Michael Houck

Megaphone

We create high-converting LinkedIn, X, and newsletter content for over 50 founders and send it viral with the help of over 400 creators with tens of millions of followers.

Founder

Founding Journey

Helping founders build, grow, and raise capital for their startups.

launch house

An early stage venture fund for companies building the New Silicon Valley. It began as a membership club built around IRL coliving residencies in LA, NYC, Tulum, Aspen, Miami, and Lisbon.

Co-Founder

Airbnb

Product Manager

Uber

Product Analytics, Uber Eats

TherapyNotes, LLC

Software Engineer

85,000+ founders read my free weekly newsletter. Follow me to learn about startups and venture capital.

I didn't know what a startup was until after college. I wasn't lucky with connections or mentors.

But within a few years my startup raised $23 million from a16z + other investors.

Along the way I:
· Cold emailed my way into an early role at Uber Eats
· Got laid off by Airbnb during COVID
· Built an audience of ~100K across LinkedIn and X
· Started a coliving residency for startup founders in Tulum
· Co-founded a venture fund and made over 50+ early stage investments (incl. Figure and Beehiiv)

More recently I've bootstrapped my personal holdco from $0 to $100K MRR in under 2 years. We help founders through content, connections, capital, and services:

· megaphonestudio.com → let my content agency build your newsletter or social media audience
· megaphone.network → partner with big creators in your niche

· join.foundingjourney.com → get my weekly playbooks and advice alongside 75k founders (for free)
· upgrade.foundingjourney.com → get ~100 fundraising case studies from founders I interviewed
· go.foundingjourney.com/fundraising → get connected with investors (including me)

I'm also building a new YouTube channel. Here's a recent video on the history of Silicon Valley: youtu.be/alUQxEldEMM

A weekly newsletter designed to help you build, grow, and raise capital for your startup.

Daniel Markovits

LinkedIn

Creator & Community Manager - EMEA

Grishin Robotics

Targeting Pre-Seed, Seed, Series A investments in the US and UK.

Grishin Robotics has invested in several category-defining companies including Ring (acquired by Amazon for $1B), Spin (personal mobility, acquired by Ford), Zipline (last-mile drone delivery), Starship (last-mile robot delivery), and Eero (smart home wi-fi system, acquired by Amazon).

Reach out if you're a stellar founder looking to gain traction!

Venture Scout

Minute Media

Enhanced new and existing traffic from social, organic, and referral sources. Developed and implemented tools and frameworks to drive growth. Proactively participated in design and execution of strategic partnerships outreach. Optimized quality and retention of the brand’s users, while improving monetisation margins.

• Boosted monetization margins from 10 to 30%.
• Executed partnership campaigns across 14 markets globally, including joint ventures and cross-content deals.
• Played an integral role in growing SEO/organic numbers from 5% to 30%.
• Ensuring the tools & frameworks to deliver our growth plans are in place both internally and externally.
• Cross-functional collaboration with the BI, product, legal, tech and commercial teams.

Head of Growth & Community

Managed brand’s Latin America growth and business development across all properties. Served as in charge of the brand’s content strategy on Facebook. Coordinated with the commercial and editorial team regarding the execution of campaigns.

• Boosted brand’s Latin America unique users by 500% to 15M a month.
• Developed and maintained relationship with BI, legal, product, tech, and commercial teams.

Latin America Growth and Partnerships Manager

• Assembled our influencer network from the ground up, onboarding 2000+ partners and reaching 1B+ digital impressions.
• Manage, support, and nurture strategic creators. Help these creators ramp up their sharing and audience growth while improving content quality.

Creator and Influencer Manager Lead

Created, edited, and organized engaging content for 90min’s social networks and mobile app. Developed and directed LatAm content team in Minute Media's flagship brand. Created content strategy and worked on actual deliverables. Ensured timely delivery on traffic targets set by management.

• Developed 2000+ pieces of content with over 100M reads.
• Served as in charge of initiating and defining process to administer strategic partnership efforts.

Content Manager

Adgorithms LTD

Directed a portfolio of over 30 clients across gaming and tech industries. Held the overall responsibilities for training and on-boarding of new clients. Delivered effective assistance to clients in developing and optimizing campaign strategies.

•	Boosted portfolio revenue by 50% to $5M ARR.
•	Reduced 20% churn by cultivating strong relationships.

Sr. Account Manager

Creators + Community + Sports @ LinkedIn | Venture Scout | I help CEOs, execs, VCs, athletes & brands stand out and build authority

I’m a community builder and strategist with a background in scaling creator programs, executing partnerships, and shaping content ecosystems across sports, finance, media, and tech.

At LinkedIn, I’ve been part of the editorial and product team shaping how top athletes, execs, creators, and brands show up on the platform. From onboarding Lewis Hamilton to launching scaled video programs and amplifying executives' voices through editorial campaigns, I’ve helped over 500+ high-impact members grow their audience and influence. I’ve also supported major product rollouts like collaborative articles and the new immersive video tab, bringing feedback from the community directly into product decisions.

Before LinkedIn, I led growth and partnerships at Minute Media across global markets — building out their influencer network from scratch (2000+ creators, 1B+ impressions), driving user growth across LatAm, and boosting monetization through SEO and cross-platform deals.

I didn’t start out planning this path. I just kept following what made me curious: how communities form, how content spreads, and how creators (and now athletes and execs) shape culture. That curiosity has led me across continents — from Tel Aviv to London — and through roles that have mixed editorial instinct, product feedback, talent strategy, and partnership growth.

I'm especially passionate about helping people show up more authentically online — not just for the algorithm, but for their community. If it sits at the intersection of storytelling, strategy, and real human connection, I’m probably already in it.

In short: I help people build a presence and a community that opens doors.

Club created to serve as a continuous bond between the diaspora community and the State of Israel.

• Successful crowdfunding campaign & world wide media coverage
• 150+ players from 25 different countries 
• Currently in Liga Gimel (5th division) of the Israeli Football League

Dani Markovits

I’m excited to share that I’ve joined the latest Hubble cohort as an industry expert 😎 

Every week, I get messages from people who want to pick my brain about LinkedIn. How to grow their presence, connect with the right audiences, or build their brand in a more intentional way.

And I love those conversations. 

But the truth is… my calendar's been chaos, and I've had to say 'no' more often than I'd like 😅.. so this feels like the perfect solution.

Hubble makes it simple to book focused, 1:1 sessions (no endless back-and-forths, just real conversations that actually move things forward).

And it’s a platform with a mission that really hits home for me:
To build a future where no one has to go it alone. Where expertise isn’t locked behind closed doors. Where real-world experience becomes the most valuable currency.

If you're looking to level up your LinkedIn game or unlock opportunities through the platform, let's talk. 

You can book time directly here 👇
https://lnkd.in/eVpPnSG2

CCO @ Shake Content | Ex LinkedIn | I help CEOs, execs, VCs & brands stand out and build authority on LinkedIn

This is Rony 🙌 

We met on LinkedIn two years ago. Last week I got the chance to visit her at Google's Tel Aviv office.

LinkedIn gets a bad rep for being transactional. But I believe this is one of the few places where you can build genuine relationships with people you'd never meet otherwise.

This platform isn't just for deals and job posts. It's for finding amazing people.

Shoutout to Rony for the invite... and to LinkedIn for making the world feel smaller.

The formula that changed my career wasn’t E = mc² 😆 

It was L = D × T → Luck = Doing × Telling

I used to think luck just found you. Like winning the lottery. You either got hit by it or you didn't.

Then I learned about 'luck surface area'. The concept (from Jim Collins, later popularized by James Clear) is simple but powerful:

The more you do, and the more you tell, the larger your luck surface area. 

And for the 'doing' part, you don't need to build rockets or start the next unicorn. Doing just means working on things you care about and getting better at your craft. And that's worth sharing.

For me, that 'telling' part happened here.. on LinkedIn. Sharing thoughts, stories, and ideas (usually without expecting anything back) has brought me opportunities, collaborations, and friendships I never could've planned for.

The biggest hack isn't some secret growth strategy. 

It's just: do interesting things, tell people about them, and be genuinely helpful.

That's it.

strongly held belief:

who follows you matters more than how many follow you

be known well, not well-known

One of the most inspiring uses of technology I’ve seen in sports recently.

Crystal Palace Football Club has rolled out a permanent headset for visually impaired fans - letting supporters follow the match in real time from their seats through a magnified live feed.

I believe this is a great lesson for anyone who builds community, content or audience:

1) Identity matters. These fans aren’t just spectators (with tech like this they become participants)
2) Tech isn’t optional. It’s meaningful when it removes barriers (not just adds features)
3) Storytelling evolves. Crystal Palace’s story isn’t about sponsorships or merch-sales (It’s also about inclusion, innovation, and connection)

For those of us in the creator-economy, community or media space, the parallels are clear:
- Your audience isn’t just numbers: they’re people whose experience you can elevate.
- Your platforms aren’t just distribution: they’re opportunities to make things accessible, authentic and impactful.
- Your brand isn’t just what you say: it’s what you enable.

If you’re building content or community on LinkedIn (or any platform):

Don’t just be visible. Be valuable.
Don’t just broadcast. Amplify access.

Because a story that changes someone’s experience? That builds trust. That builds connection.

Kudos to the mighty Palace 👏💙❤️

Welcome to the ‘Insightification’ of business.

(Yes, I just made up another word.) 🤭

Companies are quietly hiring journalists, economists, and researchers.

Ramp → hired a Chief Economist
Salesforce → brought on an Executive Editor
Shopify → employs journalists to cover commerce trends

These aren’t media companies.

They’re tech companies acting like intelligence agencies.

Because in the age of AI-generated everything, original insight is the only way to stand out.

Why now?
1️⃣ AI can summarize existing knowledge: but it can’t create new data
2️⃣ Google’s AI Overviews reward additive, not recycled, content
3️⃣ GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) favors original sources over SEO fluff
4️⃣ Trust has become the scarcest commodity on the internet
5️⃣ As AI floods the web with sameness, originality just got expensive

The line between company and newsroom is blurring fast.

💡 For brands: Your competitive advantage isn’t just your product.. it’s your proprietary knowledge about the world you operate in.

💡 For professionals: The most valuable skill today isn’t creation, it’s interpretation (turning data into story, and story into trust).

Because in 2025, credibility is the product.

PS: s/o to Noah Greenberg, who’s been way ahead on this conversation.

Vegamour just created a role that didn't exist 6 months ago.

Chief LinkedIn Advisor

I've been tracking interesting roles popping up on LinkedIn lately. This one def. stand out. 

A beauty brand is investing executive-level resources into a single platform. They're not spreading thin across TikTok, Instagram, and Twitter. They're going all-in on LinkedIn.

VEGAMOUR hired Iryna Kremin, a longevity expert, to create 'science-backed conversations' for their community. They're treating LinkedIn like a media channel where credibility compounds.

Here's what this signals:
• LinkedIn is becoming a primary business channel, not a secondary one
• Companies are realising that trust-building happens in feeds, not just in ads
• Executive attention is shifting from 'we should post more' to 'we need a strategy here'

The brands/companies winning on LinkedIn in 2025 won't be the ones posting occasionally. They'll be the ones treating it like the business asset it is.

If a hair care company is hiring a Chief LinkedIn Advisor, what does that say about where your industry is heading?

You're following the wrong people.

Not because they're bad. Because everyone else is following them too.

When 500,000 people are learning the same insights from the same person, that information has zero edge. It's already priced in.

The contrarian truth: 
Small following = mispriced asset.

It means the market hasn't discovered them yet. It means their ideas are still undervalued. It means you can still get in before the crowd.

This isn't about being nice to smaller creators. It's about information arbitrage.

By the time someone hits 100K followers, their best ideas have already been:
Recycled 1000 times
Packaged into courses
Absorbed by the algorithm

The people worth following right now? They make you uncomfortable. They challenge your assumptions. They have 2000 followers and say things no one else is saying. 

Here's what no one tells you: Building relationships with 'big accounts' is a vanity play. You're one of thousands trying to get their attention. The ROI is terrible.

But that person with 5K followers who's thinking differently? They'll actually respond. They'll actually remember you. And when they blow up in 18 months, you were there first.

Stop optimizing for status - Start optimizing for edge.

Who are some of your favorite LinkedIn creators & experts? Would love to show them some love!

Couldn’t be happier for my friend David Walsh and the entire Limelight team 🚀

They’re building the best B2B creator platform in the game... and this new funding round + product launch is just more proof of that momentum.

As a user, I can’t recommend Limelight enough. What they’re building is genuinely changing how brands understand influence and content-driven revenue.

Huge congrats to the whole team. I know they are just getting started.

Founder & CEO @ Limelight | B2B Creator Marketplace | 3x Founder | MBA Mentor

Today I’m announcing our $2,100,000 funding round 🎉💰
And a HUGE NEW PRODUCT LAUNCH!! ...

Our brand new AI agent for Social Listening is live.

It can:

→ Research your company
→ Precisely define your ICP
→ Identify all of your competitors

Then automatically surface buyer intent from social content and turn it into sales pipeline. 

Early users are raving about it already!!

And just a few weeks ago,
We won the Global Pitch Competition!
On stage at SaaStock (€1M prize money)

THIS. IS. WHAT. MOMENTUM. LOOKS. LIKE.

Here’s why investors are loving Limelight

👇🏼👇🏼

Everyone is talking about personality-led marketing.

- Niche B2B creators are stealing trust.
- Employees are becoming mini media brands.
- Buyers follow PEOPLE, not 40-page whitepapers.

But the problem - up until now?

Everyone KNOWS influence drives revenue.

Yet nobody can measure it.

So budgets have stayed trapped in paid ads & cold outbound.

Limelight SOLVES this problem.

We’re showing brands - how CONTENT drives REVENUE.

We are making influence marketing performance-based.

So brands can track:

🔎 Which post led to $142,000 in pipeline
🔎 Which creator drove 237 product signups
🔎 Which campaign closed $1.9M new business.

(All REAL Limelight case studies! 📈)

We’re turning B2B influence from a “nice-to-have branding play” into a scalable revenue engine.

Big SHOUT out to our new investors for believing in us

Amit at SNR (led the round!) 
Eran at Savyon Ventures 
Kenneth at BackFuture
Kaan at First Degree 
Josh at OpenSky 
Kirby at Ascend

And many others like Ran Makavy, Gert Lanckriet, Suhit Gupta, Amir Ashkenazi, Mike Head, Eli Schwartz, Tom Waddington, Dan Murray🧠, Garrett Scott, Michel Lieben 🧠 & Alex Vacca 🧠🛠️.

A group of incredible operators/investors who know personality-led growth will define the next decade of GTM.

What’s next?

Goal remains the same:
→ Hit $10M ARR with a team of 10.

This funding round lets us:

⚡ Build even faster
⚡ Hire a few elite engineers + AMs
⚡ Push deeper into creator-based attribution
⚡ Power influencer programs for every GTM org

Huge gratitude to my tiny but might team Youngjae JI, Demir Capan, Blas C. and Janine Bulao. 

And most importantly...

The creators and brands (HubSpot, Webflow, Clay + 100s more) who are building this category WITH us 💪🏼

THIS IS JUST THE START.

PS. if you sign up as a new customer in the next 48 hours you get your 2nd month free! (DM me and I will do it for you)

taplio

The Battle

Michael Houck

Dani Markovits

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance ScoreDani Markovits's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

taplio

The Battle

Michael Houck

Dani Markovits

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);}Dani Markovits's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreDani Markovits's LinkedIn Performance