Actionable strategies to grow your audience, monetize your skills, and build leverage online. | Trusted by leaders at Google, Adobe, Meta

Hi, I’m Ryan. I help high performers become founders by using LinkedIn to build real, profitable businesses.

My career didn’t fall apart. I didn’t burn out. I finished every role cleanly - Director, VP - leading hundreds of engineers across the world and helping build multiple billion‑dollar companies.

And still, I knew I wanted to build on my own.

I’ve founded 5 companies and earned multiple exits while scaling teams behind $1B+ in outcomes. I loved the work, but I wanted a life where I could build big things and be present for my family. I wanted ownership. I wanted flexibility. I wanted proof I could do it on my terms.

LinkedIn became the path. I grew from 1,200 to 100,000+ followers in nine months, built a brand that opened doors I didn’t know existed, and stepped fully into my own business.

Since then, I’ve coached 50+ founders to design careers, income streams, and opportunities that match the life they actually want - not the life their company dictates.

Here’s how we work:

- Identify the opportunities you can’t see in your past experience.
- Build a clear, practical brand that attracts the right people.
- Turn your skills into simple offers, real customers, and predictable income.

Today, I own my time. I build, coach, and spend my days with my family - and help others do the same.

If you’re a high performer who wants a business that fits your life, DM me.
Partnerships, speaking, press: ryan@ryanyockey.com

Professional highlights:
• 5× Founder | Multiple exits
• Scaled teams responsible for $1B+ outcomes
• Grew to 100,000+ followers in 9 months
• Coached 50+ founders
• Trusted by leaders at Google, Adobe, Meta

Ryan Yockey

Change is scary. Starting over is scarier.

Most people avoid both.

And stay exactly where they are.

Here's what I've learned watching people build:

The caterpillar doesn't negotiate with the cocoon.
It surrenders to it completely.

That's the part nobody tells you about growth:

→ You don't transform by adding more.
→ You transform by letting go first.

The job that didn't work out wasn't a failure.
The idea that collapsed wasn't wasted.
The version of you that didn't make it — needed to go.

Most people want the butterfly.
They just want to skip the dissolving.

That's not how it works.

The discomfort you're avoiding right now?

That's the process.

That's what I write about every Saturday.

Want to know if your LinkedIn profile is holding back the next version of you?

I'll send you a free Loom walkthrough — I'll tell you exactly what's killing your growth.

Drop your profile link in the comments or grab a spot here: https://lnkd.in/gUMT6k_g

I help high performers build businesses on LinkedIn | From 1,200 → 140K followers in 12 months | Coaching + Newsletter for founders who want out

Most people dismiss their biggest dreams.

Not because they're impossible.

Because they sound crazy out loud.

I know the feeling.

I spent 12 years climbing someone else's ladder — VP titles, good salary, the whole picture.

On paper, it made sense.
Inside, it felt like I was disappearing.

The idea of walking away felt irrational to everyone around me.

To me, it felt like the only option.

That gap? That's where every real entrepreneur I know has lived.

Most people never cross it.

They wait for the idea to feel safer.
They wait for someone to tell them it's okay.
They wait until the timing is better.

The timing never gets better.

Here's what I've learned building a business 141,000+ entreprenuers:
→ The dream that embarrasses you in a room full of people is usually the one worth chasing
→ "Crazy" is just what conviction looks like before it has proof
→ The people who crossed that gap didn't wait for certainty — they decided the discomfort of staying was worse than the risk of going
→ Your idea doesn't need to make sense to everyone else — it only needs to make sense to you

The entire point of life is to take chances on dreams that seem crazy to most — but feel like destiny to you.

If your LinkedIn profile still reflects who you used to be — not who you're becoming —

I'll personally audit it on Loom and show you exactly what to fix.

https://lnkd.in/gUMT6k_g

Stay unreasonable.

Stay locked into your growth.

No time for noise.
No time for comparison.
No time for reacting to things that don’t matter.

Just you and what you’re building.

Most people don’t stall because they lack ability.
They stall because their attention is scattered.

Scrolling.
Second-guessing.
Watching other people play a different game.

The ones who make real progress?

They’re not louder.
They’re not busier.

They’re focused.

I learned this the hard way.

When my growth slowed, my attention was everywhere.
When things started compounding, my attention narrowed.

The difference wasn’t effort.
It wasn’t talent.

It was what I stopped giving energy to.

Discipline isn’t doing more.
It’s removing everything that doesn’t compound.

Your growth doesn’t need motivation.
It needs protection.

Everything else is distraction.

Every Saturday morning, I send one focused email to 134,000+ entrepreneurs.

One idea.
One system.
No fluff.

It takes 4 minutes to read.
It’s free.
And it’s designed to help you keep building while others drift.

Join here: https://lnkd.in/gfyweeTM

Stay locked in.
Keep building.

I turned down $250K because of what Charlie Munger taught me.

The offer was simple: consult for a company selling overpriced courses to desperate entrepreneurs. Easy money. I needed it.

But I kept thinking about Munger's rule: "Don't sell anything you wouldn't buy yourself."

Would I buy their $5K course? No.

Would I recommend it to a friend? Hell no.

So why would I help them sell it?

The internal war was brutal. I had payroll coming up. My savings were thin. This one deal would solve everything.

But every time I tried to justify it, I felt sick.

I said no.

The next month was terrifying. I scrambled. I took smaller projects. I ate ramen more than I'd like to admit.

Then something shifted.

When you stop chasing money that feels wrong, you create space for opportunities that feel right.

Six months later, I landed a client whose product I genuinely believed in. The work energized me. The money came anyway.

Now I use Munger's rule as my filter for everything:

Would I buy this?
Would I use this?
Would I recommend this to someone I care about?

If the answer is no, I walk.

It's the most expensive filter I've ever used.

And the most profitable.

Every Saturday morning, I send one focused email to 135,000+ entrepreneurs about doing exactly that. 

Designed to help you build more by doing less. 

It takes 4 minutes to read.
It’s free. 
Join here: https://lnkd.in/gfyweeTM

The dream is the proof.

Most people treat their idea like a problem.

Too risky. Too big. Too far from where they are now.

So they shrink it.

They find a more "realistic" version and call it wisdom.

But here's what I've watched happen over and over:

The people who can't stop thinking about something — even when it makes no sense — are the ones who were supposed to do it.

The obsession isn't random.

It's directional.

The dream didn't show up to torture you.

It showed up because you're one of the few people built to carry it.

Most people quiet that voice.

The ones who don't?

→ They stop needing other people's permission
→ They stop waiting until conditions are perfect
→ They stop treating the dream like a liability

The hardest part isn't the work.

It's deciding the dream deserves to be taken seriously.

141K people chose to take theirs seriously.

If you're ready to be taken seriously too — your LinkedIn profile is where that starts.

I'll tell you exactly what's holding it back: https://lnkd.in/gkDvugyj

What dream are you still sitting on?

Everyone you admire online looked ridiculous once.

Most of them will never tell you that.

14 months ago I had 1,200 connections from 10 years of doing nothing.

A resume for a profile.

Content so bad I cringe thinking about it.

I kept going anyway.

Today I have 141,000+ followers built almost entirely through that same profile.

The people who eventually look polished didn't skip the beginner phase.

They stayed in it longer than everyone else.

Most people quit right before the compounding kicks in.

Not because they lack talent.

Because they can't tolerate looking bad on the way to getting good.
→ The rep builds the skill
→ The skill builds the confidence
→ The confidence builds the result

You don't find your voice by waiting until it's perfect.

You find it by posting the imperfect thing anyway.

If your profile still looks like mine did 14 months ago — I'll show you exactly what to fix.

Free audit: https://lnkd.in/gkDvugyj

You’re not behind.

You’re just early in your timeline.

I’ve been:
→ Certain and wrong
→ Confident and broke
→ Successful and unfulfilled

None of it was wasted.

Most people panic because they think progress is linear.
It’s not.

It comes in chapters.

Long stretches where nothing makes sense.
Short windows where everything compounds.

I didn’t find real clarity in my 20s.
Or my early 30s.

I rebuilt in my 40s.

That’s when things finally clicked.

When I stopped racing imaginary deadlines.
Stopped copying paths that weren’t mine.
Stopped assuming I was late.

That patience paid off.

I built a brand that allowed be to
play the long game that most people quit too early.

No overnight breakthrough.
No perfect plan.

Just consistency through uncertainty.

That’s the part people don’t post about.

It takes time.
Alignment takes longer.
But when it hits, it compounds fast.

Then one day you wake up and you've built a massive brand with over 100k followers and enough revenue to live comfortably off of.

If you feel lost right now, good.
You’re still in the process.

And the process isn’t late.
It’s doing exactly what it’s supposed to do.

Every Saturday morning, I send one focused email to 140,000+ entrepreneurs building for the long term.

It takes 4 minutes to read.
It’s free.
And it’s built for people who understand that real progress can’t be rushed.

Join here: https://lnkd.in/gfyweeTM

Trust the process.
Keep becoming.

Deloitte Partner | Keynote Speaker & Executive Coach | Guiding leaders out of The Success Trap

I’m Clif Mathews, a Partner at Deloitte with 24 years of experience advising senior executives through major transitions and defining leadership moments. My advisory work spans 15+ years of M&A transactions, IPOs, and strategic divestitures for major corporations, including helping executives and boards navigate the highest-stakes decisions they'll make. 



Over the years I’ve seen how even the most accomplished leaders can reach a point where their own success starts to feel limiting, when what once worked no longer moves them forward.



I call this The Success Trap:



👉 When the very habits that built your career become the ones that keep you from moving forward.



Leaders find themselves here:



- Delaying big decisions out of fear of being wrong

- Struggling to hold influence in the rooms that matter most

- Achieving more and more, yet feeling less fulfilled



They have done everything right and now wonder, “Is this all there is?”



That is where I focus my work. I help senior executives break free from The Success Trap and move from optimization to integration. The goal is to reconnect achievement with authenticity, values, and well-being.



This is not performance coaching, stress management, or job search prep. It is about helping leaders build clarity, courage, and alignment before they make their next big move.



My clients learn to:



✅ Make courageous calls when the stakes are highest

✅ Rebuild confidence in their judgment and influence

✅ Lead in ways that feel both successful and sustainable



At the heart of my approach are four values:



- Exploration: asking better questions instead of clinging to old answers

- Empowerment: helping leaders back themselves when certainty is not possible

- Authenticity: showing up with integrity, playfulness, and courage

- Prosperity: building growth that feels healthy, aligned, and worth celebrating



Every day, I share ideas and experiences on leadership and how to break free from: The Success Trap. 



♻️ Follow for fresh perspectives, or DM me to explore a collaboration or speaking opportunities.



📧 Sign up for my newsletter: Second Summit Brief — a weekly read for executives who climbed the “right” mountain, only to realize it wasn’t their own. Every week, I share insights on finding YOUR summit. Integration over optimization, alignment over altitude, different terrain instead of higher ground. Subscribe here: https://www.clifmathews.com/newsletter

Clif Mathews

The thing no one warns you about high performers...

The more talented your team, the harder it is to work together.

Individually, they excel at performing.
But as a team, they struggle with alignment, defining clear ownership, and forming unbreakable trust. 

The execs that build high-performing teams often use frameworks to help bridge that gap.

With the right frameworks, you can create a shared language that helps your team understand how to collaborate effectively.

Here are a few that I've found helpful:

1️⃣ The Johari Window
↳ A simple model for feedback and self-awareness.

Open Area → Known to self and others
Blind Spot → Unknown to self, known to others
Hidden Area → Known to self, unknown to others
Unknown Area → Unknown to both

2️⃣ The 70-20-10 Learning Principle
↳ This is the most effective way for people to develop.

70% through hands-on experience
20% through mentoring or coaching
10% through formal training

3️⃣ The RAPID Decision-Making Framework
↳ Identifying clear ownership prevents confusion and delays.

Recommend → Propose a clear plan
Agree → Secure essential buy-in
Perform → Execute the decision
Input → Provide expertise to inform the choice
Decide → Make the final call

4️⃣ The Energy vs. Impact Matrix
↳ Map each person by their engagement and contribution.

High Energy + High Impact → Promote and empower
High Energy + Low Impact → Coach or redirect
Low Energy + High Impact → Reignite motivation
Low Energy + Low Impact → Reassess role or exit

5️⃣ The Five Stages of Team Development
↳ Understanding how high-performing teams are formed removes unnecessary worries.
Nearly every strong team goes through these stages:

Forming → People meet, roles are unclear
Storming → Friction shows up as styles collide
Norming → Shared habits form and collaboration clicks
Performing → The team operates with speed and ownership
Adjourning → The project wraps or shifts into something new

6️⃣ The Trust Triangle
↳ Trust grows when three things are consistently true.

Authenticity → Are you genuine and consistent?
Empathy → Do people feel understood and cared for?
Logic → Do your decisions and reasoning hold up?

You don't need to throw all six at your team at once.

Pick the ones that address your biggest challenges right now.
Use them as a starting point to help your team work better together.

(And save this post to come back to it later!)

For more posts on leadership, follow Clif Mathews.

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📨 Every week, 17,000+ execs learn how to define their own success via socials and in my newsletter, Second Summit Brief.
Sign up here so you don't miss out: bit.ly/SecondSummitBrief

🔁 Repost to help another exec build a high-performing team.

Deloitte M&A Partner (24 yrs) | Guiding leaders out of The Success Trap | Keynote Speaker & Executive Coach

I've delivered over 100 keynotes over my career.

And there's one thing the audience always notices.

Preparation.

Thanks to Rohan Sheth for putting this together!

People can tell when you're winging it.

If there's no storytelling arc in your message,
everything feels one-note instead of exciting. 

On the other hand, you can't afford to over-prepare either.

They'll notice when you've memorized a script instead of starting a conversation.

I've made both mistakes.

It took a long time to find the right balance and emotionally resonate with people.

That learning could have been a lot faster if I had known these frameworks:

Before you present:

✅ Research your audience. Who's in the room and what do they care about?
✅ Define your one takeaway. If they remember nothing else, what should it be?
✅ Prepare 3 stories or examples that prove your point.
✅ Rehearse out loud at least 3 times.
✅ Test your tech and have a backup plan.
✅ Arrive early to read the room and connect with attendees.

You'll feel settled in and relaxed way before it's time to speak.

Open with a hook to grab the audience's attention:

There are 5 types...
🪝 Bold statement
🪝 Personal story
🪝 Question
🪝 Stat
🪝 Scenario

Use the STAR Framework for storytelling:

Situation: What was the problem or context?
Task: What needed to be done? What was at stake?
Action: What specific steps did you take to solve it?
Result: What happened? Use numbers, outcomes, or proof.

You can use case studies in a pitch, personal stories in a team address, or just explain your progress in a meeting.

Follow the Rule of Three:
↳ People remember information in groups of three. Structure everything around this.

Client pitches: Problem, solution, outcome.
Public speaking: Opening hook, main teaching point, closing call to action.
Product demos: Current pain point, how it works (simplified), what changes after.

Use the 10-20-30 Rule:

• 10 slides maximum 
• 20 minutes maximum
• 30-point font minimum

This works for shorter meetings or presentations.
If you need more slides or smaller text, your message isn't clear enough.

Close with a clear ask:

1️⃣ Summarize your one point in one sentence
2️⃣ Connect it back to their specific problem
3️⃣ Give them a clear next step

Using these when preparing your presentations allows you to create an emotional journey for your audience.

When you've got that down, every speech you give becomes an opportunity to build influence.

If you'd like more information about bringing my keynote to your audience, 
you can head here and complete the inquiry form: bit.ly/Clif_Keynote 

What's your top tip for giving a great presentation?

For more posts on speaking tips, follow Clif Mathews.

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📨 Every week, 19,000+ execs learn how to define their own success via socials and in my newsletter, Second Summit Brief.
Sign up here so you don't miss out: bit.ly/SecondSummitBrief

🔁 Repost to help another leader deliver great presentations.

You can follow all the advice about success,

And still get the first step wrong.

Many of us are great at creating roadmaps to reach our goals.

The problem is, we might be chasing the wrong goal.

We inherit ideas of success from our parents, peers, and colleagues.
But we rarely stop and ask ourselves:

"What do I really want?"

So we keep climbing.

We build up incredible discipline, work ethic, and resilience.
We achieve all the goals we set out to achieve.

And when we reach the top of that mountain...

Success doesn't always feel like we thought it would.

This doesn't make you flawed or a failure.
And it doesn't take away from everything you've achieved.

What's important is realizing where you might have been off track,
and how you can recenter.

If you need a starting point...

1️⃣ Notice where you feel energized vs. drained
↳ The goals that are truly yours usually align with work that restores you.

2️⃣ Audit your current goals
↳ Write down what you're working toward and ask: "Is this mine, or did I inherit it?"

3️⃣ Test your goals against your values
↳ If achieving this goal required you to compromise what matters most, is it still worth it?

You can still climb that mountain.
You might just need to adjust your path.

I've created a worksheet to help with this.

It walks you through identifying what's really important to you,
and helps you set goals that truly align with what matters.

👉 bit.ly/before-you-climb

What's your version of success?

For more posts about creating your own path, follow Clif Mathews.

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📨 Every week, 20,000+ execs learn how to define their own success via socials and in my newsletter, Second Summit Brief.
Sign up here so you don't miss out: bit.ly/SecondSummitBrief

🔁 Repost to help someone check they're defining success on their own terms.

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The Battle

Ryan Yockey

Clif Mathews

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Engagements

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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);}Ryan Yockey's LinkedIn Performance

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