Founder of StrategyBreakdowns.com

TLDR: Worked in strategy consulting → Joined strategy team at Atlassian → Started writing strategy case studies → People liked them, so I left my job and went full-timeCheck it out → StrategyBreakdowns.comWe partner with companies like Atlassian, Notion, Intercom, Hubspot, Miro, Vanta, Clay, Mixpanel, and Ahrefs to reach 110k+ tech decision-makers. Click here to explore sponsorships → passionfroot.me/strategybreakdowns

Tom Alder

Apple makes $1 billion+ per year selling adaptors:

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👉 P.S. If you enjoyed this post, you'll love my newsletter - a 3-minute breakdown of the strategy playbooks and growth hacks behind the world’s greatest companies.

Join 110,000+ strategy nerds from companies like Google, Meta, Atlassian, and Netflix: https://lnkd.in/g2FWfXGR

The average enterprise employee spends 31 hours per month in unproductive meetings.

That's almost a full work week. 
Every single month. 
Gone.

And yet - meetings aren't the problem. BAD meetings are the problem.

The best hybrid teams i've seen don't have fewer meetings. 
→ They have better workflows that make every interaction count.

I genuinely think something's shifted in how teams think about productivity.

It used to be about individual output - more hours, more tasks, more hustle.

Now it's about connection quality and output. How seamlessly can 50 people across 12 timezones actually collaborate without losing their minds?

The companies figuring this out are pulling ahead. The ones still optimising for "busy" are falling behind.

--

Zoom is running a free summit on exactly this: how to make collaboration seamless across teams, locations, and timezones.

Feb 24 (EMEA) / Feb 25 (APAC)

If you're leading digital transformation, IT, or workplace strategy at a large org - worth grabbing a spot.

Register here: → https://zm.me/49SCY8r

#ad in partnership with the legends Zoom

Jamming with Rob Hoffman, Lara Acosta, and Tyler Denk 🐝 about our plans for 2026:

A few topics we discussed -

1. The reality of building while traveling the world.
2. Why vlogging is coming back for founders.
3. The timeless psychology of waitlists.
4. The bootstrapped AI SaaS paradigm.
5. Solopreneurship vs small vs big teams.

Honestly so refreshing to get new perspectives on things I’m actively wrestling with.
Also funny to see how the same decisions / problems / strategies resurface in peculiar ways, in such different contexts.

Would highly recommend following what these folks are up to if you haven’t already!

Rob and Lara are building Kleo.
Tyler is building beehiiv.

Incredible businesses powering many of the world's top creators and founders.

Feeling inspired. Let's build.

Every company spent the last 20 years building customer support processes that make people want to hang up.

Press 1 for billing. 
Press 2 for support. 
Press 3 to scream into the void.

Then came the "AI upgrade" - which mostly just replaced the robotic menu with a robotic voice.

Same frustration, different wrapper.

Here's what's actually changing now:
ElevenLabs just shipped Expressive Mode in their Agents platform.

The demo is WILD (video below). 

The agents don't just listen to what you say. 
They detect HOW you say it.

Tone.
Pitch. 
Pacing. 
Humour.
Feelings.

And they respond with the right delivery - using cue cards like [reassuring], [apologetic], and [enthusiastic] to match the moment.

Frustrated caller? The agent shifts to calm de-escalation.
Excited prospect? It matches the energy.
Confused customer? It slows down.

Previously, agent emotion was shaped entirely through voice selection and system prompts. Static. One-size-fits-all.
Now it's dynamic and contextual. Across 70+ languages (up from 32).
The turn-taking is different too. Their new transcription model captures intent and emotional cues so the agent times responses more like a human would.
The result: customers feel helped, not processed.
That's the gap most people miss about voice AI. The technology was never the bottleneck.

The emotional intelligence was.

Link to try below 👇

#ad #ElevenAgentsPartner

Every AI tool you've used in the last 2 years has the same interface:

A text box with a blinking cursor.

Quarterzip threw it away entirely.

Instead of building another chat wrapper, they built an AI that watches your screen share and guides you visually - like having a colleague sit next to you and point at things.

No SDK installation. 
No browser extension. 
No IT approval ticket.

Just a picture-in-picture window that sees everything you see. Any tool, any tab, any workflow.

Picture this:
- You’re onboarding to a new tool
- You brace yourself for a barrage of forgettable tooltips and painful ‘educational’ flows
- Instead, you click ‘Start Onboarding’ and you’re prompted to share your screen
- You share, and you’re placed directly in the app, with a helpful AI assistant in the corner that sees everything you see
- It’s trained on the help docs, all past onboarding calls, and can guide you through the journey whilst answering any question you might have along the way

They launched a week ago. Already running hundreds of AI-powered onboarding sessions a day with Apollo and Grab.

And the growth loop is elegant - every person who gets onboarded through Quarterzip sees the brand sitting inside the PIP window.

Product usage drives distribution.

I broke down the full strategy in this week's newsletter (link in the comments)

On July 7th, 2025, I added another SaaS idea to the pile:
A Chrome extension. SimilarWeb for builders. Traffic, revenue signals, founder socials, ads - all in a sidebar you can trigger when you visit any company's website.

A 9-bullet sketch of something I'd personally use a dozen times a day, if it existed.

Nothing came of it. Got buried under many more (half-baked) ideas.

Fast-forward 6 months.
The Figma team reached out about a partnership.
They wanted me to try their new prompt-to-app AI tool, Figma Make.

I mulled over the angle for a while, then realised I had the perfect test case.
Could I take a 6-month-old idea that had never left the notes app and turn it into a fully interactive, clickable product prototype? Without writing a single line of code? Without opening a design tool?

The pipeline I came up with:
→ 𝗡𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 (raw idea, 9 bullet points) 
→ 𝗖𝗹𝗮𝘂𝗱𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝗱𝗲 + 𝗪𝗶𝘀𝗽𝗿 𝗙𝗹𝗼𝘄 (interview to flesh it into a full PRD) 
→ 𝗙𝗶𝗴𝗺𝗮 𝗠𝗮𝗸𝗲 (PRD in, interactive prototype out)

One sitting later, I had my answer.
Here’s how it went down (link in the comments 👇)

Most newsletter sponsors get a terrible ROI.

All because they're advertising to the wrong readers.

Here's the thing about audience quality that most marketers miss:

1/ You need readers who make decisions.

This is the #1 mistake I see. Advertising to e.g. 1 million people containing 1k decision-makers, rather than 100k people containing 50k decision-makers.

71% of Strategy Breakdowns readers have meaningful influence over budget and procurement decisions at their company.

You need to get in front of the actual people who sign off on the tools, platforms, and services their teams use.

2/ Open rate is a proxy for trust.

Industry average open-rate is under 40%. Strategy Breakdowns sits at 55%, while earning the trust of 110,000 readers every week. Our sponsors inherit that trust.

3/ Niche is more efficient than broad.

A 110,000-person list of senior strategy and tech leaders doesn’t just contain *more* decision-makers than 500,000-person general business list - it is also costs less to advertise in. The signal-to-noise ratio is what makes our campaigns so efficient for sponsors looking to allocate their marketing budgets strategically.

4/ The seniority and industry breakdown matters.

- 30% Founder / C-level
- 20% VP / Director
- 40% Senior / Manager

Tech, consulting, and finance make up ~80% of our audience. I mean, these are literally the buyers.

5/ One ad isn't a campaign.

The sponsors who see the best results run 4 touchpoints minimum. Decision-makers don't act on first exposure, especially at this seniority level. (Honestly, when was the last time you saw a $100/mo tool for the first time and immediately pulled out a corporate card?) Plus, you need to test, learn, and iterate based on the data from each ad run.

6/ We treat it like a partnership (but actually).

Ad copy collaboration, custom AI tools we’ve built for partners, full 7-day and 14-day performance reports with 100% of the data we have available, ongoing input to optimise the campaign. Nearly every sponsor I work with (Atlassian, Vanta, Clay, Attio, Ahrefs, etc) comes back multiple times. 

Probably the thing I’m most proud of.

We have just 2 slots left before prices go up for Q2.

If your product is built for founders, PMs, engineers, or operators in tech - link to our full media kit in the comments 👇

How many DMs do you send per week on LinkedIn?

Hi, I’m Cédric 👋

With a background as a software engineer and years of hands-on experience, I’ve navigated the challenges of creating SaaS products as a solopreneur. Over two years, I’ve learned what it takes to turn ideas into solutions, from coding and marketing to pivoting and starting fresh.

My latest project focuses on blending automation and human touch in customer support with a unique feature: the ability to take over AI responses when needed. This bridges the gap between efficiency and personalization, giving businesses control when it matters most.

I’m passionate about problem-solving, building painkiller tools, and helping solopreneurs and startups maximize their impact with minimal resources.

If you’re looking to simplify your processes, scale smarter, or want to connect over SaaS, AI, or entrepreneurship, let’s chat!

Cédric Berry-Croguennec

LinkedIn is the only platform where you can post the most absurd thing ever and someone will still drop a ChatGPT comment.

I could literally write:

"Just spent 47 minutes watching a pigeon eat a croissant on my balcony. Made me rethink my entire business model."

And guaranteed, some guy who didn't even read it would comment:

"This is such an insightful perspective on patience and observation in entrepreneurship. The best founders know how to pause and extract wisdom from unexpected moments. Thanks for sharing this valuable lesson."

Bro what 😂

Last week I posted a joke about Elon working from my home office.

Still got comments like: "It's surprising how platforms people once dismissed end up becoming serious business channels."

They literally replied like I dropped a TED talk.

If you're using AI to comment and don't want to sound like this, this might helps: engagefast.ai

Write comments that drive profile views & sales without spending hours | Maker | Solving problems by writing code and building tools

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Remember when Elon hated LinkedIn?

Yeah, this era is over...

I showed him EngageFast.
Then watched him comment on 23 posts in 12 minutes without being cringe.

(he even got 2 cybertruck sales through them)

The man who called LinkedIn cringe is now farming engagement like he farms rockets.

Then he asked about pricing.

Me: "$119 lifetime"
Him: "bro, 4x that sh*t"

Look at his face in the pic, you can see the disappointment.

So at 11:59pm EST:
- Lifetime jumps from $119 to $487
- Monthly from $14 to $24
- Annual from $108 to $239

And only 20 lifetime spots left at $119.

After that, it's gone forever: engagefast.ai

(check the pic if you think I'm joking)

last week I made 2 high performing posts.

I used what I call the "bear on a bike" framework (you can use it too)👇

You see a bear. Rare, cool.
You see a bike. Nobody cares.
You see a bear riding a bike. WTF.

My first post :
- a gym bro, ok
- a geek shipping successful saas, cool
- fusion of both, WTF

-> 30k impressions, 87 reactions, 32 profile views

My second post:
- me, ok
- elon musk, cool
- us together in my home office + elon not hating linkedin anymore, WTF

-> 19k impressions, 76 reactions, 63 profile views

Combine two unrelated things and people stop scrolling.

Once they're hooked and you have their attention, you can actually pass your message.

If you also want to make bear on a bike posts that bring you clients,
I'm building a paid community to help solopreneurs grow on LinkedIn.

Access to multiple services and premium tools only accessible via the community.
+ surrounded by people at the same level as you.

DM me LINKEDIN if you want to be part of it.

"So basically: post at 6am, 12pm, and 5pm for maximum reach, comment on 50 posts daily for 3 hours, create video content, design carousels, write long-form posts, talk about what your last diarrhea taught you about business..."

Naahh come on.

LinkedIn gurus built an entire industry around overcomplicating this.

Meanwhile here's what I actually do to get clients every week for my tiny biz:

- post once a day monday to friday, whatever crosses my mind
- spend 30 minutes commenting with engagefast.ai each of these days
- connect with 10 people daily who are at my level or in my target audience

That's it.

No carousels.
No videos.
No 47-step content strategy.
No posting at magical hours.

Just showing up consistently and not wasting 4 hours in the comment section.

What actually matters -> solid foundations first.

Life's too short to follow a 12-page LinkedIn playbook that don't move the needles...

P.S. I'm launching a paid community to help you land clients with LinkedIn with an access to services and tools I'm building.
DM me "CLIENTS" if you're interested.

I spent 12 months figuring LinkedIn out, now I get impression, leads and clients.
I want to help 10 people get the same in less time, for FREE.

A year ago I knew nothing about this platform.

Today I'm running a SaaS that makes more money each month than my previous one.

And LinkedIn played a massive role in that.

I'm not some growth guru with a fancy system.
I'm just a solo founder who figured out how to make this thing work without wasting 4 hours a day.

But I keep seeing people stuck where I was a year ago.

- posting randomly and getting crickets.
- spending 3 hours commenting for zero clients.
- profile that converts nobody.

If that's you, let's fix it.

I'm giving away 10 free 30min call sessions for March.

And we'll tackle whatever is blocking you right now.

You come with your LinkedIn struggles.
- Profile
- Posts
- Comments
- DMs
- Strategy
- Whatever

-> I'll give you honest answers and actionable fixes based on what actually worked for me.

Here's how it works:

You: 
Drop "MARCH" in the comments

Me:
Share the link to a short form in your DM

You:
Explain why you need this fix session

That's it.
 
I’ll pick the 10 people based on the forms.

I've been using AI to comment for 4 months and my profile views went up 5x.
Here's what nobody tells you:

- zero people called me out.
- zero AI-ish vibes.
- actually got more replies than before.
- way more engagement on my own posts.
- way more DMs.
- way more clients.

But you know what doesn't work?

-> copy-pasting ChatGPT output without reading the post:

🤖 "Totally agree! This perspective is so important for anyone focused on growth."

🤖 "Absolutely! This really highlights a key point people often overlook."

🤖 "Well said! This kind of mindset truly makes all the difference."

That's the real AI stuff everybody hate.

The real problem: lazy thinking.
AI just exposes it faster.

On my side, I use AI to speed up my thinking.
Then my brain takes over.

To do that, I use engagefast.ai

The best part: it's plugged directly into LinkedIn.

Result: 10x faster, 10x better quality, 3x more profile visits.

The tool doesn't make you sound fake.
Not giving a damn about the person you're replying to does.

10 things I stole from founders who actually make money on LinkedIn:

1. Sell before you build - When I was launching stuff, I'd spend weeks on the "system" before I had 1 single warm lead. Today I start from a call, a DM, a real customer and I build the funnel around that. Otherwise you end up building shit nobody wants.

2. Chase the reach that makes you rich - My first viral post brought me zero clients. Just ego. Top creators optimize their posts for the right people, not to get 180,000 impressions from people who'll never buy.

3. Post simple, not sophisticated - The posts that perform aren't the most "smart" ones, they're the most readable. Short sentences, lists, one clear idea. If a CEO has to read it 3 times to understand, he scrolls.

4. Clear offer > 100 features - The best don't talk about "content", "funnel" or "growth". They talk about: more qualified leads, less wasted time, more sales. When I stopped the jargon, the calls started booking.

5. AI for quantity, brain for quality - AI helps me never run out of ideas and structure my posts. But top creators keep two things 100% human: understanding your customer and what actually converts.

6. Attention is the real currency in 2026 - Before $1, there's 1 email, 1 like, 1 comment, 1 DM. If I can't capture 10 seconds of attention on a post, I'll never capture a credit card. Top creators think "dwell time" first, "closing" second.

7. Document the system so you don't get lost - "Looks complicated, I'm scared I won't find my way around." I thought that too. What I stole from the best: put everything down. 1 doc for the avatar, 1 for content angles, 1 for the DM process. Once it's written, it looks 10x less complex.

8. Consistency as an unfair advantage - The best don't publish "when they feel inspired". They have a calendar, blocked time slots, and sometimes days when they post even though they don't want to. It sucks, but LinkedIn rewards those who stay.

9. Never send traffic to the void - I've seen beautiful funnels that lead to a Calendly with no script, no anti-no show, no email sequence behind. The best think the tunnel through to "yes / no / later", not just to the click.

10. Accept not understanding everything before you start - The creators I respect never wait to have "everything in place" to launch. They test, they break, they fix. The "I'll do it when it's clear in my head" often turns into "I never did it".

Your rules?

taplio

The Battle

Tom Alder

Cédric Berry-Croguennec

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance ScoreTom Alder's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreCédric Berry-Croguennec's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

taplio

The Battle

Tom Alder

Cédric Berry-Croguennec

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);}Tom Alder's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreCédric Berry-Croguennec's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreTom Alder's LinkedIn Performance