Dave Gerhardt

Hey I'm Dave Gerhardt. I created Exit Five, which has turned into the top community for B2B marketing professionals. Before starting Exit Five I had a 10 year career in marketing and grew from PR intern to CMO. I even once had hair! My wife says I'm more handsome now though, and she's quite pretty so that means a lot -- but the internet just boxes me in as the typical bald guy tech bro. So oh look, another bald tech guy writing on LinkedIn! whoopty freaking do.

Anyway. Where was I... OH. Receipts! I wanted to talk about receipts, because in a world of fluff and online influencers, I actually have some receipts and I want to tell you about them here because it signals power, credibility, and makes it seem like I'm super rich, so: I used to be pretty good at marketing, and my work as a marketer played a key role (at least I think so) in helping two software companies to successful exits: Drift for $1B+ and Privy for $100M+. I certainly helped the founders make a bunch of money, and I was able to comfortably purchase a brand new Toyota Sienna minivan for my family in 2021.

Today I spend my time working on Exit Five, and it's actually been super fun and given me a bunch of purpose. We're a team of six full-time team members now, and we have a private online community and host in-person events around the world. Plus there's a popular podcast and newsletter for marketers. We reach something like 20 MILLION marketers with our content every year, and we've got a pretty special thing going on. I hope to keep it going. You can learn more about it all at exitfive.com.

I spent most of my life in the Boston area but now live in the woods in Vermont with my wife, two kids, two cats, and one dog.

You can reach me at dave@exitfive.com if you want, but TBD if I reply. Depends on the message. But please don't send me any more swag or books. But if for whatever reason you do want to send me something, I play the ProV1x golf ball and like the low numbers.

PS. Find my podcast “The Dave Gerhardt Show” on Spotify

Founder & CEO

Exit Five is a media company focused on B2B marketing. We help B2B marketers build successful careers through our content and community. Learn more at exitfive.com

The CEO should put the Product team and Marketing team together. 

In lock step. 

To drive momentum and success for the company. 

I see so much about Sales and Marketing. 

Not enough about Product and Marketing. 

There should be a vision. And a roadmap. And regular launches. Some small. Some big. And this becomes the operating system for the company. 

You can CREATE momentum for your company by doing this. Deadlines drive actions. 

These regular launches give Marketing and Sales regular opportunities to talk to new customers. 

The CEO should be in the middle of this.

PS. If this topic lands with you and you're a CMO: we've been running a super secret group for CMOs / VP Marketing doing $25M+ ARR at Exit Five over the last few months and we're now accepting new members. Community is more important now than ever and it's all about who is in the room. We have curated the right room for you. If you want a peer group like this you can apply for a spot here: tinyurl.com/23h2c5eh

Founder: Exit Five. Community Builder. Former CMO. Building the top community for B2B marketers right now at exitfive.com

I didn't want my team to publish this talk. It was too good. Should have only been for the memory of the people that went to Drive this year.

But I'm also a marketer and understand the power of social media and free content, so fine. 

We published my pal Harry Dry's talk from Drive 2025 yesterday, and if you missed it he gave a masterclass in storytelling.

The long lost art of conflict and emotion in the world of AI, PLEASE GO LISTEN TO THIS MAN.

The first line of this clip says it all "You should know so much about your category you could write a book on it."

You're not creating a category to fit into Gartner or G2. You are creating a category because you are literally inventing a new of way of doing things!

That's the opportunity.

I'll put the recording in the comments (audio only)

Founder: Exit Five. The top community for B2B marketers.

LIAM DARMODYᵍᵐ

Liam's Brand Stand

I help coaches, founders, executives and their teams build magnetic brands that attract clients, talent, and opportunity on LinkedIn. 

My services include: 

My services include: 
- Profile Optimization
- LinkedIn feature training
- Core content strategy
- Ghostediting (ask me about it)
- Content performance analysis 
- Sales Navigator training

Liam's Brand Stand was born out of my passion for personal branding and belief that LinkedIn is the ultimate platform for professionals and organizations to manifest serendipity and unlock opportunity.

This passion started as a fascination that turned into a hobby, then to a side hustle, and now, my full-time focus. I started creating content and being more intentional about building my brand here in January 2020 and since then I've amassed 35,000 followers and my content has garnered ~23,000,000 impressions, ~600,000 reactions, and ~100,000 comments. 

Completely organically.

Pretty crazy, especially when you consider I'm just a suburban dad who took to LinkedIn as a way to have conversation with other adults while cooped up in my house with my wife, a toddler, and an infant during a pandemic. 

That's the kind of opportunity that exists on LinkedIn and I'm on a mission to help more people experience it for themselves. 

If you're interested in doing so, visit: 

liamsbrandstand.com to learn more 
-or- 
calendly.com/liamdarmody to book time with me

Thanks for stopping by! 

Hi5, 
LD

Founder

The Outlier Project

The Outlier Project is a unique private membership community for people who believe that anyone can be ordinary, but we all have the power to choose to be extraordinary. 

Encouragement from a brilliant and diverse global community ensures that our members always have a built-in support system for all of life's personal and professional ups and downs as well as unique learning and development opportunities created exclusively for our members.

Member

WillowTree

Hired into a newly created, board-visible role to build an outbound recruitment marketing engine at scale. 

Collaborated with executive leadership and cross-functional teams to create target personas for design, engineering, product and project management prospects. 

Hired and led a team of four to build a prospect database of 15,000 and deploy evergreen email marketing campaigns that yielded 59% open, 18% reply, and 9% conversion rates.

Launched “ShopTalk Conversations” campaign strategy that became the second best-performing recruitment source, yielding candidates 2.5x more likely to receive offers and 3x more likely to be hired. 

Developed social media and employee advocacy strategies that increased company Linkedin following by 39%. 

Implemented cost-saving strategies for advertising channels and implemented Linkedin Recruiter platform, increasing efficiency across a 20-person talent acquisition team. 

Choice quotes from interested talent prospects: 
• "'Would you be open to having a conversation with one of our devs to talk about what it's like to build here?' < that is one of the best recruiting pitches I've heard right there" -- Frontend Web Developer

• "I gotta say that I normally loathe the "just checking in" emails and it's the quickest way to get on my hard-no list, but the ShopTalks you described in the first email are just so interesting that I'm kind of curious..." - Engineering Director 

• "Frankly this is the most innovative thing I've seen in recruiting. Well done!" - Product Manager

Director of Employer Brand & Talent Marketing Operations

Homesnap

Leading a team of 7 responsible for streamlining project management & delivery of revenue-generating initiatives & processes spanning engineering, marketing, product, sales, & support. 

Established, launched, & scaled operational processes for high-performance sales & customer success teams responsible for generating & retaining $5,000,000 annual recurring revenue (ARR)

Streamlining cross-team operational efficiency by focusing on relentless process & system automation that decreases the opportunity cost associated with highly manual, rote tasks being performed by humans so that they are free to do more empathetic, strategic work that benefits the bottom line.

Director of Revenue Operations

AddThis

Launched 3-person Customer Success team to service strategic clients post acquisition, increasing engaged accounts from 0 to 600, with a 98% retention rate. 

Appointed to manage 5-person Customer Support team (3 in North America, 2 in India) providing 24/5 assistance to customer base of 15M by resolving ~1200 tickets/month with 99% positive CSAT ratings.

Set vision & defined all strategy, standard operating procedures, documentation, functional reporting, OKRs and CRM configuration (Salesforce & Desk.com) for both teams.  

Established Customer Advisory Council that increased total customer feedback by 47%, positive feedback by 62%, and average positive CSAT from 86% to 96% QoQ. 

Championed “Project Barycenter” from hackathon initiative to formal development of tool that improves operational efficiency of customer teams by eliminating data silos, detecting product usage anomalies to identify churn risks, and decreasing reliance on engineering teams. 

Implemented measurable, closed-loop customer feedback process with product & engineering teams that increased development of feature requests received by customers from 0% to 72% in just 2 quarters.

Increased collaboration with marketing to align customer acquisition strategies, develop cohesive communication, gather case studies, and improve NPS scores. 

Launched TRIORG, a cross-functional team focused on improving internal processes relating to talent, recruitment, interviewing, onboarding & retention after dedicated HR-team was disbanded.

Director of Product Operations & Customer Experience

LivingSocial

Spearheaded cross-functional change management initiatives resulting in 400% increase in quantity and length of available online inventory while simultaneously optimizing sales efficiency. 

Revised & redefined standard operating procedures and protocol for sales & operations teams of 400+

Managed team of 29 responsible for ensuring excellence in sales planning, internal client support, and advertising operations. More specifically: 

2 managers & 14 Sales Planners responsible for providing both strategic & tactical sales guidance to a team of ~400 sellers covering 250+ North American markets responsible for generating ~$300MM in annual revenues 

1 Manager & 6 Enablement Specialists dedicated to triaging issues from the field, conducting root cause analysis, gathering product requirements and collaborating with engineering to improve tools

1 Manager & 5 Advertising Operations specialists responsible for managing advertising operations for Fortune 500 companies.

Director Of Sales Operations & Enablement

Leading an innovative, nimble team responsible for strategizing and executing on key company initiatives that optimize process, improve efficiency, and contribute to revenue growth

Establishing standardized processes through a central hub that internal & external teams rely upon for accurate information, dissemination of important messaging, effective training, and project management

Developing in-depth reporting suite that provides greater visibility of team performance to department heads 

Managing robust process for intake & prioritization of system enhancements and partnering with product teams to scope & deploy solutions quickly and thoroughly 

Facilitated smooth change management processes associated with multiple wholesale workflow changes

Director of Product Operations

Lead a team of internal consultants that provided strategic guidance to global Sales & Operations teams in the United Kingdom, Australia, Spain & France 

Established centralized best practice library and disseminated standardized documentation to all global entities 

Regularly deployed overseas to conduct in-country assessments, develop improvement plans, and work with country leadership to execute on key initiatives

Sr. Manager, International Business Operations & Strategy

Recruited, trained, & scaled team from 1 to 35 people responsible for quality control and market programming 

Developed effective launch process & communication channels across marketing, sales, finance & operations 

Launched 5 verticals in 250+ North American markets, including a single day launch of 25 markets in 2010

Defined & deployed sales guidelines upon which all deal structures were based 

Identified & implemented revenue optimization strategies resulting in multi-million dollar gains

Facilitated launch of LivingSocial UK by recruiting, hiring, and training personnel on the ground 

Deployed to launch first 6 markets of LivingSocial Australia in November 2010 

Tapped by executive management to spearhead international expansion & optimization

Sr. Manager, Quality Control & Market Programming

Collaborated with company founders to define & operationalize daily deal business 

Developed product requirements for front & backend systems that have supported expansion to hundreds of international markets and multiple business verticals 

Managed online community through social media, sales, servicing customer & merchant relationships, writing copy for all deals, subject lines, and website

Manager, Product & Business Operations

Revolution Health Group

People Operations

Support the communication of requirements and user stories pertaining to Premium Services web products.

Create and maintain project plans and workflow management. 

Working in concert with product managers, software development teams, and business units to ensure that products are developed according to specifications throughout the entire SDLC.

Act as liaison to facilitate communication between marketing/business unit, graphic design, product management, software engineering teams, and quality assurance testers.

Assist VP of Technologies and CTO with program management duties - keeping track of the status' of all active projects across the company.

Business Project Manager

Personal Brand Strategist & Networking Coach → I help entrepreneurs, executives & teams build brands to attract clients, talent & opportunity | Family Man | Connector | AI & Blockchain Bull | Hot Sauce Aficionado🌶️

I help entrepreneurs & executives build magnetic personal brands that attract clients, talent, and opportunity. After nearly two decades scaling revenue operations at tech startups, I realized something powerful: the skills I used to help companies grow - strategy, operations, marketing, and analytics - could help individuals grow too. That's why I launched Liam's Brand Stand. 

I combine my operational expertise with my passion for personal branding to help entrepreneurs & executives manifest serendipity on LinkedIn. Think of me as your personal brand operator - I help you develop strategy, establish processes, and measure what matters.

My Services Include:

🌶️ Brand Strategy & Profile Optimization
Transform your LinkedIn presence into a powerful brand asset that attracts your target audience.

🌶️ GhostEDITING (Not Ghostwriting)
Unlike ghostwriters who write for you, I help you find and amplify your authentic voice. We collaborate on content strategy and I edit your drafts to optimize them for LinkedIn while maintaining your personality.

🌶️ Business Growth Coaching
Learn how to leverage LinkedIn strategically to attract clients, build partnerships, and grow your business organically.

🌶️ LinkedIn Feature Training 
Master Sales Navigator and other LinkedIn tools to network strategically and build meaningful relationships.

🌶️ Content Performance Analysis
Get data-driven insights about your content performance with detailed analytics that help measure what matters.

More about me: 

My Roots 🌱:
• Irish/Italian-Canadian born US Citizen
• Have lived in Toronto, Los Angeles, Boston, DC, & now Raleigh, NC
• Proud husband to an amazing wife & father to two wonderful tiny humans

My Passions ❤️:
• Helping others build & scale 
• Aspiring backyard BBQ pitmaster
• Hot sauce aficionado (seriously, my collection is ridiculous)

My Personality 🧠:
• Gallup Strengthsfinder Top 5: Woo, Communication, Strategic, Positivity, Adaptability
• ColorCode: Yellow (53%), Red (22.94%), Blue (16.16%), White (7.9%)
• Myers Briggs: ENFP > Extraverted, Intuitive, Feeling, Perceiving
• 16personalities: "The Campaigner" (ENFP-T) | Role: Diplomat | Strategy: Social Engagement
• Kolbe A: 7-3-8-3 "Terrific when juggling rapidly changing priorities. Known for taking risks grounded in practical reality."

Favorite Quotes:
"I'm a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it" - Thomas Jefferson

"There are no strangers here, only friends you haven't yet met" - William Butler Yeats

Ready to amplify your personal brand? Book an appointment up 🔝

I help executives, founders, and their teams build magnetic brands that attract clients, talent, and opportunity on LinkedIn. 

My services include: 

My services include: 
- Profile Optimization
- LinkedIn feature training
- Core content strategy
- Ghostediting (ask me about it)
- Content performance analysis 
- Sales Navigator training

Liam's Brand Stand was born out of my passion for personal branding and belief that LinkedIn is the ultimate platform for professionals and organizations to manifest serendipity and unlock opportunity.

This passion started as a fascination that turned into a hobby, then to a side hustle, and now, my full-time focus. I started creating content and being more intentional about building my brand here in January 2020 and since then I've amassed 35,000 followers and my content has garnered ~23,000,000 impressions, ~600,000 reactions, and ~100,000 comments. 

Completely organically.

Pretty crazy, especially when you consider I'm just a suburban dad who took to LinkedIn as a way to have conversation with other adults while cooped up in my house with my wife, a toddler, and an infant during a pandemic. 

That's the kind of opportunity that exists on LinkedIn and I'm on a mission to help more people experience it for themselves. 

If you're interested in doing so, visit: 

liamsbrandstand.com to learn more 
-or- 
calendly.com/liamdarmody to book time with me

Thanks for stopping by! 

Hi5, 
LD

LIAM DARMODY

Like many this week, I'm reflecting on what I'm most grateful for. Today it's my health. Two years ago, I was 347 pounds.

I couldn't walk upstairs without getting winded.
Playing with my kids was a physical strain.
I was ashamed and miserable.

After receiving some concerning lab results from my doctor, I knew something had to change, so Megan and I joined Omnia Paratus Health Training.

We started going 3x per week.

It was grueling.
I was perpetually sore.
And I was the weakest dude there. 

But I kept showing up.

Eventually 3x became 4x.
Then 5x.
Now 6x.

Today I'm ~290lbs, which isn't exactly a flex, but I've lost 60 pounds, gained a ton of muscle, and am stronger than I ever have been. 

(Even made the 1000lb club twice!)

Went from being unable to walk up a flight of stairs solo without getting winded to carrying both my kids on my shoulders upsta without elevating my heart rate one bit. 

At my heaviest, I wondered if that would ever be possible.

But more than the physical transformation, I've had a complete mindset shift.

I used to be an all-or-nothing guy. 

I'd set unrealistic goals, like declaring I was going get 10,000 steps in by 10am every day, only to quit shortly thereafter when I realized just how hard that actually is. 

But I'm a changed person now and I've embraced the idea that most things worth doing are not easy and require consistency and patience above all else. 

That meaningful progress doesn't happen overnight.

Instead, it happens:

Day-by-day. 
Week-by-week. 
Month-by-month. 
Year-by-year. 

Meaningful progress is achieved through a bunch of micro actions compounding over time (it's the same thing I preach about building on LinkedIn, coincidentally.)

Show up.
Do the work.
Trust the process.

Now I'm not where I want to be yet--I've got a long way to go--but I'm so damn proud of how far I've come and I'm grateful that I get to wake up every day feeling strong, healthy, and capable.

Turns out it feels good to feel your muscles. Who knew?  

To everyone else on a health journey: keep going.

Every step forward is a step forward and worth feeling proud about. 

Hi5 & stay tuned for gratitude post No. 3!
LD 
🙏🏼

Personal Brand Strategist & AI Coach | Helping humans build soulful brands & smarter operating systems w/ AI | Linkedin Sales Navigator Expert | Hot Sauce Aficionado 🌶️

Hey Parents, help me out here…

When is it ok to say what everyone else is thinking but won’t say? 

I’ve been wrestling with this question since I hit send on an note to my 8-year-old son’s football coaches yesterday.

Here’s the context:

The coach has been splitting the team in half all season—giving one group 80% of the playing time, the other group maybe 20%. 

This is recreational youth sports. 
Not a travel league. 
Not a pipeline to college football.

Several parents have been frustrated and talk about it to one another, but to my knowledge nobody said anything.

So I did.

Because I would hate to have people thinking and talking badly about me without saying it directly to me. 

The coach’s response? Classic deflection.

Now here’s where I’m torn:

Part of me knows my son needs to learn that sports involve disappointment. That you have to earn your spot. That talent matters. That life isn’t always fair.

But he’s also 8-years-old. 
His self-esteem is still forming. 

And there’s a difference between learning resilience and having your confidence systematically dismantled by an adult who should know better.

I’m also realizing how many of us hold back from saying hard things because we’re conflict-avoidant. We think things. We complain to each other. But we rarely say them directly to the person who needs to hear them.

And that does a disservice to everyone—including the person with the blind spot.

So here’s what I’m asking:

Was this message too sharp? Or was it necessary?

When do you speak up versus let things go?

How do you balance teaching kids about disappointment while protecting their development at such a young age?

Answers to any of these are appreciated—I genuinely want to know what you think.

Hi5,
LD
🌶️

No alternative text description for this image

Beverly Hills. 13 years old. Chubby Canadian kid at an all-boys prep school. I spent my afternoons at the Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts waiting for my Dad to finish work, and my nights practicing my American accent. 

A-bout.
Not "aboot." 

Desperately trying to sound less Canadian. 
Less foreign. 
Less different.

Anything to make a friend.

Being an only child who already struggled with connection, I thought if I could just blend in, maybe I'd finally fit somewhere.

My dad and I used to drive around the big mansions belonging to all of the Hollywood stars to pass time. 

One day he asked me: 

"What's the most important thing to you in life?"

Heavy question for a kid. I thought for a second and said: 

"Human relationships."

My dad was stunned. 

He tells this story to this day--he expected me to say video games. Or sports. Or girls.

Human connection was nowhere on the radar.

A few weeks later, we're on a walk and dad asks where I'd want to live if I could go anywhere in the US.

"I've always heard good things about Boston," I said. Turns out he'd been offered a job in Boston that very day.

And that was my first taste of serendipity.

Fast forward three decades. Here I am helping people build personal brands that create stronger connections and manifest serendipity on LinkedIn.

It's everything I've ever cared about wrapped into one business. That lonely 13-year-old practicing his American accent would be proud.

I guess sometimes your biggest pain points become your life's work.

What's a story from your youth that drives who you are or what you do today?

Hi5, 
LD 
🌶️
__
Building your brand on Linkedin? I'd love to help. 
Book an appointment above & let's jam.

Personal Brand & AI Strategist - helping humans build soulful brands, strong connections & smarter operating systems | Startup Advisor | Linkedin Social Selling Pro | Sales Navigator Sherpa | Hot Sauce Aficionado 🌶️

This week I'm taking time to reflect on what I'm truly grateful for and first up is my family, starting with my wife Megan.

She's been the biggest champion I've ever had. Steady. Even-keeled. Exactly the kind of support I always needed.

She's my rock.

When I got laid off and was debating what to do next, she didn’t let fear get in the way. Instead, she said: "You’ve been talking about launching your own business for as long as I’ve known you. Now’s your time."

That was the push I needed to bet on myself. Without her belief in me, I’m not sure I would’ve had the courage to jump. Her faith and fearlessness helped me find my own. 

She’s the strongest woman I know, and every day I’m trying to rise to her level. I’m incredibly lucky to have her.

Then there are the gifts that are Brooks and PJ.

Becoming a dad changed everything for me.

For years, I knew I needed to take my health seriously, but I stayed stuck -- lazy, scared of change, telling myself I’d “do it eventually.”

But my kids gave me a reason bigger than myself to finally become the person I wanted to be.

They push me to show up as the best version of myself every day and I want them to look back and see a dad who didn’t just talk about what he 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 do,  but actually 𝑑𝑖𝑑 it.

A dad who:

Bet on himself at 40  
Built something from nothing  
Broke decades-long bad habits to lose 60 pounds 
Refused to believe “I can’t” was a permanent truth  

A dad who proved it’s never too late to become who you’re meant to be.

Megan, Brooks, and Piper: you make me better every single day, and I love you beyond measure. 

I’m so grateful for & to you. 

Hi5 & stay tuned for gratitude post No. 2!
LD  
🙏🏼

Just crossed 47,000 followers.

Back in early 2020, I wrote an article called “Why LinkedIn is the place to be in 2020" and I’ve shown up pretty much every single day since.

I built this following 100% organically. 

No growth hacks. 
No shortcuts.
No pods. 

Could I have grown faster? Sure.
But that’s never been the point.

Because your personal brand outlives every algorithm shift and every trend and there's no need to rush it. Instead, show up authentically, consistently, and strategically.

Slow and steady really does win here.

Since 2020, my life has changed for the better three times over because of this platform: 

1) A career pivot fell into my lap. 
2) I bought a home sight unseen via the DMs. 
3) I started my business because LinkedIn gave me the confidence and network to take the leap.

I love Linkedin because it is the emotionally intelligent social network that boasts the most empathetic community online. 

It's a place where serendipity manifests and compounds when you invest in people, not vanity metrics. 

And the best part is? 

We're still early! 

If you’re new, here's a bit about what I do: 

I help humans: 

- Craft their authentic personal brand narrative
- Learn how to network with intention
- Build content pillars
- Master social selling through Sales Navigator
- Create smarter, AI-powered content & operating systems

I'm unique because I blend 20 years of go-to-market operations at startups with personal branding.

Authenticity is my operating system and my approach to Linkedin can best be summarized by two of my favorite quotes: 

“There are no strangers here, only friends you haven’t yet met.” — Yeats

“I’m a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it.” — Jefferson

Thanks for being part of this journey.
Thanks for trusting me with your attention.
Thanks for showing up as your real self alongside me.

I truly believe that the best is yet to come.

Hi5,
LD
🌶️
__
Building your brand on LinkedIn? I’d love to help.
Book an appointment up 🔝 & let’s jam.

I don’t judge people who like their own posts (because you do you, my friend), but this is the first thing I think every time I see it... do with that what you will. 

Hi5, 
LD
🌶️
__
Want to build your brand on Linkedin without relying on hacks? Book an appointment above & let's jam. Or snag some of my free resources at stan.store/liamdarmody

While brushing my teeth last night and pining at my thinning hair, I had a thought: 'I wonder if Nano Banana could show me what I'll look like bald!?' And, well... 

(See real photo for comparison in my profile banner)

Life is beautiful.
I flippin’ love this time of year. 
Happy Holidays to you and yours, Linkedin!
Hi5,
LD

Are you one of the many currently looking for your next career opportunity? If so, read this post!

My friend Gina Riley just released “Qualified Isn’t Enough” and it’s exactly what the market needs right now.

With 20+ years in HR and executive search, Gina’s seen it all from the hiring side. 

Her Career Velocity™ system teaches you what most career advice misses: how to craft your narrative, position yourself strategically, and become the clear choice instead of just another resume.

I’m grateful to be surrounded by exceptional humans like Gina—people who spend their careers helping others discover opportunities they’d never find alone. 

She sent me my first client referral when I was a brand new entrepreneur and she was kind enough to include me in the book. 

That vote of confidence still means everything to me. 

So grab this book if you’re ready to level up your career game and follow Gina for incredible advice on the regular!

Congratulations, Gina Riley, you’re incredible!

Hi5,
LD
🌶️

____
𝘉𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘓𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘦𝘥𝘐𝘯? 𝘐'𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱!
𝘉𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘵, 𝘴𝘯𝘢𝘨 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘴, 𝘰𝘳 𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘷𝘪𝘢
stan.store/liamdarmody

Find me another platform where you can:

Drop a comment on a post from Mustafa Suleyman, CEO of Microsoft AI...  
Get a reply from him... 
And rack up 60,000 impressions on that thread.

I'll wait.

Like Julia (Cabral) Flavin says: "There's gold in the comments."

And she's right.  That's where the serendipity lies. 

LinkedIn is building the world's biggest business networking conversation and if you're not showing up to participate—at least once in a while—you're going to regret it.

Like how I regret not starting a YouTube channel 10 years ago. 
Or launching my Substack in 2017 and ignoring it until 2025.

Skate to where the puck is going, y'all.

Look at what LinkedIn has: 
🌶️ 1.3 billion members 
🌶️ 70 million companies 
🌶️ Identity verification

If LinkedIn can get us all actually talking to each other, think about the volume of business that gets done here. 

Jobs filled. 
Customers found. 
Partnerships formed.

Every single person should be building relationships on this platform, not just posting into the void. 

Heck, you don't even have to post if you don't want to. I know plenty of highly successful people whose use of Linkedin is exclusive to comments sections & DMs because that's where the real opportunity is. (right, Timothy Peterson 👀). 

Linkedin power users have always known the comments were where relationships are formed on Linkedin, but we've never seen Linkedin making it so obvious that's where they want us investing our time. 

At least, I haven't. 

I'm telling you folks... there is such a great community and so much opportunity under the surface of Linkedin. Most don't see it (yet), which means you're ahead of the curve. 

Don't take the exit ramp. Keep going. 

Hi5, 
LD 
🌶️

Dig this? Saves & Sends are appreciated! :)

Think about how useful YouTube is. 

Now think about what happens if every professional on earth starts sharing what they know on LinkedIn the way that people share what they know on YouTube. 

Are you gonna show up for that or not? 

Brendan Gahan says that LinkedIn is like early YouTube.
Gary Vaynerchuk says that LinkedIn is like early Facebook.  

These two gentlemen can see the forest for the trees. 

Can you?

Day 3 of posting what I'm thankful for.

Today: the Linkedin community.

For the first 15 years I was on Linkedin, I didn't view it as a community. I viewed it the way most people do: a storage utility for your professional accolades and a place to find your next job.

Somewhere around 2017, I started getting LinkedIn emails that ended with "join the conversation.

"What conversation?"

But my interest was piqued.

In 2019, I decided to feed my curiosity and make LinkedIn a place I intentionally spent time on.

I wasn't here to do business. 
I wasn't here to make money.

I just wanted a place to learn and share my thoughts about business.

That proved to be a lifesaver when the pandemic hit and I was stuck inside a tiny house with Megan Bailey Darmody and our tiny humans instead of going to the office every day.

I love my family, but man did I miss the office. 

The energy. 
The coffee walks.
The conversations. 

So I spent my free time on LinkedIn.

People were confused why I was even here if I didn't have anything to sell.

"I'm here for the vibes," I'd tell them.

That's truer today than ever.
(But I make a little money now, too).

I went from never posting to posting daily and leaving 500+ comments per week (made easier thanks to Buffer & Wispr Flow).

In 2021, LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky himself messaged me about being selected for the Creator Accelerator Program and that's when I really started to grow my community here. 

One post at a time. 
One comment at a time.
One DM at a time.

I went from thinking that hopping on a Zoom with a stranger was weird to hosting audio rooms with 50-100 people (remember The Block Party?).

It proved worthwhile when I got laid off and started my own business.

Hundreds of strangers I had turned into friends showed up to support me. Years of building relationships in the comments became the foundation for my first business.

For that I am truly grateful.

The LinkedIn community is special. 

It's an emotionally intelligent social network filled with empathetic humans who want to see you win.

Not everyone sees that, though, because much of it happens beneath the surface. 

The comments sections are like little networking events where people converge to chat. It's subtle and you can't see it unless you're showing up consistently, but once you do, you cannot unsee it.

My next evolution is to start my own community. 

A place to go deeper with a smaller group because not everyone in my comments knows one another, and that seems like a missed opportunity.

(If you're interested, let me know)

To all of you strangers I've turned into friends over these last 6 years: thank you. 

This community has been one of the most fulfilling experiences of my life.

I'm curious...
How has this community helped you?

Hi5 & have a great day! 
LD

I'm a big believer in the saying "You are the company you keep," and I'm very fortunate to have worked with so many impressive, talented professionals since starting my business.

(you can see reviews from dozens of them in the services section of my LinkedIn profile) 

Honestly, sometimes I’m surprised by the caliber of people who want to learn from me—just goes to show you imposter syndrome never goes away!

Take Paul Carney, for example. 

Decades of experience as CHRO at large, well-known companies before “retiring” to pursue what’s next: helping companies & humans figure out how to accelerate their understanding and use of AI. 

Paul was a student in one of my Personal Branding & Social Selling cohorts this year and so naturally when he told me he was going to be in Raleigh to keynote at NC State, I drove in to grab lunch with him. 

Paul is an incredible human being with so much knowledge to share and he’s so good at it. If you aren’t subscribed to his “Prompt-A-Day” LinkedIn newsletter yet, you’re missing out! 

Seeing him made my week (and helped me discover an amazing new Mediterranean spot in town). 

This is the power of LinkedIn…

A place for strangers to become friends.
A place to manifest serendipity. 
A place for mutual benefit. 

IF you show up and know how to do it right. 

Like Paul and I do. 

Thanks for swinging through, Paul!  

I’m curious…

Who is someone you’ve met IRL from LinkedIn?

Don't forget your manners when talking to the robots. Consider it like life insurance just in case there comes a day when they're determining whether to keep us or get rid of us. 😅

I just realized I've been using ChatGPT all wrong. 

I use the desktop app for MacOS, which doesn't show the Library or Codex options in the sidebar. 

All this time I could have been clicking "library" to see all the images I've ever created in AI instead of following this wildly inneficient (by AI standards) process: 

1. Go to "Liam's Content Engine" Project
2. Then "Liam’s Design Robot" chat
3. Then scroll up forever trying to find that one quote tile I made a while back because I can only see 2 of them at once.  

Using ChatGPT in the browser? 

1. Go to "Library" in sidebar
2. Scroll through all images you've ever made, 24 in screen view at once.

Not going to lie, kind of embarrassed to admit I didn't know this. 

I'm curious... 

do you use ChatGPT in browser or via desktop? 

Hi5, 
LD
🌶️

You can take the guy out of ops, but you can’t take ops out of the guy. Most brand strategists will teach you content frameworks and engagement tactics.

I do that too.

But after 20 years in go-to-market operations, I also obsess over the systems that make content creation sustainable.

That’s why my tech stack looks more like a startup’s operational backbone than a typical creator’s toolkit.

AI tools for efficiency. 
Video platforms for repurposing. 
Automation to eliminate bottlenecks. 
CRMs to track relationships. 
Voice-to-text to capture ideas in real-time.

While other strategists are debating hook formulas, I’m building workflows that let you show up consistently without burning out.

The reality is most “brand experts” have never run sales ops, scaled a team, or optimized conversion funnels. 

They understand attention but not systems. 

But in order to establish and scale your brand effectively, you need to understand both. 

I spent two decades systematizing everything from lead flow to revenue operations at fast-paced tech companies, several of which were acquired for 9-figure sums. 

Now I apply that same operational rigor to personal branding.

When you work with me, you’re not just getting content strategy.

You’re getting 20 years of operations expertise applied to making your LinkedIn presence actually work like a business asset.

That’s the difference between someone who teaches you what to post and someone who builds the machine that makes posting effortless.

I’m curious… 

What’s one operational bottleneck that’s keeping you from being consistent on LinkedIn?

If you want some help, just holler!

Hi5,
LD
🌶️
___
Find this useful? Saves & sends appreciated. 
Want to jam? Book a free appointment above.

This is how companies should handle situations like Cloudflare's SNAFU that shut down the internet today. It shouldn't come from the head of comms or through a PR firm. It should come from the highest ranking executive of the department responsible for the issue. 

Was it inconvenient? Yes. 
Do I respect Dane Knecht for owning it publicly? You bet. 

Seeing things like this further humanizes business. 

And we need that now more than ever. 

What do you think? 

Hi5, 
LD
🌶️

I used to dread getting annual physicals and the lab results that subsequently followed because they reaffirmed what I already knew: that I wasn't taking care of myself. 

 "How bad is it going to be this year?" I would ask myself. 

On Wednesday, I got my annual physical at One Medical & the lab results just came back… 

For the 2nd year in a row, my doctor congratulated me on achieving exceptional results. 

And when I popped them into my ChatGPT Doctor, it clarified that not only am I healthy, I’m actually “metabolically impressive” and in the top-tier cardiovascular risk range. 

At 290lbs.

Proud of myself and pumped for next year’s labs!

Special thanks to Eric & Erika Hoeckberg of Omnia Paratus Health Training and especially Richard Plona for helping me make health a habit. 

And thanks for all of your support, Linkedin!

Hi5 & LFG!
LD

"Be yourself" is not a strategy.

I hear this all the time from people who think authentic personal branding is naive.

I disagree completely.

I'm doing just fine, and I'm literally just being myself.

But most people view their personality as a liability online. 

They think if they share too much, they'll miss opportunities. 
Someone won't like what they say. 
A prospect will scroll past.

So they water themselves down. 
They talk only about business. 
They become another voice in an ocean of forgettable content.

Meanwhile, I'm posting about hot sauce, AI experiments, my weight loss journey, and random thoughts from my neurodivergent brain.

People love it.

(Not everyone. But the right people for me to serve do.)

Being yourself online is a filtering mechanism. 

The people who don't vibe with you were never going to be great clients anyway.

The people who do vibe with you show up ready to work because they already know and trust who you are.

Yes, pair authenticity with strategy. 
Yes, be professional. 
Yes, be intentional. 

But stop putting your personality in a box—it’s your best asset, especially in the AI era. 

And, since personality is subjective, I tell my clients  to treat their LinkedIn presence like a journal they’d share with family, friends, clients and/or colleagues (including your boss, if you have one). 

That’s a good litmus test. 

Remember, the purpose of brand marketing is to attract the right audience and detract the wrong ones with the same level of effort. 

Your personal brand is no different. 

I'm curious... 

How much of the "real you" do we see here?  

Hi5, 
LD
🌶️
__
Dig this? Saves & sends appreciated. 
Building your brand? I'd love to help. 
Book an appointment up top & let's jam!

Who's got recommendations for banner designers? 

A friend of mine is looking for help with her Linkedin banner. I gave her the name of the person who did mine (👀 Jane Kisnica), but I figured it might be a good opportunity to crowdsource a broader list. 

If you have recommendations, we're all ears! 

Hi5 & thanks! 
LD 
🌶️
—
Was this useful? 
Save it or send to someone who might think so too!

taplio

The Battle

Dave Gerhardt

LIAM DARMODY

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance ScoreDave Gerhardt's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreLIAM DARMODY's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

taplio

The Battle

Dave Gerhardt

LIAM DARMODY

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);}Dave Gerhardt's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreLIAM DARMODY's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreDave Gerhardt's LinkedIn Performance