What's up, it's Zayd

I was scrolling LinkedIn yesterday and saw something that perfectly captures the problem with B2B content right now.

A company account posted about their "innovative approach to customer success" with some stock photo and blah blah blah-corporate-speak that made me want to close my laptop and go touch grass.

I kept scrolling though. Three posts down, their CEO shared a story about staying up until 2am debugging a critical issue for a customer, then falling asleep at his desk and waking up to find his dog asleep in his kids car seat (with photo evidence).

Guess which one had 50x the engagement?

The numbers don't lie. Founder content consistently crushes company content. Yet most founders refuse to post.

They say they're "too busy" or it feels "weird" or they "don't know what to say" (which shocks me because in person most of us…never. stop. talking.)

This week we’re diving into why this happens and what you're actually losing by staying quiet.

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Zayd’s Picks

My favorite finds of the week

• Key to a valuable lead magnet people can’t refuse (link)

• Tools to generate 200+ demo calls every month (link)

• 5 important learnings from the founder of Default (link)

• 2 must-dos to revive your open rate (link)

• Don’t sell through users to get buyers (link)

• Habits that lead to PMF with founder-led sales (link)

The Data That Should Make You Uncomfortable

Founder-led content outperforms company content by 3-5x on every metric that matters. You can read all about the Personal Brand Revolution that we’re going through here.

Companies with active founder voices see 40% higher client retention rates and significantly shorter sales cycles. One security company landed three enterprise deals worth $650K+ directly from their founder comparing crypto security to deodorant on LinkedIn.

Deodorant.

"Security is the deodorant of crypto. You might look great, but underneath those fancy clothes? Not so much, you probably stink."

That everyday comparison generated more qualified leads than months of technical whitepapers about encryption protocols and security frameworks.

Everyone knows founder content works better, but 76% of B2B founders post less than once a month on LinkedIn.

Why Founders Stay Silent

My friend Will Leatherman, founder of Catalyst, a founder-led content agency, talked to hundreds of founders about this. The excuses are always the same:

"I'm too busy" - You have time for 14 internal meetings this week about pipeline but not 15 minutes to write about what you learned in those meetings?

"I don't know what to say" - You just spent 45 minutes explaining your thesis to an investor (or your really bored first date). That's literally your content.

"It feels uncomfortable" - Good. That discomfort is precisely what makes founder content valuable. Polish is boring.

"My marketing team handles that" - And they're crushing it with those 12-like posts about "excited to announce" garbage, right?

The real reason founders don't post is simpler. They think people care about perfection.

They don't.

People want to know what you actually think. What keeps you up at 2am. What assumption you're betting against that everyone else believes. What customer call made you question your entire strategy.

They want your weird deodorant analogies and pictures of your dog in a carseat.

What You're Actually Losing

Every day you stay silent, you're bleeding opportunities you can't see.

Pipeline you'll never know about - Your competitor's CEO just posted about a problem your product solves better. Three prospects saw it and booked demos with them instead of you.

Talent you'll never hire - That senior AE who would've been perfect for your team saw your competitor's founder sharing behind-the-scenes insights about how they're building their sales motion. She applied there instead.

Market positioning you'll never own - Someone else is defining the narrative in your space while you workshop the perfect company blog post for three weeks.

The opportunity cost compounds daily.

The Company Content Death Spiral

Here's what happens at most companies:

1. Marketing creates a content calendar full of "thought leadership" that reads like it was written by a committee…because it was.

2. They schedule posts about "exciting updates" and "pleased to announce" bullshit that nobody cares about.

3. Engagement tanks. So they try harder. More posts, more polish, more stock photos.

It gets worse.

Meanwhile, their CEO is having fascinating conversations with customers, making counterintuitive strategic decisions, and learning expensive lessons, but none of that makes it to LinkedIn because it's "too casual" or "off-brand."

The gap between what's interesting (founder insights) and what gets posted (company announcements) grows wider, and your competitors with active founder voices keep winning deals you should've won.

What Actually Works

The founders who win at this aren't doing anything complicated.

They post 3-5 times per week about:

Monday: Something that pissed them off about their industry

"Everyone says X, but that's completely backwards. Here's why..."

Wednesday: A lesson they learned the hard way 

"We just burned $50K on a strategy that failed. Here's what we learned..."

Friday: A behind-the-scenes insight

"This is what our all-hands looked like this morning. We're rethinking our entire approach to..."

That's it.

Do that for 30 days. Don't worry about being perfect. Don't wait for your marketing team to approve it. Don't make it sound corporate. Everyone loves when people “aren’t media trained” because that means they’re real…relatable…flawed…honest.

Companies like Catalyst have built entire businesses around helping founders find their voice and turn insights into content that drives real pipeline.

How I Can Help?

Let me book sales calls for you while you’re posting about deodorant. Seriously.

I built Valley to be your automated SDR and empower AEs. Get started today and watch your calendar fill up with qualified leads.

How can we work together 🏔️

1. See more of Valley’s messaging examples, feel free to roast them: https://withvalley.notion.site/Cool-Message-Bro-1c0b917b0ed481dab014c465c354b4b8 

2. Generate more demos for your company using LinkedIn: https://meetings.hubspot.com/zayd-from-valley/tryvalley
   

3. Become a Valley partner and get 20% recurring commission for every user you bring in: https://withvalley.notion.site/valley-affiliate-partner-program