Ed Latimore is a writer with over 10 years of experience in creating engaging and insightful content for various platforms and audiences. He has a B.A. in Physics from Duquesne University, a MOS certification as a Land Combat Electrical Missile Systems Repairer, and a Secret Clearance issued by the US Army.

As a self-employed writer, Ed shares his unique perspective and wisdom from his diverse background as a former heavyweight professional boxer, a veteran of the United States Army National Guard, and a physics graduate. He teaches the lessons he has learned through his blog, his newsletter, and his Twitter account, reaching millions of people who benefit from his advice and stories. Ed's mission is to help others overcome their challenges, improve their lives, and achieve their goals.

Ed Latimore

Don't let stupid people gaslight you into thinking you're the dumb one.

Professional boxer (14-1-1) | Stuck at 1800-ish chess rating | Keynote Speaker | Author of “Hard Lessons From The Hurt Business: Boxing And The Art of Life

"Saying 'my bad' went a long way in keeping an accidental brush on a crowded bus from turning into an all-out brawl.

Even if the other person was wrong, swallowing my pride prevented countless unnecessary fights that could have ended badly.

People respond better to humility and respect, even amid chaos. Good manners and emotional control never make a situation worse.

Staying disciplined with my emotions granted me inner resilience and social capital that have paid dividends throughout my life."

From my book Hard Lessons From The Hurt Business: Boxing And The Art of Life—>https://amzn.to/45Prvnx

Sometimes the best way to help someone is not only let them fail but also to offer no assistance in their recovery.

Compassion has robbed many people of valuable lessons that can only be learned the hard way.

And when that happens, it's not a matter of if, but when they will make the same mistake. And you may not be able to help them, but now they're in a genuinely bad spot.

Much worse than if they hadn't been robbed of the opportunity to learn the first time.

I took all the SEO skills I've gained over the past 13 years and started working in a retainer/freelancer role at a startup.

Here is the week-to-week progress of the organic traffic from their analytics.

I'm happy, and this week is already on pace to be a bit higher than last week.

"You can waste a lot of time and energy trying to change things that aren’t yours to change, no matter how much you work at it. 

While you’re engaged in those pointless battles, you’re depleting resources that could impact those aspects of your life that would yield to your efforts if you could only see them."

From my book "Hard Lessons From The Hurt Business: Boxing And The Art of Life"–>https://amzn.to/3LVfkyV

In 2011, I had a fight that changed my life and saved me from being homeless in 2 weeks.

It was an amateur fight, so I didn't get paid for it either. But I was hurting for cash and 2 weeks away from my apartment lease being up.

The fight was against Dominic Breazeale in the 2011 National Golden Glove tournament. I won a decision and impressed his sponsors so much that they recruited me.

I couldn't control who I drew in the pairings. I could only control how I trained and how I fought, despite the distraction.

Learn more about the fight and what came of it in Hard Lessons From The Hurt Business: Boxing And The Art of Life–>amzn.to/4pRCBQi

"Among the many reasons to be kind to people is that you never know when you’ll need to rely on the kindness of others.

This doesn’t mean you’re only helpful because you expect others to help you. That approach will set you up for bitterness and disappointment.

Karma is a sloppy art that doesn’t always get it right, but you gain nothing by not helping when it would be easy for you.

You should be kind because it genuinely makes you feel better and makes the world a better place to live.

However, when karma does occasionally get things right, and you desperately need assistance, it’s amazing how it can turn a bad situation into something good or take a good situation and make it something great."

From Hard Lessons From The Hurt Business: Boxing And The Art of Life

https://amzn.to/4qBcUnS

Teaching my son how to read has taught me an important distinction between the childish and mature mind.

When he isn't in the mood, no bribe works. He just won't focus.

But when he wants to, I can't get him to stop.

Kids rely on motivation.
Adults thrive on discipline.

The opposite of love is not hate.

It's indifference.

And it's only in rhat indifference that freedom to choose exist.

"And of course you can't become
If you only say
What you woulda done"

The best way to keep from falling off the edge is to stay as far away from it as possible.

Unfortunately, this is also the best way to lose it.

Crackheads are a relatively peaceful bunch, unless there's a full moon and they haven't fed in 72+ hours.

Learn more about crackheads and my experiences with them in Hard Lessons From The Hurt Business: Boxing And The Art of Life–>amzn.to/45LXiWy

The biggest lesson from 2025 that is already paying dividends in 2026:

You win creative work when you figure out your *own* personal, repeatable, profitable process.

You can't buy someone else's tactics, and you can't copy their strategy.

By all means, learn from it, take what works, and discard the rest...

But your biggest wins will come when you build what works for *you* and ONLY you.

Because in creative work, the process is simultaneously separate AND indistinguishable from the outcome.

Looking at what AI has become—along with the rest of the internet, in general—I have a serious question.

Well, two, actually:

1) How long before colleges actually collapse? I have said several times that I can't see the university system failing, but something will have to give for 95% of majors.

The cost to reward ratio is already lop-sided, and it's only going to get worse.

2) How long before compulsory schooling is just not a thing? This one might take a little longer, since school functions as de facto, state-funded childcare.

But, at the very least, the old models of teaching and assessing skills are dead men walking.

Which also means that in about 20 years, people are almost certainly going to be living in an Idiocracy.

If you think critical thinking is bad now, wait until the first group of job seekers who were raised on AI "graduate."

AI writing is how I really learned what "voice" is.

Because AI all sounds the same.

The structure is so predictable and the lack of creativity so obvious that it's painful to read—even if it's free of errors.

You don't make your writing seem human by adding mistakes. That's stupid.

You do it by being unpredictable, asymmetrical, and making references that are personal yet presented universally

You make new connections between ideas that people haven't heard before.

In other words, stop being lazy, learn something, and— just for flavor—maybe stop watching or reading anything created after the year 2010 for a while.

It's easy to have faith in the future when you take responsibility for the present and learn from the past.

Many times, the best way to help someone is to force them to do what they don’t want to do and tell them what they don’t want to hear.

I learn just as much by the end of a debate as I thought I knew at the start of it.

Experiences gives you stories to tell.

Craft gives you the ability to tell them.

"Alonso Quixano’s goal of helping people is a noble one but his method is all too common among people who are trying to be good:

They do easy things that they think should help rather than hard things that actually will help.

What this amounts to is that they want to be good on their own terms. 

But being good is something that we cannot do on our own terms, because being good means conforming ourselves to reality."

https://
https://lnkd.in/eRXayrh2
-quixote-easy-virtue/

Luke Shalom

CEO @ Grow Solo I help the C-suite turn industry expertise into predictable pipeline

There are two ways agency founders try to turn LinkedIn into a reliable source of clients.

One is by guessing. Posting when there is time. Relying on referrals and hoping the next month is a good one.

The other is by building a system that creates steady conversations, even when client work gets busy.

Our clients choose the second.

→ Joya Dass (Founder, Women’s Leadership Lab)

The problem:

- She spent hours in the DMs to book a few calls.
- Content happened on weekends.
- When delivery picked up, sales stopped.

Some months were strong. Others were quiet.

Even in good months, there was stress about where the next client would come from.

What we did:

We built a simple LinkedIn content system she could run in house. No ghostwriter or agency retainer dependency.

We shifted her content from generic how to posts to insight driven thinking.

That changed the conversations. People in her network showed up aligned and ready to buy.

We added a content led outbound system powered by a setter we hited and trained. The system kept working while she focused on delivery.

Results:

- Revenue grew from $150k to $300k.
- Sales became predictable.
- The pressure eased.

→ Jonathan Crowder (Founder, Founders Ally)

The problem:

- No time for content.
- Unpredictable sales calls.
- Leads with no budget.
- No sales background. A 10 percent close rate.

What we did:

We removed Jonathan as the bottleneck. 

We built a content system using AI supported by his real thinking. It sounded like him, not software.

Trust was built before the call. Outbound went from 10% to 40% response rates.

We focused prospecting on real buying moments, like recent funding to catch buyers at the right time.

We simplified his sales process. Clear outcomes. Clear cost of inaction was communicated to his buyers.

Results:

- Meetings went from 3-5 a month to 10-15 sales qualifed leads a month.
- A visible pipeline. Increase to a 25 percent close rate.
- $300k in pipeline in 60 days.
- $30k in new revenue closed.

→ Brian Dukes (COO, Exit Wise)

The problem

- Ovelry dependent on referrals.
- No LinkedIn playbook.
- No time to write.

What we did

- We clarified positioning.
- Simplified the offer.
- Built a content engine.

Then we added outbound from the founder profile.

Everything was owned and run internally.

Results:

- Consistent posting machine.
- 500 to 6500 ICP followers.
- $740,000 in LinkedIn-driven revenue over two years.

We have helped 100+ founder led agencies replace unpredictable growth with systems they understand and control.

If this feels familiar, we should talk.

Founder

We help executives to build and monetize their brand on linkedin by scaling your content and turning it into leads, authority and thought leadership.

How?

Engagement + DM flows = Qualified meetings. 

Done with you. Done for you.

2022: I wanted 100,000 LinkedIn followers.

2026: Now I want 10 people who trust me enough to wire me $100,000.

This shift didn’t happen because I stopped wanting influence.

It happened because after 4 years on LinkedIn, I learned one simple truth.

It’s the difference between creators with under 5,000 followers making 7 figures a year from agencies or coaching…

And creators with 100,000 followers who struggle to break $100k.

I call it being "Known Well".

On LinkedIn, there are two paths.

First, the "Well Known" crowd.

Think Justin Welsh.
Broad content.
Viral posts.
Big complex funnels.

Courses for everyone.

Nothing wrong with that.

They are playing their game.

But that game only works with massive distribution.
Most creators chase this path.

They chase 100,000 followers.
They think it will change everything.

It won’t.

The real leverage is being "Known Well" by the right people.

You become niche-famous.

A small group knows you for one thing.
They trust you deeply.
Even 10-30 people like that will pay you well.

That’s how small accounts make $100k a month on LinkedIn.

They play the Known Well Game.

And it’s simpler than you think:


1) Comments

They build a list of the right accounts... people they want to be known well to (ICPs, influencers with their buyers).

They show up every day, pay attention to posting times, and leave insightful comments.

These look like mini-posts, because their aim is to make impact and become known to the right people.

2) They have an indoctrination content ladder

They don’t create for mass appeal.

They understand what’s required to take their specific ICP from skeptic to ready-to-buy ... and they focus on that ruthlessly.

These posts might get less than 10 likes… but the DMs are on fire.

3) They have an outbound motion that feels like inbound

They may not get the turbo reach of big accounts, but dialled-in content lets LinkedIn bring the right people to them.

They leverage profile views, engagement, and followers to start conversations with members of their small but mighty Known Well audience.

Using AI tools, they automate the top of this conversation and only jump in when people are interested and responding.

That’s how you get 10 people to wire you $100k.

That’s the game I want to play.

Build deep trust with people you can truly help.

Everything else on LinkedIn is noise.

Remember that.

I share weekly strategies on how to become known well in your niche and get clients from LinkedIn for your agency. Go read it here: https://lnkd.in/ezZpkchD

CEO @ Atticus | AI sales systems for founders | 5–10 deals/month from LinkedIn in <​ 30 mins/day I $125M+ pipeline generated for 100+ clients

There’s a new breed of agency founder emerging in 2026.

They don’t chase likes.
They don’t live in the DMs.
They don’t grind comments.

They’re called Leveraged Operators.

I’ve spent the last 4 years building LinkedIn sales systems for 100+ lean founders, and the pattern is clear: most are stuck in the activity trap.

AI didn’t just “help.”
It rewired the entire game.

That same ChatGPT agent everyone’s playing with can now map a full demand gen strategy in minutes. 

Meanwhile, founders still hope referrals and a “good name in the space” will carry them.

It won’t.

LinkedIn reach is down ~70%.
Referrals are lumpy.
Cold outbound without trust feels pointless and never leads to clients.

The symptoms are familiar:

- No time to sell
- Prospects treat you like a vendor
- Pipeline dies when you stop posting

I’ve lived it. It’s exhausting.

The founders pulling ahead are doing something different.

Leveraged Operators use AI, assets, and workflows so effort compounds.
They build 80–90% margin consulting layers on top of services using:

- Founder-led demand gen on LinkedIn
- AI agents that create and distribute content
- Content-led outbound that feels like inbound

Two years ago, I hit $60k in revenue in a month.

Profit? $4k.

More revenue. Less freedom.

Thats what building your business the old way gets you. 
Bigger numbers and little take home.

I burned that model down.

In 2025:

$250k profit
21,000 new LinkedIn followers
30–50 leads a month with AI doing the heavy lifting

Founder results mirrored it:

- Joya (Women’s Leadership Lab) doubled ARR to $350k and generates ~$540k in pipeline monthly.

- Jonathan (Founders Ally) went from 5–6 meetings a month to one a day in 60 days.

- Brian (M&A firm) closed $750k in pipeline with inbound-driven positioning.
That’s the Leveraged Operator model.

Not more content.
Not more DMs.
Not more headcount.

System > activity.

Want the exact strategy I’m using in 2026 to add 5–10 deals a month from LinkedIn in under 30 minutes a day?

DM me “Leverage.”

(Or you know you could spend another year on the struggle bus and watch your competitors apply the above model and eat your lunch...)

P.S I took these photos on my 4th holiday of last year with my Colombiana. It was the 3rd time I went to the Carribean. And it was only made possible by having a agency with the right systems to replace me as the bottle neck. You can do it too.

My client Joya Dass fired us after we doubled her business.

Then rehired us to build her in-house Atticus Predictable LinkedIn Sales system.

Phase 1 - October 2024 - August 2025

When we started with Joya Dass, Women’s Leadership Lab sat at 5 sales calls a week.

We took her to 10-20 qualified calls a week.

All from people who had already seen or engaged with her content.

Over that year:

→ Her rates went up by $10,000 from better fit prospects
→ She closed $130,000 from the Atticus Done-for-you system
→ ROI was 4.5x on what she paid us

We did not flood her calendar.

We filtered hard so she only spoke with senior women leaders from places like Harvard, Berkeley, high level firms.

Then we paused the done-for-you work after we sunsetted the done for you SDR service.

I counted that as fired.

Phase 2 - September 2025 - December 2025)

On a later call, I was about to refer her to another vendor.

Then I walked her through our new Atticus Predictable LinkedIn Sales system.

How she could bring all her client acquisition in-house in under 30 minutes a day...

We started again.

Different model. 

First 10 days:

→ Built a content bank in her exact voice with our content engineer 
→ Structured posts to shift beliefs and drive demand
→ Trained an agent in ChatGPT so she could write expert content herself
→ Mapped a 6 month content calendar tied to real sales conversations

Next 20 days, we built outbound:

→ Deep GTM research on her ideal client
→ Lead list playbook so she could find the right people on demand
→ AI sales rep trained on her offer, her tone, her dos and donts
→ Workflows triggered by real intent signals like job changes and thought leadership pushes
→ A/B tests on talk tracks until we hit message market fit (what she needed to send to get responses)
→ Plugged in and trained a setter once the machine booked meetings on repeat

Result in the last 2 months of the year:

→ $70,000 closed
→ Women’s Leadership Lab went from $150,000 to $300,000
→ Agency spend dropped from $4,000 a month to $400 a month
→ Her LinkedIn system now drives $510,000 in qualified pipeline every month

What you do not see:

We blew up campaigns that stopped working.
We rebuilt whole flows from scratch.
We had dead weeks where nothing landed.

Joya did not blame the system.
She co-created the result.

That is what my best clients understand.

You are not buying magic.

You are building a machine together. 

I recorded a step by step video on Joya’s whole strategy that doubled her business using LinkedIn, showing:

→ Why we did not fix her problem with content or outbound first
→ Why her content never generated inbound before, but did in 10 days with the new system
→ How we took her from 2–6 hours in the DMs a day to 30 minutes then to zero
→ Why she now only talks to people who already like, know and trust her

Comment "System" below and DM me “System” if you want the video.

P.S Proud of you Joya Dass and can't wait to see your growth this year.

taplio

The Battle

Ed Latimore

Luke Shalom

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance ScoreEd Latimore's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreLuke Shalom's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

taplio

The Battle

Ed Latimore

Luke Shalom

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);}Ed Latimore's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreLuke Shalom's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreEd Latimore's LinkedIn Performance