Tom Schaeffer

Thomas Schaeffer & Co.

𝗧𝗵𝗼𝗺𝗮𝘀 𝗦𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗲𝗳𝗲𝗿 & 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝘆 is a boutique agency providing ghostwriting and content strategy for executives who want to amplify their voice, sharpen their positioning, and expand their influence.

We work with leaders at pivotal moments—whether building thought leadership, leading a transition, or shaping a second act beyond corporate. Our services combine high-level ghostwriting, content systems, and selective coaching to help executives turn experience into leverage and build a presence that creates real opportunities.

Founder

Executive to Entrepreneur

𝗘𝘅𝗲𝗰𝘂𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗘𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘂𝗿 is a coaching and content platform for midlife professionals ready to leave the corporate grind, clarify their next move, and build a business that fits their life. We offer 1:1 coaching, frameworks, and practical guidance for reinvention.

Float Left

Float Left Interactive was a pioneer in TV app development and the first company to build Roku apps for media brands.  For over 12 years, Float Left has enabled media brands to deliver and manage the next generation of TV experiences on every screen.

🏆 2022 Streaming Media 50
🏆 2021 Streaming Media 50
🏆 2017 Streaming Media 100
🏆 2016 CableFax -> Most Innovative People in Multiscreen
🏆 2015 Streaming Media 100

Co-Founder, CEO (acquired)

The Weiss Group, Inc.

Developed internal and external web applications in direct support of company’s marketing initiatives.

Senior Software Engineer

Teledata Inc.

Developed EPA compliance software, specifically targeted to address fuel tank leak detection.

Software Engineer

Bridgeway Benefit Technologies

Provided programmatic and logical fixes for technical problems on ISSI’s Benefit Fund Administration System.

Account Representative /  Programmer

Ghostwriter for Influential Executives and Entrepreneurs || Transforming Ideas into Influence Through High-Impact Writing || Former CEO, 2x Founder, 1x Exit

I’m a former CEO turned writer and coach. I help midlife professionals turn experience into leverage—through writing, clarity, and reinvention.

After scaling and selling a 7-figure software agency, I walked away from the startup grind to build a simpler, more intentional life.

Along the way, I discovered something powerful:
Most executives don’t need another job.
They need clarity—and a path that’s finally theirs.

Today, I work with high-achieving professionals in transition—those ready to move from corporate to consulting, from founder to writer, or from executive to entrepreneur.

Here’s how I help:

1. Executive Ghostwriting
For founders and CEOs who want thought leadership that drives inbound demand—without spending hours writing content. You bring the insight. I bring the structure, clarity, and voice that earns authority and attracts opportunity.

2. Executive to Entrepreneur Coaching
A 12-week 1:1 experience to help you reinvent your career, clarify your offer, build a simple content system, and land your first client.
It’s for professionals who are ready to turn experience into independence—building something of their own, on their own terms.

At the core of both is a simple idea:
Use your expertise to build leverage and freedom—because your next chapter should serve your life, not the other way around.

[Coaching: exectoentrepreneur.com]
[Substack: exectoentrepreneur.substack.com]
[About Me: thomasschaeffer.me]

Writer

A ghostwriting agency for founders, CEOs, and business leaders looking to build influential personal brands.

The wealthiest I've ever felt has nothing to do with revenue.
 
After 16+ years of entrepreneurship, including running an agency with a big team, BIGGER clients, and all the trappings of a "successful" business, I can tell you the thing I value most now is control over my time.
 
• Working on projects that genuinely interest me.
• Being present for the people I love.
• Doing very little of what I hate.
• Not dreading the week.
• An open calendar.
 
Most professionals are optimizing for income, title, and growth, and there's nothing wrong with that if it fills you up, but be careful you're not building a life you need a vacation from.
 
The shift for me came when I stopped asking "how do I scale this?" and started asking "what do I actually want my days to look like?"
 
What would change if you optimized for time instead of revenue?

Helping B2B Tech Founders & CEOs Turn Their LinkedIn Presence into Pipeline & Opportunties • Executive Ghostwriter • Executive Communications Strategist • 3x Founder (1x Exit)

Every meaningful breakthrough in my career started with a period of feeling completely lost.
 
After 16+ years of entrepreneurship, I still hit stretches where I feel like I have no clue what I'm doing. And honestly, it's sometimes more than a feeling. 

But I've learned that the instinct to go back to what's familiar, take the safe path, wait until you "figure it out" before making a move is exactly what keeps people stuck.
 
The ones who learn to lean into this discomfort are the ones who succeed.
 
If anything, consider it the price of admission -> the cost of stretching yourself. 
  
The only difference between people who make it and everyone else is that they embrace the discomfort and stick with it. 

That's literally it. 

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

When was the last time you felt completely out of your depth? What happened when you stayed in it?

A year ago, nearly everything I consumed and created was digital.

Today, I'm writing with legal pads, note cards, and loving my 𝗙𝗿𝗲𝗲𝘄𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲 (it's like a modern typewriter).

I'm reading physical books and building a personal library. I even subscribed to a monthly print newsletter. I LOVE it, and I decided to work on my own.

It's a shift that's been building gradually, but looking back, I kept reaching for things I could hold.

Analog isn't easier. It's not faster, but that's what I love about it. It's forced me to slow down, be present, to actually enjoy what I'm reading, and to think more deeply about it. 

Screens stopped doing that for me a 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 time ago.

Also worth noting: Barnes and Noble Official is opening 60 new stores this year. Vinyl keeps outselling CDs, and direct mail is quietly outperforming email.

People are gravitating back to physical, analog experiences. I'm sure it's not because we're anti-technology, but because something got lost when everything went digital.
 
I'm loving every minute of it. 🔥

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Are you guys back on the analog train?  What's one analog thing you're doing?

No marketing team can replicate the trust that comes from hearing directly from their CEO.
 
I learned this the hard way.

As CEO, I spent years letting the company brand carry everything. I rarely published anything.  I wrote A LOT, but kept it behind the scenes. Looking back, those are years of missed opportunities I can't recover.
 
Since building my own presence, the impact has been insane. It's become an essential part of how people discover me, trust me, and decide to work with me. 
 
Your marketing team amplifies the brand, yes, but executive presence is what makes them know, like, and trust you (and eventually buy from you).

Note: executive presence has been known to dramatically reduce sales cycles :)

No campaign or branded content ever produced that effect.

Pouring money into campaigns won't replace the credibility of a visible leader.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-
If you're an executive posting consistently, what's changed for you since you started?

"Nobody is spending hours writing anything in 2026 Tom - they use ChatGPT. Best of luck."

This appeared in my DMs recently. And I love responding to this because this mindset is exactly why so much executive content sounds the same right now.

AI is obviously a powerful tool. But there's a massive difference between using AI to skip the thinking and using AI to sharpen it.

The executives who treat AI as a shortcut, i.e. paste a prompt, publish the output, move on, are flooding LinkedIn with content that reads the same. 

Same structure, same tone, same safe ideas and their audience can feel it.

The ones gaining ground are doing the opposite. They're bringing genuine points of view, real experience, and a voice that's unmistakably theirs and then using AI to refine and elevate that work, all of which TAKES TIME.

AI is the most powerful writing tool we've ever had. But a tool is only as good as what you bring to it.
 
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

How are you using AI to elevate and sharpen your thinking? And what's your favorite tool right now?

I work with executives on their writing every day. And I'm observing two distinct behaviors:

One group uses AI to skip the hard part —> prompt and publish. The other uses AI to sharpen a point of view.

The gap is becoming obvious to everyone except those doing it wrong. AI made content production nearly free, so volume isn't a reliable moat anymore. 

What separates a valuable post from the noise now is whether there's a real judgment call behind it, i.e., specific (lived) experiences, or earned opinions.

For example: 

• If you use AI like an intern and publish "write me a post about leadership," you get intern-level output. Generic and forgettable. 
  
• If you use it like an operator and feed it your raw perspective and let it help you organize, then polish, the output sounds like you, only tighter.

The executives gaining ground with AI are the ones who brought something worth saying before they opened a chat window.

What's the sharpest distinction you've noticed between AI-assisted content vs. AI-slop?

"Should I start posting videos on LinkedIn?"
 
I get this question all the time. The short answer is, "Yes," but only if you want to.  Don't do it because you think that's what the algorithm wants.  

Here's why:

So there's a handful of really smart people who study this in much greater depth.  Richard van der Blom immediately comes to mind :).  He publishes an annual LinkedIn Algorithm report that is highly informative - go check that out.  

My interpretation of his research is that the format matters far less than most people think. That's because LinkedIn's new algorithm (360 Brew) only cares about whether your post generates a real conversation. 

It's working hard to put subject-matter experts in front of engaged readers.

LinkedIn's distribution increasingly 𝗿𝗲𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗱𝗲𝗽𝘁𝗵 and post reactivation, meaning a post that sparks substantive back-and-forth for a day or more gets pushed back into feeds, while a post that collects passive likes and goes quiet gets buried (regardless of format).
 
If you pick the wrong format, you might lose a marginal amount of reach - not the end of the world. If you post something too generic to generate a real response, you lose the 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 advantage that makes LinkedIn worth an executive's time.
 
So, bottom line: Start with a single, clear idea. Make it specific enough to invite a knowledgeable response. Publish it with whichever format you're most comfortable with.  I don't have a face for video, otherwise I'd consider it myself lol.

Be generous with your content, stay active in the comments, stay consistent, and let the algorithm do its job.

Have you started posting video?  I'm curious - has it had the impact you were expecting?  I'm getting mixed revews...

====================
If this post was helpful, consider reposting ♻️ and follow me for more tips like this.

The hardest part of ghostwriting isn't the word assembly anymore. 

Yet most assume that's where the value is. 

The real value is surfacing the ideas, stories, and perspectives most assume are worthless. 

It never ceases to blow my mind.  The best material I've ever published for a client came from something they said, buried in a random thought—like a tangent they almost didn't finish, or an observation they dismissed as obvious.

None of that shows up from stock interview questions. It shows up when you sit with someone, ask the right questions, and actually listen.

AI can produce a LinkedIn post in 30 seconds, sure. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦. 

The value is sitting across from a CEO, pulling out insights they didn't know they had.

Ghostwriting in 2026 requires much greater levels of active listening, discernment, taste, storytelling, and clarity (thinking). 

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Have you ever had someone pull an idea out of you that you didn't realize was valuable?

Execs -> everything you say is analyzed and evaluated by everyone. 

And yes, that includes conversations around the campfire at the company retreats—esp if alcohol is involved. 😢

And this "create a safe space to encourage feedback" stuff is far-fetched.

You will never make someone feel comfortable enough to have a casual conversation with them - especially the 'A' team. Why? Because they instinctively listen, interpret, and act.

It's happened to me a handful of times.

"Tom, what did you say to Terry??"
"Uh.. that I hope he has a nice 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 vacation??"
"Well, whatever you did, he seemed a bit anxious when he left today."

Eliminating "overtalking" or keeping quiet is especially tough for extroverted execs who enjoy camaraderie and the feeling of being part of the team. (ME)

Master the art of saying as little as possible. Even a casual comment on the way to the bathroom can cause a domino effect that you might have to unwind later.

Yes, try to create a culture that encourages healthy debates, but never expect to get the full picture. 

Choose your words wisely. Make each one count - esp the ones that seem the most harmless.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Can you think of a time a harmless comment turned into a fiasco you had to unwind later?

In 1963, Avis created one of the most studied campaigns in advertising history. 

For years they'd been trying to compete with Hertz by acting like they were just as big and established, and wasn't working. They were number two, and everybody knew it.

So they stopped pretending and decided (against every ounce of logic) to run an ad that opened with "Avis is only No. 2 in rent a cars. So why go with us?" They made their biggest weakness the entire basis of their positioning. 

Being smaller meant they had to try harder, couldn't afford dirty cars or bad service, couldn't take customers for granted. The honesty was disarming, and it literally transformed the company.

It's a simple lesson.

So many of us wait for perfection before we put ourselves out there. But if you start telling the truth (especially about the parts you'd rather hide), people lean into it. 

A polished story might look impressive, but it doesn't build a connection. 
 
If there's something in your own story you've been downplaying or leaving out, consider leading with it instead. That might be the most compelling thing you've got.

"If AI can write in my voice, why would I pay someone to do it?"
 
Because producing words in your voice is now the easy(ish) part. Finding what's worth saying (and how to say it) is the hard part.
 
Knowing what NOT to say and developing a higher level of discernment about what actually lands are more important now than ever before.
 
And I LOVE AI. Train it on a person's posts and transcripts, and it produces content that mimics their cadence and vocabulary. For basic content, it works.
 
But "basic" is what's flooding the feeds. AI defaults to what's already been said.
 
Ironically, it's much harder in 2026 to make the right person think, "I need to talk to this person," than it was pre-AI. Those words are built from insights the executive didn't know they had, surfaced by someone with the editorial judgment to recognize which experiences carry weight.
 
So you pay a great writer to find the idea hiding in a throwaway comment, a career-long observation, or a frustrated aside during a call, then write it in a way that cuts through the slop.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

What's something you've read recently that made you feel like, "This person gets me"? 

What was it about the writing that created that connection?

Guess which burger is trending on social media?  

Well done Chris Kempczinski.

No alternative text description for this image

Most people leaving corporate think they need to invent something new to build a business.

They spend months trying to figure out what to offer and how to position it, convinced that what they did for the last 20 years isn't specialized enough on its own. 

So they go looking for some new angle or framework that nobody's thought of yet.

That's corporate conditioning talking.

Here's the thing -> there are no new business offers. Not 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺. 

Every consulting offer, every coaching program, every advisory service has been done before in some form.

Besides, a business model isn't what sets you apart. It's your specific approach to a problem, i.e., what you've seen work, what you've watched fail, and the particular way you think about solving it. 

Oh, and stop assuming everyone else already knows what you know. This one's a killer and blocks so many exceptionally smart people from taking action.  

The problem + YOUR approach is all you need. 

-=-=-=-=-=-

Now, without thinking, what's the one business you'd start RIGHT NOW if you had unlimited capital and unlimited time?

Most people on LinkedIn post to stay “active.”
But active doesn’t mean effective.

I work with CEOs, founders, and coaches who don’t just want likes — they want influence, engagement, and paying clients.

Here’s how I help:

- I ghostwrite content that actually sounds like you, not ChatGPT.
- I strategize so your profile isn’t just pretty, but positioned to attract the right people.
- I optimize engagement so your posts get seen, shared, and remembered.

And because results matter more than buzzwords:

+ Clients I worked with have gone from 0 to inbound leads in 90 days.
+ Coaches have closed high-ticket clients directly from their content.
+ Founders have grown authority strong enough to land press and speaking gigs.


If you want LinkedIn to actually work for you (instead of just being a posting platform you ignore), let’s talk.

DM me MAD and let the fun begin.

Madhu Sharma

People don’t read LinkedIn posts the way writers imagine they do.

They don’t analyse structure. They don’t track consistency. They don’t remember exact points. 

What they carry forward is a feeling: Do I understand this person? Do I trust their thinking? Do they seem serious?

That judgment is formed faster than most founders expect.

A few posts. A quick scroll. A glance at the profile. 
That’s usually enough for someone to decide whether you’re worth following, remembering, or reaching out to.

This is why effort doesn’t always translate into results. 
You can be thoughtful, consistent, even insightful, and still come across as unclear if your content doesn’t point in one direction.

Strong LinkedIn presence works because it reduces friction. 
It makes it easy for someone to place you in their mind without thinking too hard.

When that happens, people don’t just engage. They remember. And memory is what turns visibility into opportunity.

If LinkedIn feels noisy or tiring, it’s often because the signal hasn’t been simplified yet.

P.S.- People don’t remember everything you say. They remember what they think you’re about.

Helping CEOs, Founders & Coaches Grow Influence, 3x Engagement + Win Clients | LinkedIn Consultant & Strategist | Ghostwriter

There’s a quiet reason some founders do well on LinkedIn without posting a lot.

They’re not trying to say everything they know.
They’re careful about what they don’t say.
They understand that every post adds to how people place them. 

So instead of sharing whatever feels interesting that day, they filter their thoughts through one question: 

Does this strengthen how I want to be understood?

That restraint is what gives their presence weight.

Most founders do the opposite. 
They treat LinkedIn like an open notebook. 

Over time, their thinking looks scattered, even when it’s smart. 
The signal weakens, not because the content is bad, but because it’s unfocused.

Strong LinkedIn presence comes from subtraction more than addition. 
Knowing what to leave out matters as much as knowing what to share.

When that discipline is in place, posting becomes easier. 
You stop guessing. You stop overthinking. And people start recognising you for something specific.

That’s when LinkedIn begins to feel less noisy and more useful.

P.S.- Clarity usually comes from what you choose not to publish.

Most founders should not be writing their own LinkedIn content.

Not because they can’t write.
But because they’re too close to their own work.

They either explain too much, assume too little, or try to sound “balanced.”

What they rarely do is sound clear.
When you’re inside the business, everything feels obvious. 
So you skip context. Or everything feels important. So you over-explain.

Both kill impact.

Good LinkedIn content isn’t about saying everything you know.
It’s about choosing what to say, what to leave out, and what to repeat until people associate you with it.

That kind of judgment is hard to make about yourself.
It requires distance.

And someone who can say, “This may be true, but it’s not helping your positioning.”

Founders who understand this stop treating LinkedIn like a writing exercise.
They start treating it like reputation management.
That’s when it begins to work.

P.S.- The strongest personal brands are rarely self-edited.

Most founders wait too long to take LinkedIn seriously.

They wait until they’re raising, hiring, selling, or trying to open doors and then expect their profile to suddenly do the work.

It doesn’t.

LinkedIn only helps when people already know who you are and how you think.
By the time you need visibility, it’s usually too late to build it.

The founders who benefit from LinkedIn long-term treat it like reputation, not promotion. They’re intentional about what they say, what they repeat, and what they want to be associated with long before they’re asking for anything.

That’s why their presence feels calm, credible, and trustworthy.

If you’re a founder who knows your work is strong but your LinkedIn doesn’t reflect that yet, fixing it later will always cost more than fixing it now.

Clarity compounds.
Confusion doesn’t.

P.S.- The best time to shape how people see you is before they’re deciding whether to trust you.

Scroll through a founder’s LinkedIn for five minutes and you’ll usually see the same pattern.

A sharp insight one day. 
A personal lesson the next. 
Then a framework, a story, an opinion. 
Everything is individually fine, but taken together it’s hard to tell what the person actually wants to be known for.

That’s where LinkedIn quietly stops working.

When your content covers too much ground, people can’t place you. 
And if they can’t place you, they don’t remember you when something relevant comes up.

Strong LinkedIn presence isn’t built by showing range. It’s built by reinforcing a single line of thinking until it becomes familiar. Not repeating posts, but repeating perspective.

The founders who do this well decide early what they want their name to stand for, and let everything they share point back to that. Over time, their content starts doing the filtering for them.

If your posts feel scattered even though the quality is good, the issue isn’t writing or effort. It’s focus.

Once that’s clear, LinkedIn becomes much easier.

P.S.- Familiarity is what turns content into credibility.

LinkedIn doesn’t work because of posts.
It works because of memory.

Most founders think LinkedIn is about being visible.
It’s not. It’s about being recalled.

When an investor, potential client, or senior hire thinks, “Do I know someone for this?”

Your name either comes up or it doesn’t.
That decision isn’t made in the moment.
 It’s made over time, through repeated exposure to clear thinking.

This is why random good posts don’t move the needle.
They get likes, but they don’t create association.

What actually compounds is seeing the same person talk about the same problems, from the same angle, over and over again, until their name becomes linked to a specific kind of thinking.

That’s when LinkedIn starts working quietly.
No virality. No noise. Just the right people remembering you.

If your LinkedIn presence isn’t changing how often your name comes up in conversations you’re not in, it’s not doing its job.

P.S.- The best LinkedIn strategies don’t chase attention. They build recall.

Most founders are writing LinkedIn content that would work…
for someone else.

The posts are smart. The advice is correct. The engagement is fine.
Yet no one looks at the content and thinks, this person has a clear point of view.

That’s because most content is built from ideas founders agree with, not from opinions they’re willing to stand by. 

So everything sounds safe. Polished. And slightly forgettable.

When your content doesn’t take a stand, people can’t place you.
And if they can’t place you, they won’t think of you when it matters.

This is the mistake I see again and again. 
Founders start posting before deciding what they actually want to be known for.

So they keep adjusting formats, hooks, and timing, hoping something clicks.
It rarely does.

If your LinkedIn feels active but isn’t changing how people perceive you, the problem isn’t effort or consistency.
It’s that your thinking hasn’t been clearly framed yet.

Until that happens, more posts won’t create momentum.

P.S.- The moment your content reflects how you actually think, the right people start paying attention.

Someone told me recently, “I know people look me up on LinkedIn, but I’m not sure what they’re seeing.”

It’s an honest concern, and more common than people admit.

Before almost any meaningful conversation happens today, a partnership, a hiring discussion, or a client introduction, someone opens your LinkedIn profile. 

Not to study, but to get a quick sense of who you are.

They’re not just looking at your last post. They’re scanning for cues.

How clearly you communicate.
What problems you seem to care about.
Whether your thinking feels structured or scattered.

None of this takes long. 

Within a few minutes, people form an impression, and that impression shapes the tone of every conversation that follows.

This is why LinkedIn matters more than many founders realise. It’s not just a place where you post updates. 

It’s often the first layer of context people have before they interact with you.

When that context is clear and credible, conversations start on stronger ground. When it isn’t, you end up doing extra work to establish the same trust.

A lot of founders focus on what to say in the next post.

Few think about what their overall presence communicates.
But that’s usually what people remember.

P.S.- Your LinkedIn profile often speaks before you do.

I work best with founders who already know their work is solid.

They’re not chasing growth hacks or trying to go viral. 
What frustrates them is simpler than that. 
Their LinkedIn presence doesn’t reflect the level they actually operate at.

When someone looks them up, the signal is weak. 
The content isn’t wrong, but it lacks clarity and weight. 
What comes through online doesn’t match how they sound in real conversations.

This usually happens because founders are too close to their own work. 
They explain too much. They assume too much. Or they try to stay balanced so they don’t sound opinionated.

Over time, that smooths out what actually makes them distinctive.
The work I do isn’t about posting more or sounding smarter.

It’s about shaping how someone is understood when they’re not in the room and don’t get the chance to explain themselves. 

That means deciding what to emphasise, what to leave out, and what needs to be repeated until it sticks.

When this is done well, LinkedIn stops feeling heavy. It quietly reinforces credibility, trust, and recall.

If that gap between how you operate and how you’re perceived matters to you, we’ll likely work well together.

P.S.- Most reputations aren’t damaged by bad content. They fade because the signal isn’t clear.

The most dangerous thing on LinkedIn isn’t bad content.

It’s safe content.

Content that sounds smart.
Content that nobody disagrees with.
Content that could have been written by anyone in your industry.

It gets polite engagement.
A few likes.
A few “great point” comments.

And then it disappears.

Because safe content never changes how people see you.

The founders who stand out here usually do something different. They say things that make people pause for a second not because they’re loud, but because they’re clear about what they believe.

Not everyone agrees.
That’s exactly the point.

If your content never risks disagreement, it probably isn’t strong enough to create recognition.

And recognition is what actually compounds on LinkedIn.

P.S.- The posts people remember are rarely the safest ones.

At some point, every founder realises this about LinkedIn.

The platform doesn’t reward effort.
It rewards coherence.

You can post regularly, think deeply, and still feel invisible if your content doesn’t add up to a clear picture. 

People aren’t asking themselves whether each post is good. They’re subconsciously asking whether you make sense to them.

That’s why two founders can share equally good insights and get very different outcomes. One feels easy to place. The other feels scattered, even if the thinking is sharp.

Coherence comes from deciding what you want people to understand about you before you start trying to impress them. 

It’s the difference between expressing thoughts and shaping perception.

Most founders don’t make that shift. They keep refining posts instead of refining direction.

Once direction is clear, LinkedIn stops feeling random. Every post starts reinforcing the same idea, and over time that repetition builds familiarity and trust.

If LinkedIn feels unpredictable despite your effort, it’s usually not the platform.
 It’s the lack of a clear through-line.

P.S.- People don’t follow consistency in posting. They follow consistency in thinking.

If your LinkedIn disappeared tomorrow, nothing in your business would change.

That’s not a content problem.
That’s a positioning problem.

Most founders are active on LinkedIn. 
They post insights, share lessons, and sometimes get good engagement.

Yet their presence has no weight. 
It doesn’t influence trust, perception, or opportunity.

Visibility alone doesn’t build authority.
Recognition does.

When someone reads your post or lands on your profile, they should immediately understand how you think and what you stand for. 
Not after ten posts. Not after scrolling.

This is where most founders go wrong. 
They start posting before deciding the position they want to occupy.

So the content performs, but it doesn’t compound.

The founders who win on LinkedIn don’t post more.
They are simply clearer.

If your work is solid but LinkedIn isn’t doing anything meaningful for you, posting harder won’t fix it.

Positioning will.

P.S.- When positioning is clear, LinkedIn stops being a distraction and starts becoming leverage.

Most founders don’t realise when LinkedIn starts working for them.

There’s no spike. No sudden rush of leads.
What changes first is the quality of conversations.

Before, people ask what you do.
After, they ask how you think.

Before, DMs are vague.
After, messages are specific and relevant.

Before, you explain yourself on calls.
After, people already understand the context.

That shift doesn’t come from posting more or trying harder. It comes from repeating a clear line of thinking until people begin to associate it with you.

When that happens, LinkedIn stops being something you “manage.” It becomes something that quietly does the filtering for you.

This is the part most founders underestimate. They look for visible results and miss the invisible ones that actually matter.

If LinkedIn isn’t changing the quality of who reaches out to you, something upstream needs attention.

P.S.- When people already understand you before the call, everything moves faster.

Holi always reminds me of this.

Most people think colour makes things visible.
It doesn’t.

Contrast does.

When everything is loud, bright, and competing for attention, what actually stands out is what’s intentional. 

It’s the same with visibility on LinkedIn.

More posts don’t automatically make you seen. 
More noise doesn’t create clarity. 

What people remember is not how much you show up, but what stays consistent when everything else is changing.

Holi fades by the evening.

What remains is how you showed up, whom you spent it with, and what you left behind.

Visibility works the same way.

Happy Holi to those building presence with intention, not excess.

P.S.- Being remembered has very little to do with being loud.

The strange thing about LinkedIn is this:

The people who know the most often post the least.

They’re busy building, managing teams, making decisions that actually move a business forward. By the time they sit down to write something, it feels like another task on a long list.

So they postpone it.

Meanwhile, people who are more comfortable publishing become the visible voices in the space. Not always because they know more, but because they’re more consistent about showing their thinking publicly.

Over time, visibility creates its own gravity.

The same names appear again and again in feeds, conversations, and recommendations. Eventually, they become the people others associate with the industry.

This is why presence matters more than most founders expect.

Not because LinkedIn replaces real work, but because it quietly shapes who gets remembered when opportunities, partnerships, or introductions happen.

In the long run, the people doing the best work deserve to be part of that conversation too.

P.S.- Often the difference between being respected and being recognised is simply being seen.

A lot of thoughtful founders hesitate before posting on LinkedIn.

Not because they have nothing to say, but because they care about saying the right thing.

They’re used to being precise. In their work, words carry weight. A statement can affect clients, employees, partners, or investors. 

So before sharing anything publicly, they pause, reconsider, rewrite, and sometimes decide it’s safer not to post at all.

That instinct makes sense in business.
But on LinkedIn, silence has its own cost.

When thoughtful people stay quiet, the platform fills with louder voices who are simply more comfortable publishing quickly. 

Over time, those voices become the ones associated with the industry, even when the deeper thinking exists elsewhere.

This is why presence matters.

Not to broadcast constantly, and not to comment on everything, but to occasionally share how you see your work and the problems around it. 

That small window into your thinking helps others understand the level you operate at.

Most founders already have the insight.
The challenge is giving it a place to be seen.

P.S.- Often the people with the most useful perspective are the most reluctant to share it.

taplio

The Battle

Tom Schaeffer

Madhu Sharma

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance ScoreTom Schaeffer's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreMadhu Sharma's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

taplio

The Battle

Tom Schaeffer

Madhu Sharma

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 Schaeffer's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreMadhu Sharma's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreTom Schaeffer's LinkedIn Performance