Niall Cleaver

Documenting the journey of crafting a timeless coffee cup brand | CEO & Founder of Cupsly

My story isn’t about a polished entrepreneur. My journey hasn’t been traditional. I left school without an English qualification, uncertain of what the future held. 

That failure shaped me, it forced me to think differently, fall into business, and ultimately embrace creativity, resilience, and the belief that change is possible, even when doubted. Fast forward to today, I’m growing and scaling businesses while sharing the real lessons that come from it.

Founder

Are you struggling to grow an engaging community for your business or personal brand.

Stop right there, I think I have you covered ⬇️

This is me (Niall), I'm a 22-year-old who is fascinated by growing communities in the online space. Actual communities that have meaning and purpose. 

The services we provide at Social Library 

➡️ Personal Branding (LinkedIn)

➡️ Guidance & support consulting


Drop me a message to discuss your social media strategy, review how well your current socials/posts are doing, and research how we can build your community and gain you more followers and leads.

or you can email us @

hello@sociallibrary.co.uk

For years... I thought starting small wasn’t even an option.

This year, I want to start small. You need to read this.

Everyone is so scared to start small and I was one of those people. I used to overthink about creating something big instead of worrying about starting small.

Turns out, starting small is how you build big.

It’s how you take the first step forward.
It’s how you stop overanalysing.
It’s how you actually start.

It almost feels wrong when you say it out loud.

But every successful founder and business you see today didn’t get where they are by massive moves. They got there by starting small and then scaling.

So if you’re starting a business, building a hobby, or whatever it may be… stop worrying about “scaling big” and focus on the small step that gets you going.

Growing @thistlescientific and sharing the lessons while I do

Building vs scaling a business. What's the difference?

A few years ago, I learned one of the most valuable lesson in business. I left school with qualifications that made it hard for me to get any sort of job.

Luckily, my family ran a business. I jumped in and started learning. And here’s what I learned: There’s a huge difference between building and scaling.

Building a business:

Proving the idea
Short-term survival
Doing everything yourself
Energy, speed & scrappiness

Scaling a business:

Letting go of control
Long-term decisions
Patience, systems & people
Making sure it works without you.
Alignment throughout the whole company.

Building feels exciting. Scaling feels uncomfortable. Both are essential. I didn’t realise how different they both were until I lived them.

But the one thing that never changes between both? 
The hard work that comes with it.

I just spent 2 hours yesterday in one of the best meetings of my life!!!

What about? How do we build further on our foundation?

Yesterday was a special day, do you know where you get the team together and you leave feeling excited for what's to come? That's what happened.

It's been a pretty wild couple of months for Thistle, but it always comes back to the same thing. How can we deepen the connection we can have with researchers?

The personal touch.
The real support they deserve.
The professionalism and trust they have in us.

This year, we’re looking at how we double down on that.

We’ve set some big objectives, and the whole team is ready for them. If yesterday was anything to go by, this next phase is going to be an exciting one.

We can't wait to share more on this very soon.

We’re excited to announce our new collaboration.

I'm genuinely proud of the impact we're creating in research at Thistle Scientific. It started with one clear objective to make research the best it can be, not only to impact our lives, but also to impact the lives of generations to come.

Last week was a big reminder of this as we announced our collaboration with arcorisbio AG, which will help accelerate the industrialisation and commercialisation of their breakthrough MUSE® platform.

A collaboration that will help keep the world safe.

One of the best mistakes I learned pretty quickly in business.

Thinking strategy comes first in business. But it doesn’t… 

Understanding who you’re building for is.

I’m nowhere near successful yet. But I’ve been lucky to spend time around people who definitely are. And one topic comes up over and over again: 

Strategy.

How did you come up with your strategy?
Why has your strategy been effective?
When do you adapt your strategy?

The answer usually sounds complicated.
But, it keeps coming back to one word: audience.

Before you can plan anything, you have to understand them. What do they care about? When do they need to hear from you? How do they feel when they see you show up?

This is where a lot of founders go wrong. No strategy is 100% correct. It’s custom‑made based on how well you understand the information your audience is giving you.

So copying what works in another company or industry rarely works. You’re playing a different game, with different people, at a different stage.

Strategy is an understanding game.

I used to panic hearing the word strategy in business.

It sounded complicated... but it wasn’t.

I would hear the word and be like that sounds proper technical. I'd just nod like I understood exactly what it meant, when I didn't but now I get it and it's simple.

It's just a plan.

What are the objectives?
What action will you take to hit them?
Which data tells you it's working or it isn't?

We love to make words sound more complicated than they are. 

It's easy to overcomplicate things when you hear all of the advice online but it's simpler than you think. If something isn't working don't wait, go and find the reason why.

Try something. Learn. Adapt. Evolve. Repeat.
Just enjoy the process of figuring out.

That's what business is!

When I was younger, I hesitated on the idea of working for my family business.

Today, I’m 3 years in, working alongside nearly 50 incredible people.

It’s crazy how life works. Some days you’re completely against something before you’ve even tried it…then you try it and realise it was exactly what you were meant to do.

I always had this doubt in the back of my head:
That I had to prove myself somewhere else first.

That’s why:

- I started posting on LinkedIn.
- I kept looking for “my own thing”.
- I started learning more about business.

Now it feels like all of that happened so I could come back better and help continue to grow a business I genuinely care about. But this growth has hardly been me. It’s been the team I get to work with every single day.

A few things this has taught me:

- Don’t write something off until you’ve actually tried it.
- You can prove yourself elsewhere, but always bring the knowledge back

So don't resist an opportunity just because it didn't fit your picture in that specific moment of your life. It might be worth taking a closer look.

Stop listening to too much advice.

Read that again... throughout my journey, I've fallen for many distractions. Stuff that didn't feel right personally, and so many of us are going through this.

There's advice here, there and everywhere.

And it's very hard to know which is the right or wrong advice, and you know what you'll never really know. The only way to find out is to...

Listen to your gut and try.

In a world full of advice after advice, trust yourself first. 
There's no right or wrong way to do anything.

If it works, it works!

P.S. Have a little day in the life vid

Luke Matthews

Co-Founder | Lifestyle Blogger |  Content Marketer | Storyteller 

I teach you how to write with AI (and win LinkedIn)

You don't fit in. You feel left behind and you can't play the social media game that other's tell you to play.... 

Well stranger it's true that the internet has changed. BUT not all is lost....

Yes, dead internet theory is alive and well, it feels like there are no humans on LinkedIn™ or any platform anymore doesn't it? 

BUT my dear rebel, you aren't alone. 

After marketing for over 10 years on social media, building over 250k followers across all my platforms and ghostwriting for some of the biggest personal brands in the world....

I quit social media last year. 

Let me explain...

I built my social media on my terms. Sharing the most unhinged content you will ever see. I streamed drunk from the Scottish highlands, given away 1000s of dollars of pizza, hosted live meme competitions and battled other influencers LIVE... 

It was a blast BUT..... I started trying too hard to optimize my "personal brand" and I lost my way. 

10 bans on this platform didn't help and I decided to disappear into the shadows and leave the social media game behind. I was tired of being the rebel that got punished for playing a different game.

So I spent 2025 focusing on biohacking and figuring out how to enjoy my life again after years of hustling and obsession with work... 

It was a great year but truth be told I missed the banter. So I started questioning my choice to disappear...

It was during this journey that I learned a ton about private AI, cybersecurity as well as alternative tools that felt cool to use again. I tapped into my driving force....

Being a rebel without a cause. 

I like building things my way, on my time and saying whatever the heck I want. That's my roots. 

That's the way of the rebel, it's playing a different game with different goalposts and embracing it 1000% without any shame. 

AI and big tech want to put us into a cage. 
But we can use them to build our own kingdoms. 
We CAN build our own freedom.

So if that resonated with you, and you want to learn the "Rebel's Guide to the Creator Economy" and find a lane that serves you best...

I hope you'll follow me in 2026.

Cheers and lets crush it!

--

𝗪𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗷𝗼𝗶𝗻 𝗺𝘆 𝗻𝗲𝘄𝘀𝗹𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗼𝗼𝗹𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗯𝗲𝗹 𝘄𝗮𝘆? 

Follow me and subscribe to my email list. You can subscribe by clicking any link in my profile as they all go to my newsletter on Substack. 

--

𝗔𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗻𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗻 𝗮 𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘁?

Email me at luke@wizardofoddmarketing.com

Founder - Lead Wizard & Ghostwriter

Linkedin & Twitter Ghostwriting Services for CEOs, Influencers, and Tech companies. 
Reach your audience with a sprinkle of magic, the power of explosive copywriting, and let the WIZARD OF odd MARKETING help make your biz a LOT  less boring.

LinkedIn doesn't have enough real humans.

Here's what we can do about it....

Howdy folks, it's been a whiiiiiile.

I spent 2025 mostly offline working on my health and myself and some cool projects.

Truth is though, I missed the banter... 

Scrolling this feed this past week I can see that most of you miss the good ol days when people kinda read your content, commented back...

AND actually connected human-to-human. 

I know I know...

It's easy to feel lost and upset about what has changed.

(guilty as charged over here hehehe)

But truth is it's harder to show up
AND work towards a solution. 

So look if you are a rebel, an outcast and feel lost on this platform I hope we can connect.

I believe it's still possible to build a business here...

n also have fun doing it!

PS Join me. Lets make our corner of LinkedIn great again.

--

𝗪𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝘆 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗹?

Join 14k+ others and sub here: https://lnkd.in/eagxG_7k

LinkedIn is boring. I am not. Follow for memes, anti-guru hate speech, practical AI tool workflows and to join my movement of rebel creators.

I became what I hated.

A guru with a 6-figure course launch...

Actually.. I fell just short of a 6-fig launch. 

But see that's how this silly game works...

(nobody cares what's true anymore) 

Anyways... the product was "AI Writing Made Easy" and it was the best LinkedIn writing course about AI in early 2024.

But I was a terrible guru. 

I refused to promise buyers platform growth OR an increase in revenue because I couldn't honestly assure that. 

Not only that... 

But I didn't leverage buyers into...

→ Selling a "special" paid community.
→ Upselling more courses, secrets, workshops.

Because I had realized a dark truth...

Selling on LinkedIn is easier if you have no soul because all you have to do is SELL THE DREAM. 

(with 0 care if ur product delivers)

I can't freaking do that.

So eventually I had to just accept it.

So I....

Shut down a second course launch.
Killed an attempt at a paid community.
Nuked all my LinkedIn coaching offers.
Deleted everything, including the course...
AND ghosted 100k+ followers! 

I spent most of 2025 offline, and for a while I was pretty frustrated with myself; that I couldn't sell out and go all in. 

But as I had time to reflect... 

I realized. 

I built my business by being myself. 

I didn't need to quit building business online.

I just had to do it my way

(n play my own game)

See I believe...

You dont have to become what you hate to build a life of freedom..  

You just gotta sell something you believe in.

👊

PS Am I smiling or cringing here?

(I'm not sure either)

--

𝗪𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝘆 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗹?

I write for rebels here: https://lnkd.in/eagxG_7k

It's unfortunate what happened to this guy. I mean I get it.

70% of new fathers report higher stress levels.

It's hard to raise a kid and post on LinkedIn.

But enough is enough.

A friend in need is a friend indeed.

Sooo I'm helping Tasleem show up on LinkedIn regularly in 2026.

I've seen him go from perfect hair to a frazzled beard thanks to becoming a new father.

Hey the real world is stressful!!

But you know what's more stressful than kids?

The kind of carnage we see on LinkedIn these days.

LinkedIn's lost it's soul.

I'm not even sure there are any real people here anymore?

It's mostly just AI slop and the same self absorbed nonsense.

I've had enough of it.

Tas has had enough of it.

That's why we've agreed to meet every week and keep each other accountable for showing up on LinkedIn and making this place more fun for all.

Tas was there for me in hard times.

I want to return the favor.

So look LinkedIn, we're gonna make this a better place in 2026.

P.S. What's the worst thing about LinkedIn you'd want changed this year?

Gary Vs $1.80 commenting strategy STILL WORKS!!

If u are broke this is how to win in 2026... 

Are you hot? Don't read further u still fine babe.

(the rest of you read on)

Have a budget? Pay for ads or you lose. 
Don't have a budget? Hustle or you lose.

Last year LinkedIn introduced thought leader ads and I called the end of organic reach.

Creators do NOT matter here. That is fact.

The platform cares about money. The money is in paid ads. 

BUT not all is lost, u still have a shot my fellow peasant...

→ 𝗙𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗲 $𝟭.𝟴𝟬 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆.

It = leaving real comments on 90 posts a day.

But most creators get it wrong.
It’s not about the volume.

You ACTUALLY HAVE TO READ the post, be interested in the person and want to genuinely get to know them and their brain and their business.

You can’t automate this.
You can’t outsource this.
You can’t shortcut this.

Starting from 0 with $0 budget means putting in the work, and networking with people’s content that you actually find interesting and are your target audience.

Automating this method is spammy, you are too broke too outsource this work to an underpaid virtual assistant.

Want to build a business online without a budget?

You have to outwork those with money to burn.
You have to outTHINK those outsourcing their brand.

Otherwise yes.. it's time to go work at McDonalds peasant. 

Sorry but this is the brutal truth.

Adapt or lose.

Splash cash or work hard.

👊

Substack is built for creators. LinkedIn is not. 

I got treated better in 6 days on Substack than I did in 6 years of building here... 

David Paykin runs the tech, AI and biz partnerships at Substack and found me after my first post on the platform ranting about ChatGPT...

He fired off a helpful intro email to me and....
Got me verified in LESS THAN 24 HOURS!!!

This blows my mind.

We jumped on a call. He shared what Substack is doin in 2026. 

Substack pushes good content weeks after you post.
Substack has actual silos of fresh creative content.
Substack is a writing FIRST platform (phew)...

AND....

They have live streaming that alerts your entire email list... 

David is a champ and asked for nothing from me.

Pretty darn rare on the internet these days.

So thanks my dude and well....

I for one am excited to build my newsletter on a platform where every follower gets a chance to become an email subscriber, where the team gives back to it's users and.....

Where I actually have someone to email if I get banned.

(lol)

PS Have you tried Substack yet?

--

Join me on Substack and check out my newsletter.

(I post 5 days a week)

The Rebels Guide to the Creator Economy.

Read the first article here: https://lnkd.in/eagxG_7k

Chatting about Substack as the place to be for creators in 2026

I’m excited to announce that Im starting a new position as Co-Owner at the MEME team

I am officially a 50% investor/owner and responsible for bringing fun back to your feed, one meme at a time.

♻️ Repost for others bored of this corporate AI slop!!!

PS Say hello in the comments and I'll meme you!

(PG don't worry and SFW)

I help rebel creators build online without selling their soul. 50% investor/owner of the “MEME team” and responsible for bringing fun back to LinkedIn, one meme at a time.

No alternative text description for this image

I deleted Instagram, Facebook, cut a billion AI tools, changed my profile pic to a cartoon and ghosted LinkedIn for 6 months. . .

Now the rebuild has begun on my terms.

Shoutout to anyone else showing up and trying again.

Lets get it stranger....

PS Don't repost this for others!

Pretty sure they'll be ok without this post.

I'm old. 

But my 8 hour morning routine keeps my young... 

3:00am → Wake up
3:01am → Smile
3:05am → Cold shower
3:09am → Make 3 CUPPA coffees
3:15am → 100 Pushups and 15k steps
3:31am → Write five elite LinkedIn posts
3:57am → Comment "WOO" on 1000 posts
4:22am → Eat a cheap $500 steak for breakfast
9:69am → 650 pushups, 3 more coffees & tanning
4:33am → Post on linkedin. Get rich. Be hot. Win. 

Now I know this might seem extreme.

But this routine is the key to my rugged good looks and well... my incredible LinkedIn profile. 

Let me break it down for you:

Struggling with lead gen?
↳ Drink more coffee.

Nobody reading your posts? 
↳ Do 750 pushups and lose some weight u fatty.

Everyone but Bryan Johnson says you can't live forever.
But they are wrong (he is too)

You don't need to spend thousands on peptides. 

All you really need is. 

My incredible, elite morning routine.

PS I lied; I hate smiling.

(comment ETERNAL for the guide)

Making $1000 an hour is simple. 

Step 1: Make your LinkedIn profile a landing page.
Step 2..... 

Just kidding, this isn't one of THOSE posts...

𝗙𝗮𝗰𝘁: if you make $$ on LinkedIn, you are winning. 
𝗙𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: everyone makes money on LinkedIn.

It's easy to feel down, scrolling the feed.

10k months.
100k MRR AI tools. 
1000 dollar coaching calls.

It's all in our face all of the freaking time on every flippin scroll. 

But we only see the wins. 
Trust me, we all lose.

(and many people inflate their numbers) 

So the next time you feel down, just stop for a second and walk over to a mirror..

Look at yourself and scream WOOOO. 
↳ celebrate a small win and encourage yourself. 

Then, get back to work.

Let's GO!

✌️

LinkedIn blocked me from commenting for 24 hours.... 

So Imma go hang out on Substack today...

If you wanna join me and check out my newsletter there come say hello.

It's called: "A Rebel's Guide to the Creator Economy"

Oh...... you didn't know?

Yeah so if you comment too much LinkedIn thinks you are a robot. 

(I used to do this every day back in 2020-2021)

Guess I gotta take it a bit easier huh...

PS Have you ever been blocked or restricted on LinkedIn?

Cz I sure have ha ha ha ha....

Open article: Rebels and non-conformists are the pioneers of change... by substack.com

Rebels and non-conformists are the pioneers of change...

This is my 3rd post of the week. 
I have hit my weekly target. 
Good job Luke. I am king.
I've also decided that.
This post will be so.
Formatted like dis.
That it doesn't.
Make much.
Sense.
woo
!!

These are the 13 commandments of organic reach.

(A mostly helpful guide to get u 200k followers)

It took me 6 years to hit 200,000 followers.

But you can do it in triple the time. 

Let's get started eh?

Blessed are the impressions, cz dopamine...
Blessed are the mid selfies, for they get the likes
Blessed are the live streams, for they reach no one
Blessed are the em-dash haters for they are correct
Blessed are the AI comments for they boost our stats
Blessed are the coaches, for they will take your moneys
Blessed are the engagement pods, for they kill your soul
Blessed are the "We hit 500k MRR posts" for they are tru
Blessed are the "how to" educational posts, for they zzzzz
Blessed are the "comment this" posts for they make us $$
Blessed are the memes for they help me show up........

All but half of these will get as much reach as we should all like, but less than half of you will use these methods as much as they deserve.

So you see...

Organic reach is fleeting.
Followers don't matter.

But ancient texts (and modern translations) live on forever.

PS Yeah there's only 11 commandments (sue me)

taplio

The Battle

Niall Cleaver

Luke Matthews

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Performance ScoreNiall Cleaver's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreLuke Matthews's LinkedIn Performance

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taplio

The Battle

Niall Cleaver

Luke Matthews

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);}Niall Cleaver's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreLuke Matthews's LinkedIn Performance

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Performance ScoreNiall Cleaver's LinkedIn Performance