Supporting ambitious founders w/ my newsletter (4k+ readers). DM me to get featured (it's FREE)

v limited capacity & likely can't afford to help but can try. be as specific as possible when reaching out and i'll do my best. hope to see you onchain, cheers

Mitko🏕️ Dimitrov

Helping Founders Become Thought Leaders | Founder of Cue Studios

You’re already sitting on a goldmine (your personal brand). Let’s unlock it.

I never set out to "build a personal brand." I just started sharing what I knew.

And then, something unexpected happened. Opportunities started coming my way. Clients. Speaking invites. Partnerships.

That was my first “aha” moment. This isn’t just posting online. It’s a growth engine.

Most founders ignore their personal brand. Here’s why that’s a mistake.

Right now, you’re running a business. You’re solving problems. You’re having conversations every day that could be turned into valuable content.

But instead:

• You don’t know what to talk about
• You’re not sure how you want to come across
• You’re not leveraging your experience to attract the right people

What if I told you you don’t have to do anything extra?

Your daily insights are already content. You just need the right strategy to get it in front of the right people.

This is where I come in.

I help founders turn their expertise into authority without wasting time or chasing vanity metrics.

What I do:

• Define your personal brand. Who you are, what you stand for, and how you should show up online
• Create the right content for the right audience so you attract clients, investors, or opportunities
• Develop a system so your brand runs without taking over your life

And here’s what happens when we get it right:

• Speaking engagements on top-tier stages
• Inbound leads and investment opportunities
• Industry recognition that makes you the go-to name in your field
• A network of high-value relationships that drive your business forward

I’ve helped tech founders, Web3 builders, and executives grow their influence and I can help you do the same.

So, what’s your next move?

You can keep letting others control the narrative about who you are.

Or you can start shaping it yourself and attract the kind of opportunities that change everything.

DM me or book a call. Let’s make your brand work for you.

Byron Grealy

I’ve posted every single weekday for over a year.

Over a million impressions.
9,000+ new followers.
New business.
Genuine relationships I wouldn’t have had otherwise.

But that’s only half of it.

I’ve had posts completely flop.
Random business expenses out of nowhere.
Struggles doing everything solo.
Time management issues.
Very long days.
Moments where I felt properly overwhelmed.

And through all of it, I kept posting.

That’s the point.

To build a content flywheel, or anything meaningful, you need consistency and commitment. 

One year into a new business, I definitely don’t have it all figured out. 
But I'd swear by showing up.

Because even if the post doesn’t pop off, you showed up and probably learned something. 

The right people notice.
They remember.
They convert slowly.

This applies to anything worth building.

The people who usually win aren’t the most talented. 
They just played a longer game than everyone else.

They stuck around while others chased something shinier or shifted priorities.

There’s probably a Hormozi quote in there somewhere.

But you get the point.

Stick with it.

It’s not easy, but it is rewarding. 

Even if the reward isn’t in the metrics, the personal growth alone makes it worth it.

Spotting fake has become a life skill. 

We're not falling for it like we used to.

The rented Lambo. The fake jet. The staged lifestyle.
We got good at spotting it.
We trained ourselves to question the image.
To ask who's selling what.

And that same scepticism is being applied to the news. 
At least on the ground here.

Because the same thing that was happening in your feed, has been happening in the news feed all along.

Fake footage passed off as real.
Real images attributed to the wrong place, the wrong time.
Content engineered to trigger a reaction before you think to question it.

When clicks are the incentive, it's inevitable.

And just like with the Lambo, we're getting better at seeing through it.

The awareness is growing.
People are pausing before they reshare.
Asking where something actually came from.

That's the instinct maturing.

The internet gave everyone a voice and a camera.
It didn't come with editorial standards.
So we've had to build our own.

Triple check before you add your voice to a story still unfolding.
Find the original source, not the sixth reshare.
Ask who filmed it, when, and where.

The people worth following treat their platform like it has weight.
They'd rather be right than first.

Trust was always about how you show up.
Now it's also about how carefully you move through information.

Same game, just way higher stakes.

Have you noticed yourself getting better at this?

Most people can't handle uncertainty. 

I used to be one of them.

We have a flight booked in a few days, and we don't know if it's actually happening. It's already been changed a few times. 

It seems like it will, but that's the point; we don't really know.

Uncertainty exists in every part of life. 
Business, relationships, where you'll be in 5 years. 
We never truly know what's coming.

We crave certainty because it gives us comfort and confidence. 
But comfort slows growth, and it kills risk-taking, which is exactly where we grow the most.

That's why embracing uncertainty is a superpower.

Being able to accept that things don't have to be certain, controlling what you can, and not reacting to outcomes you didn't see coming. 

Something most people can't do.

A cancelled flight → panic
Losing a client → end of the world
Let go from a job → I must be the problem

What if instead the response was: 
"It happened. What can I do about it?"

That simple mindset shift changed everything for me.

Control what you can. 
Respond to unexpected outcomes with calmness. 

In times like these, that's what gives you the edge.
Not waiting for someone else to do it for you.

There are two types of people on LinkedIn.

Those who post.
And those who scroll.
Those who engage.
And those who lurk.
Those who build relationships.
And those who wait for “the right moment.”

Neither is wrong.
But only one of them consistently finds opportunities.

I used to think LinkedIn was just an online resume.
A place to announce promotions and job changes.
Until I had to stand out during a job search.

That’s when I realised:

You don’t have to post.
You don’t have to build a personal brand.
You don’t have to send DMs, comment, or share ideas.

But if you do, you open yourself up to a different game.

One where connections find you.
One where people know your name before you walk in the room.
One where a few posts can open doors that would’ve taken years otherwise.

LinkedIn isn’t just a resume.

It’s a reputation engine, if you’re willing to turn it on.

Most people aren't afraid of posting. 

They're afraid of being judged.

I've felt it at every stage of showing up online.

→ Blogging felt safer than posting. 

Because if I wrote a blog, I could just share the link. People had the option to click or not. It felt like a buffer. Like, I wasn't really putting myself out there. If no one read it, I could pretend it wasn't personal.

→ Podcasting was easier, too. 

Because I framed it as "learning from others." I got to hide behind the role of the host. I asked the questions. They gave the answers. And I didn't have to risk saying the wrong thing.

→ LinkedIn came last. 

And only because I started a business. I'd been writing content for founders for years, writing their thoughts, their stories. I saw what worked. I knew the game. But when it came to doing it for myself? Suddenly, I had nothing to say. Or so I told myself.

Video was next on the list. 
And I avoided it for a long time.

Today I'm recording in a studio. It took longer than it should have. The excuse was always time. But time is rarely the real issue. It's a socially acceptable cover for something more vulnerable.

Time is how fear dresses up in public. It's how we say "not now" when we really mean "I'm not ready."

Because visibility triggers something deeper.
→ What will people think?
→ What if I say too much?
→ What if it just flops?

And I see it with clients every day. 
They'll say something powerful on a call, the kind of message their audience needs to hear. But when it comes time to post it? 
They pull back. 

Same with posting a photo of themselves. It feels too personal. 
Too exposed. Too "look at me."

I've learned that visibility doesn't always give you instant rewards. 
But it does plant seeds. 

It builds quiet trust with people who are watching, thinking, deciding who they resonate with.

And one day, when they're ready, they'll reach out.
But only if you've let yourself be seen.

I used to break promises to myself all the time.

I skipped the gym, pushed back the post and told myself I'd do it tomorrow.

It’s not a huge deal if you miss one workout, but if you do it enough, it starts to affect how you see yourself. 

When you don't follow through on things you said you'd do, even things no one else can see, it chips away at you. 

You start to self-identify as someone who doesn't follow through. 
And then that filters out into everything else: Your work, relationships and commitments to other people.

Even if it’s subconscious, even if you don’t think it’s happening. 
It is. 

No one else knew I second-guessed going to the gym at 6am.

But I did.

That's the only thing that matters because you are the most important person you make promises to.

Consistency is all about building a version of yourself that you can trust.

We had a client post go viral. 

589,412 impressions
1,000+ reactions
100+ comments

Without boosting it or putting any money behind it. 

This led to podcast invites, event panel invites and collaboration opportunities. Great outcome if that's what you're aiming for. 

Here's why the post worked:

1. It opened with a measurable hook. 

We respond to numbers. It makes it easier for us to understand where you started and where you eneded which plants that seed of intrigue. How did you do it? What happened next?

2. It created tension. 

The outcome wasn't a positive one, which is more relatable and vulnerable than sharing your wins and successes.  

3. It diagnosed the cause.

Although posts on the negative side or more relatable, no one likes someone whining for the hell of it. If you just whine online, then it also presents you as someone helpless vs. someone who understands what happened and has a solution. 

4. Throughout the story, there was proof.

Similar to the hook, it validates what you're saying and backs it up. It makes your story more believable and related if you can back it up with data or similar stories. 

5. It offered a path back

We finished the post with hope. A desired outcome and a challenge, to not only inspire, but also improve engagement, whether that be support or signal initiative. This section helped with engagement. 

6. A catchy visual

We're so used to thumbnails to tell us part of the story that they've become an addition to the hook. We created an image using AI to be very specific to the post, but create intrigue and get people chatting. 

Supprisingly some people thought the image was real, but it definitely wasn't. 

Going viral for the sake of it isn't always a good thing. You've got to think about how people will react, what it will do for your brand and whether it will achieve a desired outcome. 

TL;DR for a banging post:

• A measurable change
• Identity tension
• Specific causes
• Visual reinforcement
• Clear resolution

Focus on the tension. It's what makes you relatable and builds intrigue.

The last few days have been surreal.

Living in Dubai right now means holding two realities at once; things feel both normal and profoundly different.

Yes, there are sounds overhead. But everyone here has been kept safe, and daily life is largely continuing. We're staying inside as advised, and the government has been handling everything with remarkable efficiency.

To everyone reaching out from home, thank you. Your love and concern means alot.

But I also want to offer some reassurance: the news cycle right now is optimised for clicks, views, and fear, not objective truth. Please take what you see with a healthy pinch of salt. The situation on the ground here is calmer than headlines suggest.

And while we're safe, my thoughts are very much with those in other parts of the region where the situation is far more serious. What we're experiencing here is incomparable to what others are enduring, and that should be acknowledged.

Stay safe, everyone, here and everywhere. Hoping this passes quickly for all. 🙏

The best person to work with is the one who makes you feel good.

Wrong.

If they agree with everything you say, smiles at every idea, and never pushes back, they're not working for you. They're working for your comfort.

And your comfort isn't what moves the needle.

The thing is, that moment someone you employ disagrees with you is probably the most valuable moment in your entire working relationship. 

That's them actually doing their job.

You don't hire an expert to validate what you already think. 
You hire them because they can see the blind spots you can't.

So if you're working with someone right now and they've never once made you slightly uncomfortable, it might be worth asking yourself whether you're getting the real deal or just an expensive yes.

Have you ever had an employee push back on you in a way that turned out to be exactly what you needed?

These are the people I'm looking for.

I thought posting on LinkedIn made me annoying.

Turns out, I was just insecure.

Early on, I hid behind posting a link to my blog. 
It felt safer. Less "in your face."

Then I realised that people already choose to scroll. 
You're not forcing anyone.

That mindset shift changed everything.

I see it with founders constantly. 
They're not short on ideas. 
They're afraid of being seen.

When I posted about quitting drinking, personal, vulnerable, outside the "professional" zone, it connected more than anything I'd written before. 
People I hadn't spoken to in years reached out.

Playing it safe doesn't build connection.

I see the same hesitation with clients. 

Taking a photo is easy. Knowing it's going online? 
Suddenly the lighting's wrong, you don't like your face, you'll "do it later."

That discomfort usually means you're onto something. 
You're growing. 

Every founder I've worked with who pushes through that resistance starts to loosen up, experiment more, actually enjoy it.

That's when people start paying attention.

You don't need to feel 100% confident to come across as credible.

You just have to show up anyway.

Is it just me, or have a lot of people who used to post consistently just vanished?

I can think of plenty of reasons why someone stops posting, but it all boils down to motivation.

We rely on motivation to keep going, but what's actually motivating you matters more than most people realise.

If it's purely numbers and content performance, then one algorithm update or a busy period is all it takes to fall off. You tell yourself it's not worth it. That there are better things to spend your time on.

But that's always the excuse when it comes to something that compounds.

The obvious example is MrBeast. Jimmy Donaldson took 5 years to reach 1,000 subscribers.

5 years.

How many people would have given up? Almost everyone. 

That's what it comes down to. Motivate yourself for the right reasons, play the long game, and you won't become one of those people who used to post.

You'll be reaping the rewards, because everyone else stopped, and you kept going.

And there's no better time to start than today.

Something to ponder on a Friday.

I believe in surrounding yourself with people who break your mental frames.

People who earn more than you.
Build faster than you.
Think bigger than you.

Early on, that’s fuel.

It stops you getting complacent and forces you to raise your standards.
It shortens the time between where you are and where you want to be.

Breaking your mental model is necessary. 
You don’t even know what’s possible until someone shows you.

But later in your career, the question changes.

What game are you actually playing?

Let’s say you hit your comfort number. The point where your investments cover your living expenses.

Now what?

There will always be someone doing more, taking things to another level, benchmark or room you’re not in.

Comparison can still drive you.

Or it can make you feel like you’re behind, even when you’ve already “won”.

The billionaires of the world don’t need to work ever again. They work because that’s the game they’ve chosen.

But not everyone is built for that game.

Some people reach their number and still move the goalposts, without ever asking why.

If you’re the kind of person who can reach that level, it’s probably hard to stop. Maybe near impossible.

Just something to think about.

If you reached your comfort number, would you stop?

What is authenticity?

I ask myself this regularly, because it matters in the work I do.

When you're managing shifting priorities, keeping projects moving, making sure you're not the bottleneck… narrowing down to ONE clear thing to say is harder than most people think.

That's the most important part.

When I sit down to write, my mind goes in every direction. 
Just like everyone else.

Not because I don't know what to say, but because there's always too much.

Choosing what to say, and committing to it, is the hard part.

And that's where authenticity and a strategy comes in.

Sometimes it's a lesson you had to learn the hard way. 
Sometimes it's something a bit uncomfortable that you pushed through.
Sometimes it's just the honest reality of running your own thing.

All of it builds connection.

But we start telling those stories, and then we pull back. 
Because it feels too exposed.

But those are normally the strongest pieces of content.

I'm not saying vulnerability is a strategy, but because people can tell the difference between someone performing expertise and someone who actually has it.

If you feel a bit nervous to post once it's ready, that's usually the signal.

You felt compelled to write it for a reason. Trust that.

I was in the content game for years before I posted about myself.

I worked with founders, turning their thoughts, experiences, and opinions into content people actually wanted to read. I knew the craft, and I knew what made something land.

But when it came to doing it for myself, I felt like I had nothing to say.

It took me a while to figure out what was really happening. It wasn’t that I didn’t have ideas. The truth is, I was just afraid of being seen.

I see this all the time when I work with founders. They think they don’t have anything interesting to say, but really, it’s that sharing their own perspective feels personal.

But, I decided to start posting anyway.

And almost no one saw it.

What I learned from that is something I always share with clients all the time: when you start posting, almost nobody is watching. The people you think are judging aren’t even there yet.

At first, it honestly feels like you’re just talking to an empty room.

And that’s actually a good thing.

It gives you space to find your voice, test ideas, and get comfortable sharing your thinking before the room eventually fills up.

Stop calling it a pivot. 

Sometimes it’s just impatience.

You’ve got to have a north star.
Not only in content, but in everything you do.

It doesn’t have to be your north star forever, although the people who do have one for decades tend to be the ones who build something meaningful.

Why do I say that?

Because it’s so easy to get distracted now.

You get bored in your job, so you start a side project. You work on it when you feel like it. But because it’s a side project, it never really gets your full attention. Then something shinier comes along, and the first idea fades away.

Even in a new business, I see people making decisions based on emotion rather than data. Something new and exciting pops up, and the business pivots again. And again. 
Eventually, no one can keep track of where it’s heading.

There is a right way to pivot.

But if you do it repeatedly, people stop believing in the direction because they assume it will change soon anyway.

Commitment matters. Plan it out. See it through.

A north star gives you focus. It helps you ignore the noise. It keeps your team aligned. And when it comes to content, it makes decisions simple because you know what the goal is.

The best rule I’ve found is to commit to something for a year without question.

There are exceptions. But as a general rule, if you remove the constant second-guessing, you can focus on the data. Then, at the one-year mark, you can make a clear decision on whether to stick or swivel.

That’s what I did with blog writing, photography, podcasting, videography, posting on LinkedIn and plenty of other projects.

If you don’t commit, you’re just burning time.

You don’t realise you’re the bottleneck until you hire.

Before that, you’re just keeping your head above water.

You’re doing the content, the sales, the strategy, the client work. 
Everything moves through you and you convince yourself that’s normal.

You also convince yourself that no one else will be able to handle things the way you do.

Part of that is perfectionism.
Part of it is the fear of creating systems and documentation that feel like extra work when you’re already stretched.

And part of it is the comfort of knowing where everything is because you built it.
But that doesn’t mean it’s efficient for anyone else.

The moment it really hit me was when more opportunities started coming in.

Instead of feeling excited about the business growing, my first reaction was worry about capacity and whether I could serve them properly.

That’s was my "oh shit" moment.

Growth isn’t limited by demand.
It’s limited by you.

Trying to handle content production, sales, strategy and delivery yourself doesn’t make you efficient. 
It slows everything down.

It leads to longer days, more stress and slower growth than the business is capable of.

So I fixed that.

Building proper onboarding systems.
Delegating verticals so people can own them.
Taking the time to give feedback instead of just doing it myself.

It’s still early, but one thing is already clear.

The founder bottleneck is real, and most of it is self-inflicted.

At what point did you realise you were the bottleneck?

AI is not going to generate ideas for you.

And if that's what you use it for, you're going to sound like everyone else.

Just like this image being thrown around online about AI usage.

Yes, it's comforting to know you're still early, but this image is being treated as gospel, and we don't actually know its origins or how the study was conducted. At least I don't.

So, quoting it to build a hopeful post is a generic AI idea in itself.

I don't think it's about how many people are using AI globally. 
It's about how many people are using AI in your world.

And on LinkedIn, it can feel like everyone sometimes. Which isn't a bad thing. You might be early, you might be late, who knows? 
But what you should do is learn to use it properly.

Not to generate whole ideas. Not to write whole posts. But as an assistant, to improve your workflow, increase your output, and sharpen your thinking.

Not to kick back and assume you're ahead because you typed some words into a box.

Now is not the time to become reliant or complacent.

I saw one of those "comment X below for the resource" posts today.

Someone claiming they replaced their entire marketing team with an AI tool by building a system to do X, Y & Z.

So, of course, I went to the comments.

Someone had screenshotted their company's hiring page, and they were actively hiring for every single role they just said they replaced.

If the tool's that good... why are you hiring?

That's the problem.

I regularly respond to these posts to gauge whether the hype matches the resource. 

9 times out of 10, it doesn't.

We're wired to love shortcuts. 
Low stakes, potential upside, of course, we bite. 
But that doesn't make the action valuable.

Here's what actually happens:

→ You follow to get the resource
→ It arrives (if it ever does) and it's underwhelming
→ You feel deceived
→ You stop trusting that person

So now the creator has a hollow follower who doesn't trust them. 
But the follower number went up, so it feels like a win.

It's not.

If you want to use this tactic, just make an actually good resource. 
A few people do. 
And when they do, it compounds. It builds real reputation.

Most people are doing the opposite, so it's easy to stand out. 

When did you last get sent a genuinely useful resource?

The world feels unstable right now. 

Everyone's feeling it. 

Travel costs are rising. Jobs feel less certain. The price of everyday things keeps rising, too. And nobody, not the experts, not the economists, not anyone, can tell you with confidence what next month looks like, let alone next year.

So we've got to stop waiting for certainty because it's not coming.

What I keep coming back to is: you can't control everything, but you can control what you focus on. 

Everyone is fighting for your attention right now. 
The news. The markets. The doomscrolling at 11pm. And every minute you spend on things outside your control is a minute you're not spending on the things that actually move your life forward.

This isn't one of those toxic positivity posts. I'm not saying everything is fine.

I'm saying that in uncertain times, the gap between people who make progress and people who don't usually comes down to one thing. 
Where they put their energy.

So that's my focus right now. 

I'm not trying to make predictions or panic. I'm just focusing on the work I can actually do today.

And as always, this is mainly a reminder to self.


P.S. As you can see from the pic, I'm cool as a cucumber 😎

Playing the "content game" is a lot more than posting and ghosting.

I'd say it's more about relationships than it is just the content.

It's everything around the content.

The content acts as a catalyst to inform, to attract, to open doors. But relationships are where the magic actually happens.

You get a comment from a new person in your ICP. What do you do?

You reach out. Start a real conversation. Add value. Build a genuine relationship, and if they want to work with you, they'll let you know.

When you have the right things set up around your content, you don't need to shove anything down anyone's throat, not in your posts, or in the DMs.

And that's just on the client side of things.

There are colleagues, competitors, and people from completely different industries also showing up on your platform of choice, and they play an equally important role in your success.

Supporting one another and growing together makes this whole thing so much sweeter than trying to go it alone.

It's been great meeting new people and learning from them as I continue to post on this platform. 

So I want to know, what's your approach?

Have you built a community? Do you post and ghost? Have you done both and noticed a difference?

A lot of questions, I know 😅 But I'd love to know.

taplio

The Battle

Mitko🏕️ Dimitrov

Byron Grealy

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance ScoreByron Grealy's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

taplio

The Battle

Mitko🏕️ Dimitrov

Byron Grealy

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);}Byron Grealy's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreByron Grealy's LinkedIn Performance