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LinkedIn is a crazy place. Alongside corporate news from the biggest companies in the world, you'll find posts like “Today I proposed to my fiancé. Here's what I learned about B2B sales.” Insightful recaps from industry conferences are juxtaposed with generic, AI-generated thought leadership posts promoted by engagement pods. And don't even get me started on the endless barrage of irrelevant cold pitches.
Still, if you're an entrepreneur, LinkedIn is the place to be. Its uniquely business-focused nature sets it apart from other social media platforms and offers an unparalleled way to communicate with your customers, business partners, and potential team members.
Not quite so unique, however, is the curation inherent in all social media. On LinkedIn, just like Instagram, people and companies mostly share only the best parts of themselves—landing a job, closing a round of funding, announcing a new partnership, listing tips that helped them succeed, etc. Posts describing the less glamorous aspects of entrepreneurship are few and far between, painting an incomplete picture of the reality of running a business.
I have chosen a different path, namely that of brutal transparency.
That's why I share my startup's business data on LinkedIn, exactly what data and how my startup benefited from it – and your company could benefit from it too.
Related topics: Important financial metrics that every founder should know
Why share: Stand out with authenticity
Few startups tell their true story, as the nature of the startup ecosystem leads to overselling to attract investors' attention. Those vying for a crucial investment may feel they cannot afford to make their challenges public for fear of lowering their own valuation.
Transparency is therefore not only a way to stand out, but also to instill confidence in the fundamentals of the business. In this respect, any profitable company – be it a startup or a traditional company – has a huge advantage over a money-guzzling startup because it has the numbers to prove that its business model works.
Additionally, for some companies, like my startup Supliful, transparency is a way to drive direct loyalty from our customers. Our CPG platform enables other entrepreneurs to launch their businesses, so they have a vested interest in our current situation as their own revenue streams depend on it. Tracking our entrepreneurial journey through hard data makes our business more tangible for the people who use it and provides refreshing and interesting insights for our broader 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 the vast majority of updates show the steady progress of our company. This has been invaluable in gaining investors' attention, whether to demonstrate our potential to future partners or to show those who haven't followed us before how far we've come.
What you should share: Don’t sugarcoat anything
In addition to regular content, I publish business updates, such as moving to a new space or attending a conference, or personal insights, such as what it's like running a startup as a father of three. I also publish a monthly update that consists of three main elements: key metrics, the previous month's highlights, and the plans for the next month.
The metrics include unbiased, industry-relevant data on our business performance, including gross merchandise value (GMV), net revenue, number of Shopify stores connected to our platform, number of items sold, and MoM growth performance. These are directly compared to the previous month, making any changes in performance – positive or negative – visible.
The highlights of the past month include concrete achievements and milestones achieved, such as general business successes, i.e. team growth, or for example paying off a loan or solving a specific challenge. The plans for the next month show our current priorities and the hurdles we are currently trying to overcome.
Overall, it provides a quick but detailed overview of the company's current situation, which includes relevant information for investors, interesting insights for followers and transparent communication with our customers. The latter is one of the most important aspects for us.
I'm often asked if I'm worried that the information I share could be used against the company, for example by an investor pointing to months of poor performance to undercut an investment offer. The simple answer is no. My team and I aren't worried because our single main focus is making sure the entrepreneurs who build on Supliful become successful – if they win, we win. Putting our customers' experience above self-aggrandizement has proven to be a successful strategy so far.
Related: Why investing in reputation management is critical to your business strategy
A big unexpected advantage
We've already touched on some of the benefits, namely attracting investor attention, building stronger relationships with our customers, and gaining natural supporters by bringing a breath of fresh air to a platform that revolves around bragging rights. This naturally leads to new partners and more business.
However, one of the biggest and most surprising benefits for the company was talent acquisition.
The business we are building is very demanding as everything has to run like clockwork, from delivery to customer service. Any inefficiency is a waste of time and reduces customer satisfaction. That's why a huge amount of effort goes into ensuring a world-class, completely reliable operation and this requires a high level of talent – something every startup struggles with.
Not Suppliful. When a position opens up, we are inundated with applications from experienced talent as well as recommendations from well-connected industry insiders.
Unlike other startups where you typically don't know what you're getting into, my company's transparency exposes its current challenges, performance, and priorities in a way that resonates with senior people and subject matter experts. Thanks to our LinkedIn efforts, people are interested in our story and want to be a part of it.
Create your very own Auto Publish News/Blog Site and Earn Passive Income in Just 4 Easy Steps
