we help high-ticket B2B brands and investors make & raise more money from the emails they already have.

Nils Liedlich

After speaking with 100s of founders, it seems to me like the biggest risk a founder can take is building a non-aligned business.

I’ve seen it happen over and over again-

1/ Founder starts a company that initially feels exciting
2/ Company prints a lot of money, founder happy
3/ But founder optimizes for max revenue, not their original mission
4/ They keep making good money
5/ But resent the company
6/ By extension they then resent themselves for staying
7/ Which burns them out
8/ Because they’re not building something that’s true to themselves

I’ve seen this story play out in four ways:

a) Founder burns out 
b) Founder radically restructures the company
c) Founder quits/sells company A to build a new one
d) Founder stops working and instead gets a new "hobby" (usually endurance sports or Sanskrit)

I think this is also why when I speak with 20-30y/o founders, they’re often driven but wealth, whereas 40-50 y/o founders tend to start with “How can I serve?” (these are overall tendencies i’m noticing, ofc there are outliers).

I remember reading about “alignment” and “purpose” in self-help leadership books and thinking “that’s corporate bullshit”…

…but now I realize it’s the nr 1 thing. Because if your actions are not in alignment with your thoughts, you start resenting yourself. And if you’re the founder, that’s the biggest risk in the business.

/n

Yesterday, a startup founder who recently raised asked me: “we’re working with a PR agency to announce our beta launch soon - what should our email strategy be before, during, and after launch?”

Without giving away too much, I should mention their product was a B2B SaaS and focused on serving a specific role in enterprises. They wanted to take on ~10 customers at launch.

Their AI interface and algorithms made gave these decision makers two benefits:

1/ Faster access to existing data points

2/ Net new data relevant to the firm

Now, I’ve never raised capital myself, and I’m by no means an expert in startups. But in 2025, we worked with a startup founder who’d raised over $200M, so I was familiar with his advice.

The 1 thing he told me was: “Startups always need to market themselves as having momentum. So always oversubscribe.”

So I proposed to reposition the website for before their launch -

We replaced “book a demo” (signals “we have capacity”) to “join the waitlist” (signals “we’re at capacity”)

Then we qualify all waitlist sign ups through a quick survey

That means that before releasing their product, this startup was:

- Collecting emails of target customers
- Segmenting the leads based on fit & intent

As they’re building momentum on socials, they’ll be able to direct people to the website and build up a “pre-launch list.”

Then during launch, rather than the usual “first come first served” (speed of signup doesn’t say anything about how good of a fit a customer is in my experience)…

…they’ll simply contact the 10 best customers based on the segmentation survey.

After launch, they’ll do a bi-weekly newsletter curating some of the data they have for their target audience.

Then the founder asked me:

“So when/ under which circumstances should I hire you?”

And I told him that “when the math works out”, which in this case, I quantified as:

a) 150-200 decision makers active on the list
b) Getting 10 or so new customers / year from the list

Then, we can come in and improve what you do, and get you more revenue from your emails. The napkin math for me is: “are we’re confident that we’ll make this person 3 times more than they’ll pay us over a year?”

If yes, it’s a fit. If no, not yet.

In the past, we would work with companies to build their email list from scratch- but we stopped doing so because we had less control over the outcomes.

/n

We're hiring our next chapter of Writers - and applications close in 5 days.

Menajem Benchimol from our team here just wrote a great post breaking down exactly how he got himself hired last year... so if you wanna tag along with us in 2026, read his post and use those lessons in applying with us.

more news on what's next soon

Research Analyst at LetterLeverage | Editorial Deep Dives

How to get a job in 2026? Add some flavor and memes in your dms...
(i still owe Nils Liedlich hummus after he hired me)

Here is what I mean:

97% of people follow the same script:

* Click the "easyapply" button on Linkedin or send their resume for 227 roles.
* maybe write a cover letter.
* wait, and wait, and wait until one of them replies with an interview.

And its frustrating because you usually don't get the results you want. 

But if you want to stand out, you need MACCABEAN energy. 

The message you see on the screen is the aftermath of writing a 40 slide deep dive on X topic for FREE. for a potential client he had without guarantees of anything hapenning. 

And it worked because I presented myself with what Mark Manson calls "non-needy" energy and my writing showed I was competent and confident for the role.  Most founders are looking for these qualities.

And I am grateful for being here.

Which leads me to say....

LetterLeverage is growing and hiring two newsletter ghostwriters & one marketing lead.

More details in the job post, tldr here:

Writers:

- Work closely with our clients (anything from creators to billionaires)
- Base pay + upside based on the revenue you own (our writer Julia Gomes recently wrote a post about how she 7X:ed her income the last year)
- Ideally you can join us for our offsite in Asia in Q1 (all expenses provided)

Marketing Lead:

- Work closely with me and our design team to build Letter Leverage's channels 
- I want to learn from and with you
- Base pay + upside based on the leads you bring in 
- Ideally you can join us for our offsite in Asia in Q1 (all expenses provided)

FULL details on the writer role here:

https://lnkd.in/dQKr_3Ys

For the Marketing Lead, we're releasing more info coming days, shoot Nils or Jayana Sanghvi a DM if it sounds interesting to you.

---

INSIDER advice:

Here are some steps I suggest you take to increase your chances:

* Reverse engineer a potential customer they might want to work with. Collect learnings, and summarize those learnings for them on how to land this potential client.
* Make a list of ideas that would help the company generate more revenue.
* Make a list, or resume, of your failures.
* Record a Loom of why you want to work here.
* Give them feedback on their interview process.
* Do some work for them for free.


Good luck!

The other day, I jokingly told my writers I’d fire them if they use any of these 13 AI patterns:

Here are the 13 phrases that scream “I let ChatGPT write this”:
(eliminate these from your content!)

1/ “No X. No Y. Just Z.”

“No fluff. No theory. Just actionable insights.” 

“No gimmicks. No shortcuts. Just results.”

Every AI-generated post contains this at least one time. It’s like the robot equivalent of “In today’s digital landscape...”

2/ “It’s not just about X. It’s about Y.”

“It’s not just about the money. It’s about the freedom.” 

“It’s not just about followers. It’s about engagement.”

Claude’s favorite transition. I see this 47 times a day on LinkedIn.

3/ “The game has changed” and “game-changer” and “supercharge”

“This AI tool is a complete game-changer for productivity.” 

“Here’s how to supercharge your content strategy.” 

“The marketing game has changed forever.”

If I had a dollar for every time AI used these phrases, I’d have enough to buy OpenAI.

4/ Overuse of “Real”“Just real strategy, real experiments, and real business growth backed by real experts.” 

“Real entrepreneurs doing real work for real results.”

“No shallow networking. Just real conversations with real people”

We get it. You’re very real. Very authentic. Very AI.

5/ “If you’re serious... let’s [CTA]”

“If you’re serious about scaling, let’s chat.” 

“If you’re serious about results, DM me now.”

Every ChatGPT CTA ends with this exact pitch structure.

6/ Signing off emails with “To your success”

I’ve gotten emails from three 8-fig founders using this - instantly gives away they wrote the whole email with AI and didn’t bother reviewing.

7/ “Not because of X. But because of Y”

“I didn’t succeed because of luck. But because of persistence.” 

“This won’t work because of the strategy. But because of execution.”

The robot’s attempt at being profound. Usually followed by something obvious.

8/ Using arrows everywhere → for formatting

→ 300% growth
→ More leads than ever
→ Start today

9/ “The best part? Want access?”

“The best part? It’s completely free.” 

“Want access? Link in comments.”

Short questions as hooks. Very 2023 AI energy.

10/ “Enter:”“Enter: my secret framework.” 

“Enter: the solution you’ve been waiting for.”

11/ “And here’s the kicker”

“And here’s the kicker - it only takes 5 minutes.” 

“Here’s the kicker - most people get this wrong.”

12/ “Stopped in my tracks.”

“Yesterday, my mentor told me something that stopped in my tracks:”

Sounds like it’s a world phenomenon. 

Everybody hears something shocking all the time.

13/ “X changed everything.”

“The strategy that changed everything.”

Really? Is it SO GOOD it changed every single thing for you?

(continue in the comments):

FLOW - Time Management and Outsourcing

Time management, business optimisation and VA recruitment services for solo founders and creators who know they need to scale.

Founder

Online Business Manager

Helena Bradbury

Virtual Assistant

Zurich Financial Services Australia

Business Support Officer

Black Diamond PR & Sport Management Firm, LLC

Social Media Manager

Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

Sales Executive

Sales Administrator - Special Interest 

Prospects

- Managing, supporting and motivating my administration team to deliver high-quality proofreading, editing and administrative tasks to tight deadlines.
- Being knowledgeable about the latest house style and editing guidance and having a strong eye for detail.
- Keeping up to date on KPIs and targets, ensuring team tracking systems are up to date so accurate information can be quickly obtained.
- Handling a high volume of phone and email communication from clients and colleagues.
- Extensive use of Excel, Word, Outlook and internal IT management systems.
- Sampling the edited output of the administrative team to identify and address errors and monitor performance against contract targets.
- Support team members to develop and maintain their standards of quality assurance and support them with any work related issues.

Inspection Support Team Leader

Proofreading content for education providers.

Admin Support Officer

Edmund Crighton

Proofreading a 42,000 word non-fiction historical book and the accompanying guide book.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cathedral-Fields-Visit-Sefton-Combined/dp/0995511519/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1481649015&sr=8-1&keywords=sefton+church+book

Proofreading

Cheltenham Festivals

Working with the event managers and programming team to ensure smooth running of high profile events and performances.

Working to tight schedules and deadlines for events.

Supporting and liaising with speakers and technicians to meet the speakers’ requirements.

Providing high quality customer service to site visitors and audience members.

Festival Events Volunteer

Concrete - UEA's Official Student Newspaper

- managing social events through multi-platform social media

- effectively publicising events for our society members, including journalism workshops, careers events

- co-ordinating large scale events across the three societies of the UEA Media Collective, including the annual Christmas Media Ball with over 100 guests

- liaising with venues to organise facilities and requirements for Media related events, including being part of the proposal team for the Student Publication Association National Conference (SPANC) to be held at UEA

Social Coordinator

Be honest, do you feel like you truly get the most out of every day?

When I first launched my business, I had an idea in my head of the dream work-life balance and the ultimate freedom and flexibility that running my own business would allow. A year later I was wearing all the hats from Founder, to Marketing Director, to Head of Finance to Admin Assistant. Burnout was inevitable and I was disillusioned with my business.

It was make or break, I either had to make a change or close down my business because the current way of operating was unsustainable. 

I always said I’d never outsource (the fear of losing control was real!) but as a last-ditch attempt, I outsourced and it saved me and my business.

Knowing where to start with outsourcing and finding the right person is an overwhelming task that puts many business owners and solopreneurs off outsourcing. Instead you end up convincing yourself that you can “do it all alone”.

But there are experts out there who can take those tasks you hate off your plate and allow you to find your flow and focus on the tasks you love - the reason you started your business in the first place!

I work with business owners and entrepreneurs to help them kickstart their outsourcing journey, by identifying what blockers they’re facing, what tasks can be outsourced, finding the right VA or freelancer for those tasks and optimising their daily life and business to create a sustainable lifestyle.

Book a free consultation call to start optimising your business and your life.

I truly believe that owning a business can (and should!) help you create the lifestyle you want to lead. Whether that’s making £30k months or only working 3 days a week so you can spend time with your family.

I believe you should have a sustainable business model that allows you to work in your flow state daily, without the interruption and frustration of low-reward tasks.

My goal is to help you optimise your business in the best way possible, for YOU.

Get in touch to find out how I can best support you.

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Nils Liedlich

Helena Bradbury

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The Battle

Nils Liedlich

Helena Bradbury

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);}Nils Liedlich's LinkedIn Performance

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