remiss if I didn't extend a proper welcome to my fellow Canadian Founders and CEOs to ask if they'd like to speak to a fellow Canuck about their sales and marketing needs. 

So even if you don't know what a House Hippo is, or have never seen the constellations reveal themselves one star at a time, don't hesitate to reach out to me. I don't hard-sell, and I won't defend the abysmal record of the Canucks this season. 

Here's a bit more detail about how I help Founders and CEOs, including a link to my calendar where you can schedule a call for a chat with me: 

https://lnkd.in/gKaP9SB3

A spoof of the Canadian Heritage Moments, featuring Jordan in a Toronto Blue Jays jersey in front of a backdrop of a Vancouver skyline. 

Find: "That's not.." 
Replace with: ANYTHING ELSE

Change my mind. 

That's what good LinkedIn content should try to do. It's easy to overthink things, and sometimes it's hard to come up with something to say. 

If you want to share ideas that have value and help your audience, make that your goal: change someone's mind. 

Take a myth or a misunderstanding, and provide clarity. Set the record straight. Convince at least one person of something. 

Instead of chasing "virality" or reach, just state your case. It will make you seem smart and like you care, and isn't that the goal? 

Now let's make this a participation exercise: Change my mind about something in the comments.

The "change my mind" meme, except it's an AI-generated image of Jordan with a coffee mug. 

The #1 mistake founders make with content: 

Talking too much about their product. Don't do that. 

Talk about the PROBLEM you're solving instead. Think about your ideal customers and the problems they're experiencing. 

Talk about those challenges first. Only then can you propose a solution. Content production is hard. Fresh ideas are hard. 

Put the time in to understand what your audience struggles with.

Want some help with your content, in your OWN WORDS? Learn more here: https://lnkd.in/gKaP9SB3

Don't swim in the sea of sameness. Instead, take advantage of your company's biggest opportunity in the age of AI. 

Most companies are missing a trick. They're sitting on massive, invisible expertise that goes unused. 

Inside most companies, there is a metric buttload of knowledge:

The founder obsesses about the category like it's their first teenage love.
The head of product sees customer patterns like Superman's X-ray vision.
The ops team can predict the next system breakdown months in advance.
The sales team has heard every bogus objection a hundred different ways. 

These people know their shit, and they keep gaining expertise. And don't get me wrong, they sometimes deploy that know-how.  

They shape strategy, improve the product, and they win deals. BUT! The bulk of that expertise never actually leaves the building. 

Buyers get glimpses, but never the big picture. The market gets little tastes, but never the full meal deal. 

Why? Because companies are dogshit at capturing it. A lot of them are great at "marketing." Feature descriptions, product updates, and (cough) press releases. 

But the real goods, the actual authority, remains hidden. It's buried in meeting notes no one reads. Slack threads that die on the vine. Internal conversations that are never recorded for posterity.  

And meanwhile, teams are trusting shitty, generic AI outputs to represent them publicly.  

This gap between internal expertise and external visibility is what I'm dubbing the Authority Gap.

It's one of the biggest missed opportunities in modern business. And I'm not going to shut up about it.

If you want to learn more about how I help Founders and CEOs use their own expertise to drive business results on LinkedIn, visit this link: https://lnkd.in/gKaP9SB3

3 things that make content creation so damn hard. 

(The third one is trickiest)

 If you're struggling to stay consistent, understanding these barriers helps.

Need some help with it? Learn more about how I can help: https://lnkd.in/gKaP9SB3

Founder @ ProductShots.ai, Venture Partner @ Antler

Bijan Vaez is a seasoned technology executive and serial entrepreneur. As the Founder & CEO of Merchkit, he is building AI-native commerce technology, empowering retailers and brands with enriched product catalogs that rank, are recommended, and convert everywhere they sell.

Prior to Merchkit, Bijan helped scale a high-growth D2C marketplace as CTO , where he architected the platform's expansion to $65M GMV and helped secured Series A funding. He currently serves as a Venture Partner at Antler VC, where he leverages his operational experience to support portfolio companies in their growth journey.

Previously, as Founder and CTO of EventMobi, Bijan built a leading event technology platform serving 15,000+ customers across 70+ countries, earning recognition as an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year nominee. Under his leadership, EventMobi grew without external funding to achieve multiple honours and awards, including being listed on Deloitte’s Technology Fast 50 in Canada and Fast 500 in North America, and recognition as one of Canada’s Top Small & Medium Employers in 2018.

Bijan Vaez

AI founders doing anything to keep alive and survive

"You're just building a wrapper"
"The models will just do it all eventually"
"I could just vibe code this myself"
"The SaaS-pocolypse is here!!!"
"OpenClaw will just do it automatically"

.... just keep holding on

#AI #Startups

Founder @ Merchkit | Helping ecom teams launch products 94% faster with AI catalog enrichment & automation | ex-D2C Marketplace Executive | Venture Partner @ Antler VC

⚠️ OpenAI is walking back on rolling out instant checkout in ChatGPT!! 

 "OpenAI staff had realized that while ChatGPT users were researching products to buy in the chatbot, they weren’t using the chatbot to actually help them make purchases, one person familiar with the project said."

I'm seeing folks saying OpenAI is abandoning ecommerce. Let's calm down folks, it's far from the truth.

Users will research products in AI all day long. They just won't buy there (for a while). OpenAI found that out the hard way, and now they basically concede the catalog infrastructure layer to Google's existing infra built with Google Shopping + Merchant Center and now their UCP protocol.

Which makes sense. The actual hard problem was never "put a buy button in a chatbot." It's normalized, structured product data that agents can act on.

They will track back and rely further on retail partners to provide them that normalized catalog data - first from Amazon & Walmart but surely also expecting to scrape from niche and regional retailers as well.

For my retail execs: agentic commerce is about product discovery & search right now. Not checkout. Checkout at scale is still years out. 

We're building Merchkit for the help you need to win TODAY, getting retailer data ready for what's coming.

The race isn't for the buy button. It's for the catalog.

#AgenticCommerce #RetailStrategy #UCP #ProductData #AI

Excited to be pitching Merchkit on stage in NYC in a few weeks! 

If you happen to be in town as well from March 9-12, I will be planning a private dinner for ecommerce leaders from brands & retailers who want to connect on sharing best practices for leveraging AI for their product data & catalogs - DM me for an invite!

Marketecture Live : Startup Showcase

We’re excited to officially announce the five startups selected to present at this year’s Marketecture Live Startup Showcase! 

• Gareth Glaser, CEO, Gamera, Inc
• Jason Higgins, CEO, OpenGlass TV
• Joe Luchs, CEO, Datalinx AI
• Alicia Richardson, Co-Founder & Managing Partner, CrowdAxis
• Bijan Vaez, Founder & CEO, Merchkit

Hosted By
• Eric Franchi, General Partner, Aperiam
• Sanja Partalo, Co-Founder & General Partner, S4S Ventures

Really grateful to Ray Allegrezza and Furniture Today for this piece on Merchkit!

"Teams shouldn't spend their time fixing spreadsheets. They should be focused on merchandising strategy and growth."

I've watched too many furniture & home brands burn months just getting product data into shape for Wayfair or Walmart. Months!! For what should be a configuration problem, not a headcount problem.

We built Merchkit because the gap between "we have product data" and "our data is actually marketplace-ready" is where brands lose time, money, and listings. 

If you're a supplier still manually wrangling spreadsheets to get listed - there's a better way. Read the full piece here.

https://lnkd.in/gfYYfsrt

#FurnitureIndustry #FurnitureToday #Ecommerce #ProductData #Merchkit

Open article: MerchKit positioned as 'tech bridge' with AI-powered platform - Furniture Today by furnituretoday.com

MerchKit positioned as 'tech bridge' with AI-powered platform - Furniture Today

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The Battle

Jordan Behan

Bijan Vaez

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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);}Jordan Behan's LinkedIn Performance

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