Sam Szuchan

Founder @ Soleo. LinkedIn strategy for industry leaders. Clients work w/ Apple, Amazon, Google + published in FT, Bloomberg, etc.

Creator of influence. Nice things folks have said about me:

"Recently, a lot of Sam's posts have been taking off. Last week, he helped me reach 400K+ enterprise professionals with a single post. A third of them from companies with 10,000+ employees. When recruiting teams start sharing your content internally, you know you're doing something right."
—Very major recruiting tech CEO

"Each time that I post [a post Sam made], 100+ people enroll in a course that changes their lives, and my business does twelve or thirteen grand in revenue in that day. A total win-win."
—B2B educator you 100% definitely follow

"Sam helped me clarify my goals and think strategically to reach 150K people in my target demographic – largely founders, CEOs, and senior execs. Prospects frequently mention my LinkedIn content."
—CEO of very cool agency working with Google and many other big tech co's!

"Sam's ability to understand who you are and become an extension of you online is second to none. He provides strategic direction, insightful research, and a relentless desire to bring your strengths and knowledge to light."
—Forbes 30u30 founder who basically invented consumer-facing recruiting tech

You have probably read a few dozen posts I've written without realizing it. Thanks for stopping by :)

Founder

Formerly Saga. Leveraging the world's largest B2B platform to create overwhelming lead pipelines for B2B firms.

"As long as the history books get it right, take some pride in letting the newspapers get it wrong."

Sam Altman wrote that in 2020. A year earlier, he walked away from Y Combinator's presidency to bet everything on OpenAI. 

Everyone thought he was insane.

YC was the most powerful platform in startup land. Direct access to hundreds of founders per year. The ability to shape how an entire generation thinks about building companies. A reputation machine that had already minted Airbnb, Dropbox, and Stripe.

Remember, this was 2019 - way before OpenAI’s rise. He left YC for (what was then) a nonprofit-controlled AI lab that still looked more like a research shop than a product company.

Looking back, EVERY move he made throughout his career was the maximum leverage option available to build influence, way before anyone realized:

- Chose computer science at Stanford in the early 2000s when finance was the prestige path
- Dropped out to do YC and build Loopt when he could have gone straight to Google or Facebook
- After Loopt, launched Hydrazine Capital to invest in YC companies, making himself essential infrastructure for the next generation of founders
- Became YC president at 28 and turned it into a distribution network across hundreds of startups
- Left YC to become CEO of OpenAI's new "capped-profit" structure

Throughout his entire career, he's been 5-10 years early on the most influential position possible. It's happened too many times to be a coincidence.

His pattern works because he understands how influence compounds. Every YC batch, he met dozens of founders at their most malleable stage.

He saw the raw decks, the dysfunctional teams, the early flashes of product-market fit. Some became Instacart, DoorDash, and Coinbase.

Each founder he helped became a future allocator of equity, attention, and introductions.

Their founders remembered who took them seriously when they were pitching half-finished slides.

"The question isn't 'How do I stop caring what people think?'" Altman wrote. "It's 'Whose opinions should I care about and on what timescale?'"

November 2023 proved the pattern works. When OpenAI's board tried to oust him, hundreds of employees threatened to walk. Microsoft made it clear the partnership was with Altman, not the corporate shell.

He didn’t survive through maneuvering.

He survived because of the protective layer of influence he built.

Because influence isn't a cooler job title—

It's pure leverage.

It's a 15-year bet on who and what matters later, and how you can own it before anyone realizes it’s the next big thing.

“The newspapers will get it wrong. The history books will get it right.”

That's the bet he's made his entire career - and he's making it again.

What could you build by choosing history books over newspapers?

P.S. Full breakdown of Altman's 15-year playbook in the comments

Sam Altman Chose Influence Over Billions (And Got Both)

Results my clients and I have gotten from our personal brands:

1. Me - Built a $300k per year business (that’s still growing) while investing $0 at the start and only having about $200 per month in expenses right now.

2. Marketing Agency Owner - Got 7 clients in our first 6 weeks work together, then steadily got at least 3 per month until he sold his business after 12 months.

3. SaaS Company CEO - Amassed hundreds of users and became a thought leader in the tech industry.

4. Venture Capitalist - Bought an 8-figure stake in a company after a founder DMed him because of a piece of content I created for him.

I could share 20+ more stories like those, but I think you get the point.

Having a powerful personal brand is a career cheat code, and I’ve cracked the code on building them.

Here are some ways you can do the same:

1. Apply to be one of my clients. I’m very careful about who I work with, but if the fit is right, I’d love to partner up.

2. Subscribe to my newsletter and get a free 45-page personal branding guide (10 viral post templates included).

3. Buy the last course I’ll ever sell. It covers everything in the personal branding game and is $100 off for the first 1000 buyers.

4. Book a 1:1 consultation. If you want personalized advice with no long-term commitment, this is the option for you.

Links to all of those are in my featured section.

And if you're not interested in any of them, just give me a follow. You'll still pick up a ton of useful info from my posts.

I'll see you on the timeline 🤝

Charles Miller

Copyblogger Media

Copyblogger teaches you how to generate high-quality online attention (with content and outreach) and turn it into profit (with copywriting and sales). Click below to join our community ↓

Want to grow on LinkedIn? Get my course (it's free) ↓

Results I've delivered to my clients and customers:

1. Freelancer - Went from 0 to $20k/mo in 5 months.
2. Agency Owner - Got 7 clients in our first 6 weeks.
3. Coach - Went from having 2 clients to 8 in 3 months.
4. Course Seller - 196% sales increase in 3 months.
5. SaaS CEO - Acquired 50+ paid users per month.
6. Founder - Sold his startup to a PE firm for $10m.
7. Influencer - Got 72,000 followers in 9 months.

I've also helped thousands of professionals get jobs, connections, and more.

Having a strong personal brand, great content, and persuasive copywriting is a cheat code, and I know exactly how to get all of them for any kind of creator. Especially ones that sell services.

Here's how you can do the same:

1. Join Copyblogger Academy. It gives you 6 courses, 10 ongoing education videos every month, expert Q&A, and a lot more. Your first month only costs $1. Hit the link in my featured section to join before prices rise.

2. Get hands-on help with your personal branding strategy, feedback on content, and direct growth assistance in my higher-priced LinkedIn Accelerator. DM me "Accelerator" to get more info on this.

I can't wait to work with you.

taplio

The Battle

Sam Szuchan

Charles Miller

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance ScoreSam Szuchan's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

taplio

The Battle

Sam Szuchan

Charles Miller

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);}Sam Szuchan's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreSam Szuchan's LinkedIn Performance