#110 — Social media for founders

Begin by identifying the core purpose for your social presence—such as building pre-launch buzz, handling customer support, or educating your market. Set incremental milestones (e.g., 'Grow by 100 followers in Month 1, 200 in Month 2') and pair each with a concrete deadline. For example, fintech startup Mercury built its initial following with targeted, date-bound LinkedIn engagement goals before expanding to other channels.

Focus on where your audience already hangs out, not where you wish they did. For example, Web3 teams often find X (Twitter) and Discord more effective than Instagram or Facebook. Many SaaS founders launch on LinkedIn to reach B2B buyers, while gaming startups might target TikTok or YouTube for max reach. Try one to two platforms at first—overextending dilutes your impact.

Leverage both, but prioritize your personal account for authenticity and reach—users engage far more with individuals than brands. Notion's CEO Ivan Zhao frequently shares product vision and company culture personally, fueling virality. However, a brand account is ideal for company-wide announcements or customer support, as done by Airbyte and Figma.

Niche expertise, behind-the-scenes glimpses, and founder reflections often resonate. Product updates (e.g., Loom's release threads on X), how-to guides, and community questions work well. Early Notion posts often featured team working sessions and user tips, while Ramp’s founders share detailed learnings from scaling their fintech infrastructure.

Batch-create 'evergreen' content—posts that stay relevant regardless of trends. Tools like Buffer or Hootsuite can help pre-schedule posts. Nomba, a Nigerian fintech, schedules a month's worth of educational posts in advance, freeing founders for customer and product priorities. Consistency matters more than frequency: start with monthly, then ramp up as you see what works.

Track both qualitative (sentiment, feedback in DMs or comments) and quantitative (reach, engagement rates, follower growth, and conversions). Use in-platform analytics (e.g., X Analytics or LinkedIn Insights). Figma’s team famously tracked rapid spikes in engagement after launches, diagnosing what content drove those peaks.

Start direct conversations and host interactive events—like AMAs or polls. Hopin built its early growth by running virtual meetups for its community, turning lurkers into advocates. Personalized DMs can encourage feedback and recurring interactions.

Stay flexible and experiment often. X deprioritized Substack links, prompting founders to share newsletter screenshots instead. When Instagram pushed Reels, brands like BlendJet pivoted to short-form video. Always keep some content ready to adapt and don’t tie your growth to one tactic.

Answering every comment, DM, and mention maximizes your reach and builds trust. Circle, a community platform, doubled its customer base in 2021 by launching a 'community challenge' and responding individually to every participant on X and Discord, creating viral word-of-mouth.

Trying to be everywhere at once, posting too frequently at the expense of quality, relying too much on automation, and ignoring feedback. For instance, many early-stage founders flood feeds hoping for traction—data shows that targeted, valuable content wins. Lessons from the failed X launch of Quibi underline the danger of top-down, impersonal strategy.

Avoid full automation. AI tools can assist with scheduling or grammar but don't replicate a founder’s unique voice. Audiences value authenticity—Glossier's CEO regularly posts candid insights, building a loyal following; AI-generated posts rarely spark such engagement. Use AI for support, not as a replacement for founder-led content.

Start by defining your goals for social media—do you want to build hype before launch, support users, or attract investors? Next, identify your core audience and the top 1-2 platforms they use. For example, fintech startup Mercury focused first on LinkedIn to connect with founders and VCs before launching a broader Twitter strategy. Set measurable, timeline-driven objectives such as 'grow followers by 200/month' or 'get 3 warm leads/week.'

Analyze where your target audience is most active. Web3 and gaming communities often thrive on X (Twitter) and Discord, while enterprise SaaS generally performs best on LinkedIn. Check where competitors and partners are most engaged. As an example, Duolingo leveraged TikTok and Twitter for rapid user growth due to their audiences’ presence there.

Personal founder accounts tend to outperform brand accounts for reach and engagement, especially in the early days—see how Airbyte's CEO shares personal reflections for their community. Brand accounts work for product news and support, but authentic founder voices build trust and loyalty. Using both in tandem can maximize audience reach.

Content rooted in authenticity and value works best. Think founder stories, behind-the-scenes posts, lessons learned, and community questions. For instance, Notion’s early growth was fueled by team member stories and UI/UX tips, not sales pitches. Short how-to videos, launch updates, or event recaps can also drive high engagement.

Start by prioritizing quality over quantity—one high-impact post per week is better than daily filler. Ramp up as you build a backlog of evergreen content. Use scheduling tools (like Hootsuite or Buffer) to plan and maintain consistency. Brands like Nomba batch content a month ahead, ensuring regular visibility even on busy weeks.

Track engagement rate, reach, and conversion metrics (signups, email captures). Instead of obsessing over follower count, focus on what kinds of posts spark engagement and gain followers aligned with your business goals. Use both in-platform analytics and UTM links for off-platform conversions. Figma tracked spikes in engagement during releases to gauge what resonated most.

Encourage engagement with direct questions, AMAs (Ask Me Anything), and community events. Uniswap’s Discord community, for example, regularly runs polls and AMAs to activate lurkers. Personalized DMs or invitations to contribute feedback can convert silent followers into vocal fans.

Stay nimble—platforms routinely change their ranking criteria. For example, X deprioritizing external links led founders to use screenshots of Substack content instead of direct links. Monitor platform updates and community forums, and experiment with post timing, formats (video, text, images), and content types to stay ahead of the curve.

The flywheel starts with engagement: reply to comments, start conversations, ask interesting questions (e.g., 'What's the best crypto meme you’ve seen?'). Use cross-promotion (move Discord users to follow your brand on X), and entice shares with polls or curated content lists. Notion’s culture of responding to every comment helped build loyalty that paid off in viral user advocacy.

Full automation risks losing your authentic voice—users easily spot AI-driven accounts, which can reduce engagement. Use automation for scheduling or reporting but keep founder communications personal. Glossier’s CEO regularly posts candidly, a level of realness impossible for bots to imitate.

Don’t try to be everywhere—spreading thin dilutes your message and exhausts your team. Avoid spammy content, over-posting, and ignoring feedback. Don’t rely purely on follower count to measure success—focus on engagement and conversions. Quibi’s high-budget, low-engagement launch on X underscores the pitfalls of impersonal, top-down strategies.

Use early-stage social channels to gather feedback, test hypotheses, and validate messaging. Many startups like Linear and Loom credit community discussions and social listening for iterating toward their breakout products. Set up direct DMs, quick surveys, and frequent Q&As to accelerate this feedback loop.

Track the entire funnel: impressions → engagement → conversions (downloads, signups, demos). Attribute website or app signups to specific posts using UTM tracking. If you’re B2B, track LinkedIn outreach to meetings booked. Case study: Webflow used annotated Google Analytics data to identify which tweets drove the most qualified signups in their first year.

Managing more than two platforms is rarely sustainable for lean teams and weakens content quality. Focus on the 1-2 platforms where your core users are already most active—test and iterate before adding more. For example, SaaS brands often start with X and LinkedIn, while consumer marketplaces might prefer TikTok and Instagram.

Respond promptly and transparently to criticism, addressing issues constructively in public when needed. Airbnb’s CEO Brian Chesky often leads with vulnerability in crisis moments, demonstrating that accountability earns long-term trust. Use feedback—both positive and negative—to improve your messaging and product.

Inject personality, share unique insights, document your builder journey, and celebrate both wins and failures candidly. Study accounts like Rahul Vohra (Superhuman) or Sahil Lavingia (Gumroad), who mix tactical insights with unvarnished founder experiences to create deeply memorable narratives.

Yes! Many brands land their first customers via targeted social posts or threads—see how the founder of Plausible Analytics shared their transparent journey and won their initial user base entirely through Hacker News and X. Niche posts and community build-in-public strategies convert followers to customers, especially when paired with a clear CTA.

Batch evergreen content—educational threads, case studies, founder stories—so you’re not reliant on real-time inspiration. Buffer and Notion both advocate for creating a content reserve to stay active during product lulls or founder downtime.

In the early days, organic social (community, content, conversations) is more effective for trust-building and feedback loops. Use paid ads selectively—like boosting a key launch post or retargeting engaged site visitors. For wider brand reach, Segment combined product launch Reddit threads with selective Twitter ad boosts to kickstart user acquisition.

Host regular AMAs, roundtables, feature interviews with users, and encourage UGC (user-generated content). Circle and Hopin both became category leaders by empowering community-driven conversations and celebrating superusers—often shepherded by the founders themselves.

It's never too early—start as soon as you begin exploring your idea. Early Figma and Zapier founders blogged and tweeted about their journey well before public betas, building pent-up demand and invaluable prelaunch feedback.