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LinkedIn is a strange place: posts like “I proposed to my fiancé today. What I learned about B2B sales” sit alongside business updates from the world’s largest companies. Insightful summaries of industry conferences are juxtaposed with generic, AI-generated thought leadership powered by engagement pods. And that’s to say nothing of the endless barrage of irrelevant cold pitches.
Nevertheless, if you’re an entrepreneur, LinkedIn is the place to be: LinkedIn’s unique business-focused nature sets it apart from other social media platforms, providing unparalleled opportunities to communicate with customers, business partners, and potential team members.
But what’s not so unique is the curation that turns out to be inherent in all social media. On LinkedIn, like Instagram, people and companies primarily share only the best aspects of themselves: job offers, closing funding rounds, announcing new partnerships, lists of secrets to success, etc. Few posts delve into the less glamorous aspects of starting a business, painting an incomplete picture of the reality of running a business.
I decided to take a different path: the path of radical transparency.
I’ll explain why I share startup business data on LinkedIn, what data it is specifically, how it has benefited startups, and how it could benefit your company, too.
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Why we share this: Stand out by being authentic
The nature of the startup ecosystem encourages overselling to grab investors’ attention, so few startups share their true story. Companies competing for make-or-break investments may feel they can’t afford to go public with their challenges for fear of their valuation dropping.
As a result, transparency not only stands out, but it also demonstrates confidence in the fundamentals of your business. In this respect, profitable companies, whether startups or traditional enterprises, have a huge advantage over cash-hungry startups because they have the numbers to show their business model is working.
Additionally, for some companies, like my startup, Supliful, transparency is a way to foster direct loyalty with customers. Our CPG platform enables other entrepreneurs to launch their businesses; therefore, they have a vested interest in our status quo because their own revenue streams depend on it. Seeing our entrepreneurial journey through hard data makes our business more accessible to the people who use it and provides fresh and interesting insights to our broad community of followers and supporters. Everyone loves to see how others deal with adversity.
But it’s not all adversity. In fact, adversity is the exception. We’re growing fast, and most of our updates speak to our steady progress. This has been extremely helpful in capturing investors’ attention, whether it’s to show potential partners our potential or to show people who previously gave up how far we’ve come.
Share: Don’t sugar coat things
Along with the usual content, I post business updates like moving to new premises and attending conferences, as well as personal insights like what it’s like running a startup as a father of 3. I also share monthly updates that consist of three main elements: key metrics, highlights from the previous month, and plans for the next month.
The metrics include pure industry-relevant data on our business performance, such as gross merchandise value (GMV) run rate, net revenue run rate, number of Shopify stores connected to our platform, number of items sold, month-over-month growth performance, etc. These are directly compared to the previous month to highlight any changes in performance (positive or negative).
Previous month’s highlights will include general business successes – specific accomplishments or milestones you’ve achieved, such as growing your team, paying off a loan, resolving a specific challenge, etc. The next month’s plans section will highlight your current priorities and the hurdles you’re currently trying to overcome.
All this together results in a concise yet detailed overview of the current state of the company: relevant information for investors, interesting insights for followers, and transparent communication with customers. For us, the latter is one of the most important aspects.
I’m often asked if I’m worried that the information I share could be used against the company, for example, by investors pointing to a poor month to lowball an investment proposal. The answer is simple: no. My team and I aren’t worried, because our sole focus is for entrepreneurs who operate on Supliful to succeed. If they succeed, we succeed. So far, prioritizing customer experience over self-aggrandizement has proven to be a winning strategy.
Related: Why Investing in Reputation Management is Important to Your Business Strategy
Big unexpected benefits
We’ve already touched on some of the benefits, including attracting investor attention, building stronger relationships with customers, and gaining an organic following by bringing a breath of fresh air to a platform that revolves around bragging rights. This, of course, translates into new partners and increased business.
But one of the biggest and most unexpected benefits for the company has been talent acquisition.
The business we’re building is incredibly challenging because everything needs to run like clockwork, from shipping to customer support. Every inefficiency wastes time and reduces customer satisfaction. That’s why so much effort goes into ensuring a robust, world-class operation, and this requires great people – something every startup struggles with.
It’s not easy: When a position opens up, you’ll be inundated with applications from experienced candidates and recommendations from people who know the industry well.
Unlike other startups, where you usually don’t know what you’re working on, my company is transparent and reveals our current challenges, achievements, and priorities. This has proven to resonate with experienced talent and subject matter experts. Because of our work on LinkedIn, people are interested in our story and eager to be a part of it.
