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.

Helping execs in new roles accelerate impact, build credibility fast and avoid costly transition mistakes | xIBM Consulting | xPwC | Certified Executive Coach

You’ve just landed your next big executive role - congratulations!

Now comes the part no one prepares you for: making it successful.

The hard truth is, 40% of executive transitions fail within 18 months.

And the cost is staggering:

2.5x to 30x the executive’s salary in lost productivity, turnover, and disruption.

Career damage for the executive that can take years to recover from.

Maybe it's your first time at the senior leadership table. 
Maybe you've done this before, but this time, the stakes feel higher. 
Different company, industry, department or role.

Either way, you know this first year will define your reputation and your results.

Tell me if this sounds familiar:

You've inherited a team that doesn't fully trust you yet. 
You're navigating company politics, shifting priorities, and sky-high expectations. 
Everyone's watching, but no one's guiding. 
You're smart, experienced, and capable. 
But the pressure to prove yourself is relentless.

This is exactly where I come in.

I help new executives thrive where 40% fail by guiding them through the high-stakes first year.

My coaching is confidential, personalized, and focused on helping you:

✔ Earn trust quickly and secure early credibility
✔ Navigate politics and hidden organizational dynamics
✔ Build and align your leadership team for quick wins
✔ Make high-impact decisions without costly missteps
✔ Lay the foundation for long-term success and legacy

 Why Trust Me?
• 25+ years in Fortune 500 consulting, partnering with senior executives 
• Led $30M+ transformation portfolios and 250+ person practices at IBM 
• Led risk strategy for $100M+ proposals and complex transformations 
• Built and delivered IBM's top global executive coaching programs 
• Certified executive coach with 300+ leaders coached

If you’re ready to accelerate your impact and avoid costly missteps,

let’s make your first year your strongest. 

📩 DM me “Executive Transition” and let’s talk.

Dora Vanourek

The most painful part of growth:

The people closest to you will try to stop it.

And the faster you grow, the more uncomfortable others become.

It's not personal - it's human nature:

-  The edge in "wow, you've changed"
-  The unsolicited advice to "be careful"
-  The subtle comments that diminish what you've built

People prefer the version of you they're used to.

Some feel threatened by your progress.

Others try to keep you "safe" in your comfort zone.

5 ways to protect your growth:

1. Audit Your Circle 👥
↳ Who celebrates your wins vs. who diminishes them?
↳ Distance isn't betrayal, it's boundaries

2. Stop Explaining Yourself 🤐
↳ You don't owe anyone a justification for growth
↳ Let your results do the talking

3. Track Your Progress 📈
↳ Screenshot encouraging feedback and messages
↳ Celebrate small victories, they compound into big changes

4. Find Your Growth Squad 🔗
↳ Seek people 2-3 steps ahead of you
↳ Invest in mentors who've walked your path

5. Trust Yourself 💪
↳ Your intuition knows before your mind does
↳ Bet on yourself when no one else will

The people who truly support you will celebrate your growth.

Don't shrink yourself to make others comfortable.

♻️ Repost to remind someone they don’t need permission to grow
➕ Follow Dora Vanourek for more

Hard work doesn't burn people out.

Poor leadership does.

We used to have chair yoga sessions and 
stress management workshops at work.

The people who needed them most couldn't attend.
 
They were triple-booked in meetings.

That's not a wellness problem. 
That's a leadership problem.

A boss tells you to manage your stress.

A leader removes what's causing it.

Stop offering meditation apps while scheduling back-to-back meetings.

Stop promoting "work-life balance" while rewarding those who never log off.

Stop blaming people for burning out in systems designed to break them.

If your team is struggling, look for the real causes:

→ Unrealistic deadlines with no room to breathe
→ Back-to-back meetings with no time to think
→ Unclear priorities that change every week
→ Rewarding "always on" while preaching balance

If you're exhausted, you're not weak. 

You're stuck in a broken system.

And you deserve leaders who fix it - not blame you for it.

♻️ Repost to help someone who needs to hear this
➕ Follow Dora Vanourek for more

Executive Advisor for Senior Leaders Navigating a New Role | ex-IBM | ex-PwC | CPCC

20+ years of experience means nothing
if people dread working with you.

We've all met them:

The senior leader who humiliates in meetings.

The expert who makes everyone feel small.

The exec who treats people like obstacles.

Experience teaches you process.
It doesn't teach you humanity.

The most skilled person in the room
can also be the most damaging.

Signs someone has experience but lacks humanity:

→ They interrupt constantly
→ They take credit but never give it
→ They dismiss ideas without listening
→ They remember every mistake you made
→ They make you feel stupid for asking questions

Meanwhile, leaders who treat people well:

→ Ask questions before judging
→ Celebrate wins that aren't theirs
→ Make space for others to speak
→ Create safety for honest conversations
→ Leave people feeling capable, not small

Your years of experience don't define your value.

How people feel after working with you does.

Be the leader people want to work with.

Not the one they have to survive.

♻️ Repost to remind someone that people first leadership matters
➕ Follow Dora Vanourek for more

Betting on myself scared me more than staying stuck.

So I finally chose fear instead.

You might be there right now:

❌ Waiting to feel confident before starting
❌ Seeking perfection before launching
❌ Taking "one more certification" before applying

A year ago, I left my 25+ year corporate career.

And what made leaving possible  
was writing on LinkedIn.

Before that, I was stuck.

Overthinking. Doubting myself. 

Who am I to give career advice when my career isn't perfect?

One day, I just hit ‘post’.

Writing here opened doors I didn't know existed:

New people. New projects. New possibilities.

If you're stuck like I was - start anyway.

The hardest part was taking that first step.

If I'd had a tool like Stanley back then, I would've started sooner.

Stanley isn’t another AI.

It works as a true AI LinkedIn coach:

- shows you what your audience actually wants
- finds patterns you'd never notice yourself
- tells you which posts flopped and why
- gives feedback that stings a little (in a good way)

My posts created with Stanley outperform my others by 35-40%.

Try a free trial of Stanley today: https://lnkd.in/g9nvAJzJ

#stanleypartner

By 30, you should have it figured out.
By 40, you definitely should.
By 50, you shouldn't still be searching.

Society sells us a lie about what "on track" means.

That life should be a clean upward line.

That restarting means you failed.

That feeling lost means something is wrong with you.

When you believe those lies, you end up thinking:

This isn't where I thought I'd be.
I should have done more by now.
I should be further along.

I've felt that since walking away from 25 years in corporate.

The exhausting performance of "I'm fine."

The promise that tomorrow will be different 
- and then another day passes and nothing changes.

The shame of feeling behind, 
based on someone else's timeline.

You're not broken.

You're in process.

The most successful people I know restarted more times than they'll ever admit:

- New careers at 35
- New cities at 42
- New identities at 53

The only regret would be staying stuck 
because someone told you it's too late.

You are the greatest project you'll ever work on.

Don't give up on yourself.

♻️ Repost for someone who needs a restart
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A year ago, I left my 25+ years tech consulting career.

To build something of my own.

My friends couldn't understand why I'd leave stability.

Others questioned if it was "too late" to start over.

A few called it a midlife crisis.

But then I found my new people.

Entrepreneurs who'd walked away from golden handcuffs.

Creators building empires from their expertise.

Leaders who measured success differently.

Their ambition didn't make me feel behind.

It showed me what was possible.

When you change your path, you need people who've already taken the leap.

5 ways to upgrade your circle:

1. Audit your conversations - are you talking about problems or possibilities?

2. Join spaces where your future self would hang out, not where you currently are.

3. Share your bold goals openly - ambitious people are drawn to other dreamers.

4. Ask "What are you building?" instead of "How's work?"

5. Give yourself permission to outgrow relationships that hold you to your old life.

Your old circle will keep you comfortable.

Your new circle will keep you growing.

Evolve your circle.
Choose growth.

♻️ Repost to remind someone to find their circle
➕ Follow Dora Vanourek for more

You watched them get promoted.

The ones who laughed at the offensive joke.

The ones who stayed quiet when they should've spoken up.

The ones who took credit for your work.

And you wondered if YOU were the problem:

- Maybe I'm too naive
- Maybe I need to "play the game"
- Maybe integrity is just a fancy word for staying stuck

Those promotions came at a cost you can’t see at first.

The person who got ahead by compromising?
They have to keep compromising to stay there.

The person who sold out their values for a title?
They wake up every day performing a version of themselves they won’t recognize.

Adam Grant said it perfectly:

“The highest form of accomplishment is standing by your principles when they're tested.”

You didn't lose.

You refused to pay for a "win" that would have cost you everything.

Your integrity isn't holding you back.

It's the only thing that will matter when the titles fade.

📌 Navigating your first year in a new role?
Get weekly insights in The First Year newsletter:

dora.coach

♻️ Repost to remind someone integrity wins in the end

Image credit: Adam Grant

26% of your promotion depends on executive presence.

But no one explains what those words really mean.

"She lacks executive presence" might be 
the most frustrating feedback ever.

Because it's rarely followed by what to actually do about it.

I've helped leaders work through this exact challenge.

Here are 8 ways to build executive presence:

1. Practise Strategic Silence
→ Leaders who listen first command more respect
→ Ask: "What are your thoughts?" - then pause

2. Name the Elephant
→ The person who calmly names the tension earns instant credibility
→ Say: "Can we talk about what's really going on?"

3. Make Others Look Brilliant
→ The most respected leaders give credit, not take it
→ Say: "That was Sarah's idea" before adding your own take

4. Simplify Complex Ideas
→ True expertise is ensuring others understand
→ Replace jargon with everyday language

5. Own Your Authority
→ Undermining phrases erase years of hard work
→ Drop "just," "kind of," "I think maybe." Say "I recommend."

6. Calibrate Your Reactions
→ Overreacting undermines credibility
→ Ask yourself: "Will this matter in 6 months?"

7. Bring Solutions, Not Problems
→ Great leaders are valued when they solve issues
→ Never raise an issue empty-handed

8. Learn to Disagree Without Drama
→ Executive presence lives in the middle: calm, direct, unafraid
→ Use: "I see it differently. Here's why."

Executive presence isn't about changing who you are.

It’s about showing up as your real, confident self.

📌 Navigating your first year in a new role?
Get weekly insights in The First Year newsletter:

dora.coach 

♻️ Repost to help your network
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75% of people fear public speaking more than death.

Yet it's the No. 1 skill that accelerates careers.

Glossophobia, the fear of public speaking, held me back for years.

I avoided roles where I'd need to speak a lot. 

Declined podcast invitations.

Fear was costing me too much.

Then I found Ultraspeaking.

Here are the 8 techniques that transformed how I speak:

📌 Save these for later.

1. The Accordion Method 
→ Compress your talk to 60s, then 30s, then 15s 
→ Expand back, keeping only what matters 
→ Forces you to find your actual point

2. The Bow & Arrow 
→ Your Arrow = the ONE thing to remember 
→ Your Bow = supporting evidence

3. The Power Pause 
→ Stop for 3-5 seconds after key points 
→ Gives your audience time to absorb 
→ Silence is powerful, not awkward

4. The 2-3 Word Bookmark 
→ Create 2-3 word triggers, don't memorize scripts 
→ "Customer save" → your problem-solving story

5. Never Break Character 
→ Don't apologize for nervousness or mistakes
→ Your anxiety is invisible until you reveal it 

6. The Pushback Pivot 
→ Pause and acknowledge: "That's an important point" 
→ Reframe: "Here's how I see it..." 
→ Use challenges to strengthen your message

7. Use Clarity Prompts when Stuck
→ "The most important thing is..."
→ "If you remember one thing..."

8. The Opening Rule 
→ Rehearse your opening 3x more than the rest 
→ Early confidence will carry you through

These 8 techniques are just the beginning.

Ultraspeaking is different: 

It’s live practice, speaking games, and real-time feedback from other leaders and world-class coaches.

If communication is holding you back, I recommend joining their flagship course:

https://lnkd.in/gH9yVFE8

#ultraspeaking

It starts with one small compromise.

"It's just this once."
"Everyone does it."
"This is how the game is played."

The system doesn't force you to compromise.

It just rewards the people who do with promotions, access, favour.

And makes you wonder what's 
wrong with you for hesitating.

But here's what nobody tells you:

The lies we tell ourselves are the most dangerous ones.

"I'll go back to my values when I make it."
→ You won't. The higher you climb this way, the more you have to protect.

"No one will notice."
→ You will. Every time you look in the mirror.

"I'm doing this for my family."
→ Your family needs your integrity intact - not a sacrifice they never asked you to make.

"I don't have a choice."
→ You do. It's just not the easy one.

The corporate world doesn't break people with one big ask.

It breaks them with a thousand small ones.

You're not naive for wanting to do the right thing.

You're not stuck because you have standards.

You'll sleep better than the ones who traded theirs for a title.

♻️ Repost to remind someone they're not the problem
➕ Follow Dora Vanourek for more

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The Battle

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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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