Get leads, not likes | GM @ Taplio | Founder @ Anser | ex @Ledger | Relentlessly building in Marketing and Tech

I’ve spent over 20 years building and scaling teams across product, growth, tech and operations.

Today, I lead the Social Selling Platforms BU at lemlist (Taplio and Tweet Hunter), where I focus on turning startup momentum into repeatable, scalable systems.

Over the years, I’ve helped founders structure leadership teams, create alignment between product and growth, and scale operations without killing velocity.

I occasionally advise early-stage companies making that leap from startup to scaleup—particularly when growth outpaces structure.

If you’re building a fast-growing company and need perspective on scaling people, process, or focus, feel free to reach out.

Patrice Orenes-Lerma

Most companies treat LinkedIn like a loudspeaker.

Blast announcements.
Hope for reach.
Wonder why it's dead on arrival.

Here's the problem: nobody cares what a brand says. 

People care what people say.

But forcing employees to post won't fix it.
They're not marketers. They have better things to do.
Push too hard, and it backfires. Feels forced, turns fake, nobody wins.

So, skip the ask. Build a small squad. Pick a few who actually want in. Give them real support, not a pile of "brand guidelines."

Set up ghostwriting that feels like them, not HR. Make content creation fast, painless, invisible. No passwords. No policing.

Let them own their voice. Run a tight, simple process, batch what works, ditch what doesn't. Scale only after it clicks.

The result: humans speak, people listen, reach grows.

Brands don't go viral. People do.

🤫 comment "secret" and I'll send you the secret 30 day employee advicacy launchpad everyone is looking for

General Manager @ Taplio / Tweet Hunter | Helping startups scale into structured, high-performing organizations

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Everyone says they want to win on LinkedIn.

Almost nobody sticks around long enough for anyone to notice.

Not because they're lazy. Not because LinkedIn is stacked against them.

They just build these over-complicated systems that collapse the second real work or life gets in the way.

Week one, they're possessed. 
Posting every day. 
Obsessing over what time works best. Chasing some mythical algorithm secret that lives in a podcast from 2021.

Week two, reality hits. Work gets busy. Ideas disappear. Suddenly, LinkedIn feels like another job with no upside.

By week three, they're ghosts.

Here's the truth nobody wants to admit.

Discipline isn't the problem. Complexity is.

If your system takes more than five minutes to explain, it's not a system. It's a ticking time bomb.

I've watched dozens of smart, ambitious people repeat this pattern. They try to outsmart LinkedIn. They act like it's a hackathon, not a habit.

All the clever tricks in the world don't matter if you can't stick with it.

The survivors? The ones who actually get the compound benefits?

Their process is deadly boring.

Three types of posts. One slot in the diary. Dump a pile of ideas in a simple doc. Five minutes to scan notifications, respond, log out.

No dashboards. No hacks. No ritual sacrifices to the gods of engagement.

If your process makes you feel clever, it's doomed.

If your process is boring and predictable, you might just stick with it long enough for your name to mean something.

Most people confuse activity with impact. They burn out chasing vanity metrics, then disappear before the real results even show up.

LinkedIn rewards the people who outlast the noise.

Simple always wins.

If you want to actually be remembered, cut the drama and get boring.

Still convinced your fifteen step colour-coded content planner will make you famous? Good luck.

Want to actually get results?

Start showing up.

Keep it simple.

Comment "simple" and I'll give you a system that actually works, for free !

Most people still treat exec posts like gospel.

Hot takes from the top. Strategy memos dressed up as insights.

But nobody buys it anymore. Not candidates, not customers, not even other execs.

People want blood and sweat. Not another CEO rant.

Show me the engineer who broke production at 2 AM and shipped the fix before sunrise.

Show me the marketer who admits which campaign flopped and which one actually made money.

Show me the sales rep who rewrote their own script after losing a deal.

The trust shift is brutal. Authority isn't handed down from the corner office. It's earned in the comments, in the details, from the people doing the work.

Companies still stuck on leadership branding are sleepwalking into irrelevance.

The loudest, most credible voice in your org is never the CEO. It's the team that knows where the bodies are buried.

You want attention in 2026? It won't come from another executive LinkedIn post.

It comes from proof, not polish.

Do you want to start having your employees posting and not just liking ? 

Comment "playbook" and I'll share with you a free 30 day playbook to launch your employee advocacy program!

Everyone thinks the answer is to just post more.

It isn't.

If you want LinkedIn to actually move numbers, stop treating it like a dumping ground for content.

Posting and hoping is not a distribution strategy.

Most companies crank out updates, blogs, or "insights" and wonder why nobody bites.

Here's the brutal truth: nobody cares about your fifth product update this week.

You want a real distribution channel? Make your people part of the engine.

- If your employees aren't engaged, LinkedIn is just noise
- If your leaders never comment, you're invisible
- If your team never amplifies, your content dies on arrival

You don't need fancier graphics or an AI to write punchier posts.

You need buy-in.
You need repeatable systems.
You need actual coordination.

Distribution happens when everyone rows the same direction.

I've seen teams with average content crush metrics, because their people show up, comment, share, and actually talk to prospects in the open.

I've seen "content machines" wither because every post is a solo act.

It's not about more content.
It's about more company.

Want LinkedIn to work for you?
Start by getting five coworkers to comment on your next post.
Watch what happens.

Try it.
Report back.
Tag the silent lurkers who owe you a comment. 

Let's see if your "distribution" is real or just a pipe dream.

Overcomplicating LinkedIn is the fastest way to disappear.
People show up with a 12-step system, a Notion dashboard, and a spreadsheet for tracking "engagement velocity."

Week one, they're everywhere.
Week two, they're exhausted.
Week three, they're gone.

It's not a discipline issue.
Nobody can keep up with a process that feels like a second job.

LinkedIn isn't won by the cleverest workflow or the fanciest automation.
It's won by the people who can show up, again and again, without burning out.

Here's the play:
Pick a format.
Pick a slot.
Make it so simple you could do it with your eyes closed.

Forget "best time to post" hacks.
Forget obsessing over reach graphs and content buckets.
If you need a manual for your own process, it won't last.

Boring works.
Predictable wins.

The people you remember on LinkedIn?
They're not the ones with the most creative setup.
They're the ones who kept going after everyone else flamed out.

You don't need to optimize.
You need to endure.

Complexity is just procrastination in disguise.

If your posting routine is more complicated than brushing your teeth, it's doomed.

Simple scales.
Repetition compounds.

The rest is noise.

Comment "simple" and I'll send you the simplest system to grow on LinkedIn.
For free

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If you use your sales brochure as the base for LinkedIn posts, you’re setting yourself up to fail.

Not because the offer is bad.

Because the format is wrong.

A sales brochure is made to convince.
A LinkedIn post is made to earn attention.

A brochure starts with:
What we do
How we do it
Why we’re different

A good post starts with:
A situation
A mistake
A sharp opinion
A story people recognize

That’s why brochure-based posts flop.

They feel like a pitch from the first line.

They’re full of words that sound nice but say nothing:
-> Seamless
-> End-to-end
-> Best-in-class
-> Game-changing

On a website, that’s fine.

On LinkedIn, those words trigger one reaction:
Scroll.

It gets worse when you run the brochure through an AI writing tool.

Because AI doesn’t create a point of view.
It amplifies the input.

So it takes generic copy and makes it:
- More polished
- More corporate
- More bland

Which makes the post even easier to ignore.

The fix is simple.

Don’t start from the brochure.

Start from raw material:
-> A real problem you see every week
-> A mistake customers keep making
-> A counterintuitive lesson
-> A moment from a call
-> A belief you’re willing to defend

Then turn that into one idea.

If the post could be copy-pasted onto your homepage, it’s not a LinkedIn post.

It’s a brochure with line breaks.

Struggling to find a method that works for your content creation? Comment "playbook" and I'll share the simplest, faster content system.

Finance Founders, give me 2 hours of your week, and I will get you 3-5 booked calls/week. | CA. → Personal Branding & Lead Generation Expert

Most fractional leaders don’t have a LinkedIn problem.

They have an authority gap.

You’ve done serious work.
You’ve held senior roles.
You know your craft.

But online, that credibility doesn’t always come through.

Your profile undersells you.
Your content feels inconsistent.
And inbound conversations happen… randomly.

That’s not because LinkedIn “doesn’t work.”
It’s because your authority isn’t being translated clearly.

I help fractional leaders and independent operators become the obvious choice in their niche on LinkedIn - through positioning, content, and visibility that builds trust before conversations even start.

This isn’t about:

Posting for the sake of it
Growth hacks or virality
Turning LinkedIn into another full-time job

It’s about building a calm, credible presence that reflects the level you already operate at - and attracts the right inbound opportunities naturally.

This works best if you:

- Sell your expertise on retainer
- Care about how you’re perceived
- Want inbound without chasing
- Are willing to collaborate (not delegate blindly)

This is not a fit if you want:

- Someone to “just post”
- Zero involvement or delayed feedback
- Short-term tactics or guarantees

If LinkedIn should be working better for you - but isn’t - that’s usually a positioning issue, not an effort one.

You’re welcome to reach out if you want clarity on what’s missing.

Surbhi Jain

If LinkedIn is part of how you grow,
stop treating it like a side task.

For fractional leaders, LinkedIn isn’t social media.

It’s positioning.

It helps people understand:
• how you think
• where you add leverage
• why you should be trusted at a leadership level

When this is unclear,
everything else gets heavier.

Conversations take longer.
Fees get questioned.
Momentum stalls.

Not because your delivery is weak -
but because the picture isn’t sharp yet.

Most fractional leaders post when they “have time.”
That’s not how critical systems work.

You don’t “get around to”:
decision-making
strategy
governance

You set them up properly
so everything else moves faster.

LinkedIn works the same way.

Clear positioning first.
Better conversations after.

That’s not content.
That’s leverage.

Pricing Power & Premium Positioning for Series A/B SaaS Fractional CFOs

Think less about:
- Engagement rate
- Algorithm hacks
- What other creators are doing
- Whether a post feels “safe”

Think more about:
- Saying one thing clearly
- Repeating it until it lands
- Being understood by the right people
- Making buyers feel seen

Fractional leaders don’t need more content.
They need sharper signals.

Helping fractional leaders become the obvious choice on LinkedIn | Authority-led inbound, not noise

Most fractional CFOs advising venture-backed startups are far more strategic than their LinkedIn suggests.

They help founders with:

• runway decisions  
• capital allocation  
• fundraising readiness  

But their profile still reads like a finance résumé.

Roles.  
Experience.  
Responsibilities.

Which creates a gap.

Strategic operators…
positioned like mid-level finance hires.

I call this the Invisible CFO problem.

Think less about:
- Likes
- Reach
- “Leads”
- Follower count

Think more about:
- Who replies with context
- What problems they assume you can solve
- Whether people speak to you like a peer
- If conversations start without you pushing

That’s how authority actually shows up.

Fractional leaders don’t need more visibility.
They need to be perceived correctly.

When that happens,
opportunities don’t feel chased -
they feel obvious.

How founders actually evaluate fractional CFOs is rarely discussed.

They don’t start with deep analysis.

They start with signal.

Usually:
LinkedIn.

And they look for three things:

• clarity of thinking
• ability to communicate strategy
• confidence in investor environments

Not just experience.

Not just titles.

If those signals aren’t immediately visible…

you don’t get evaluated further.

LinkedIn isn’t the full story.

But it often shapes the first decision.

Think less about:
- Likes
- Leads
- Followers

Think more about:
- Who replies
- What they say
- How they see you

Authority isn’t measured.
It’s recognised.

One consequence of the referral-only model most fractional CFOs don’t anticipate:

Pricing pressure.

Referrals typically come with context:

“Hey – this CFO helped us, you should talk.”

Which is valuable.

But it also frames you as…

a known option.

Not a discovered authority.

In a validation-driven environment, the dynamic shifts.

Founders approach you having already seen how you think.

Which changes the conversation.

• Less explanation.
• Less comparison.
• Less negotiation.
• Same capability.
• Different positioning.

Very different pricing outcomes.

taplio

The Battle

Patrice Orenes-Lerma

Surbhi Jain

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance ScorePatrice Orenes-Lerma's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreSurbhi Jain's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

taplio

The Battle

Patrice Orenes-Lerma

Surbhi Jain

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);}Patrice Orenes-Lerma's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreSurbhi Jain's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScorePatrice Orenes-Lerma's LinkedIn Performance