Hi, I’m Ryan. I help high performers become founders by using LinkedIn to build real, profitable businesses.

My career didn’t fall apart. I didn’t burn out. I finished every role cleanly - Director, VP - leading hundreds of engineers across the world and helping build multiple billion‑dollar companies.

And still, I knew I wanted to build on my own.

I’ve founded 5 companies and earned multiple exits while scaling teams behind $1B+ in outcomes. I loved the work, but I wanted a life where I could build big things and be present for my family. I wanted ownership. I wanted flexibility. I wanted proof I could do it on my terms.

LinkedIn became the path. I grew from 1,200 to 100,000+ followers in nine months, built a brand that opened doors I didn’t know existed, and stepped fully into my own business.

Since then, I’ve coached 50+ founders to design careers, income streams, and opportunities that match the life they actually want - not the life their company dictates.

Here’s how we work:

- Identify the opportunities you can’t see in your past experience.
- Build a clear, practical brand that attracts the right people.
- Turn your skills into simple offers, real customers, and predictable income.

Today, I own my time. I build, coach, and spend my days with my family - and help others do the same.

If you’re a high performer who wants a business that fits your life, DM me.
Partnerships, speaking, press: ryan@ryanyockey.com

Professional highlights:
• 5× Founder | Multiple exits
• Scaled teams responsible for $1B+ outcomes
• Grew to 100,000+ followers in 9 months
• Coached 50+ founders
• Trusted by leaders at Google, Adobe, Meta

Ryan Yockey

I’ve been watching people for years. The patterns are wild.

The loudest person in the room? Usually compensating.

The flashiest? Probably broke or close to it.

The one who won’t shut up about how smart they are? Not that smart.

Here’s what I’ve noticed about people who actually have it:

The strongest are gentle.
They don’t need to intimidate. Their presence does the work.

The smartest are quiet.
They listen more than they talk. They know they don’t know everything.

The wealthiest are simple.
No logos. No flex. Just compound interest and time freedom.

The happiest are private.
They’re not performing for an audience. They’re living for themselves.

Real power doesn’t need to prove itself.

It just exists.

The person who’s actually built something doesn’t need to tell you about it every five minutes.
Their results speak.

The person who’s actually confident doesn’t need external validation.
They’ve done the internal work.

If you find yourself constantly trying to prove your worth, your intelligence, your success—pause.

Ask yourself who you’re trying to convince.

Because the people who’ve made it?
They stopped performing a long time ago.

They just started building in silence.

That’s what I write about every Saturday. One short note to 135,000+ entrepreneurs who care more about real progress than public applause.

It takes 4 minutes.

And its free: https://lnkd.in/gfyweeTM

No noise.
Just the work.

Actionable strategies to grow your audience, monetize your skills, and build leverage online. | Trusted by leaders at Google, Adobe, Meta

The real luxury isn’t making millions.

And it’s definitely not your internet dream.

It’s easy to confuse money with freedom.

Fast cars.
Big houses.
Screenshots and timelines.

But watch closely.

The people who actually "made it"
optimize for something much quieter.

I control my time.
I can choose when to workout.
I dont have nearly the level of stress I once did.

Slow mornings without guilt.
Rested afternoons whenever I want.
Sleep that isn’t borrowed from tomorrow.

And most importantly:

People you love.
Who love you back.

Money can certainly help create these things and more, theres no denying that.

But chasing money at the expense of them usually destroys the very life you’re trying to build.

I learned this the hard way.

The goal isn’t more.
It’s enough — designed intentionally.

That’s what I write about every Saturday.

One short email to 135,000+ entrepreneurs on building work and lives that don’t collapse under success.

It takes 4 minutes to read.

It’s free. Join here: https://lnkd.in/gfyweeTM

Slow down.
You’re closer than you think.

I waited longer than I should have.

Not because I didn’t have ideas.
Not because I wasn’t capable.

Because I kept telling myself I needed:
More clarity.
More confidence.
More proof it would work.

I thought I needed a better plan.

I didn’t.

I thought I needed permission to try new things.

I didn't

I thought I needed someone to tell me it was okay to start.

I didn’t.

What I actually needed was to stop questioning myself.

Every meaningful thing I’ve built started the same way:
Messy.
Incomplete.
Uncomfortable.


The people I know who’ve built real businesses didn’t wait for the right time.
They started before it made sense.
They figured it out while delivering.
They gave themselves permission to start.

Most people do the opposite.

They plan.
They ask.
They wait.

Your competition isn’t other people.

It’s your own hesitation.

Stop asking if you’re ready.
Start doing the thing you keep thinking about.

That’s what I write about every Saturday.

One short note to 135,000+ entrepreneurs who stopped waiting and started building.

It takes 4 minutes.

It’s free: https://lnkd.in/gfyweeTM

Start sooner than you feel comfortable.

The most valuable skill isn’t productivity.

It’s knowing what matters.

Anyone can work harder.
Anyone can move faster.
Anyone can optimize their calendar.

That’s not the edge.

The edge is knowing what not to do.

Because efficiency on the wrong things is still wasted energy.

I see this constantly.

People obsess over:
• Morning routines
• Task managers
• AI workflows
• Productivity hacks

But they’re applying them to work that doesn’t matter.

So they feel busy.
They feel exhausted.
And they wonder why nothing compounds.

Real leverage comes from clarity.

Knowing:
• Which decisions actually move the needle
• Which problems are worth solving
• Which work creates momentum instead of maintenance

Most professionals don’t need better systems.

They need better filters.

Once you know what matters, productivity becomes obvious.
Until then, it’s just motion.

That’s what I write about every Saturday.

One short email to 135,000+ entrepreneurs on building conviction, making clearer decisions, and designing work you’re proud to stand behind.

It takes 4 minutes to read.

It’s free. Join here: https://lnkd.in/gfyweeTM

Keep building.
The right people notice.

Fractional CFO | Helping Founders Scale Beyond $2M ARR with Strategic Finance & OKRs | Founder @ FounderFirst

There's a point where you just can't wing it anymore.

Usually around $2M ARR.

When growth is real, but messy. When the business works (but the numbers don't fully add up). When pricing gets risky, hiring gets heavy, and suddenly every "quick decision" starts showing up in your burn.

That's where I come in.

I step in as your Fractional CFO to help turn momentum into structure.

We build pricing, capital allocation, operating constraints, and targets the team actually runs on.

Over the last decade, I've worked with 20+ early and growth-stage companies, both VC-backed and bootstrapped, across SaaS, fintech, edtech, and agencies. I've helped scale revenue from $500K to $20M, grow teams from 10 to 200+, and build finance and ops foundations from scratch.

I've been in the room for pivots, layoffs, down rounds, near-bankruptcies, and exits - not as an observer, but owning the financial logic behind what happened next.

In 2024, I founded FounderFirst to go deeper with this work, helping teams build finance that actually supports growth, long before they're ready for a full-time CFO. Since then, we've partnered with 70+ founder-led startups and SMBs, including leading accelerators and venture studios.

That's the professional story. Here's the real one.

I grew up in Dimitrovgrad, Bulgaria - no English, no tech exposure, no obvious path.

At 17, I taught myself English.
At 19, I earned a scholarship to study in the U.S.

I arrived with a suitcase, less than $300, and no backup plan, and did whatever scrappy thing it took to stay afloat.

Eventually, I found my way into startups. The chaos, the ownership, the pressure, for the first time, I felt like I fit.

What started as survival became a decade of building behind the scenes.

Now I bring all of it - the scrappiness, the strategy, and the systems - to founders who are ready for real financial leadership.

When I'm not deep in spreadsheets or board decks, you'll find me hiking a national park or nose-deep in a book. (Always open to recommendations.)

If the next set of decisions actually matters, let's talk: https://bit.ly/3NEYTqT

Mariya Valeva

He was born in one of the poorest countries in the world.
And he built a $9.5 billion company…
and made his product free.

Luis von Ahn grew up in Guatemala, a country where most kids drop out of school by age 12.
Where learning English could change your life,
if you could afford it.
His mother was a single parent. A doctor.
She spent everything she had on him.
When he was 8, she bought him a computer instead of a vacation.
He started coding. And dreaming.
But dreaming wasn’t enough.

To get into college in the U.S., he needed to take the TOEFL exam,
but it wasn’t even offered in Guatemala.
So he crossed the border. Paid in foreign currency.
Took a test that said, “prove you're good enough… if you can afford it.”

He never forgot that moment.
He made it. Barely.

Graduated summa cum laude. 
Got a PhD. 
Invented CAPTCHA. 
Sold reCAPTCHA to Google.

He could’ve stayed in Silicon Valley forever.
Instead, he built Duolingo.
Not as a product.
As revenge on a system that made kids feel small for being poor.

He poured years into it. The early versions flopped.
Gamification was a desperate pivot. Investors pulled out.
People laughed at the idea of making it free.
But he didn’t stop.
He hired people smarter than him.
He fought for funding.
He spent sleepless nights tweaking tiny things - the streak, the owl, the sound a notification makes.
Because every time he wanted to give up, he remembered 16-year-old Luis.
On a bus to another country.
Trying to take a test he could barely afford… just to be seen.

Today, that same boy runs one of the most powerful education companies in the world:
📱 500M+ users
🌍 Courses in 40+ languages
📈 $9.5B valuation
💸 Still free
But the numbers aren’t the win.
The win is this:
A kid in rural India is learning English - for free.
A refugee in Germany is learning the local language - for free.
A girl in Guatemala doesn’t have to leave her country to chase her dreams.
Because Luis already did that for her.

This isn’t just a story about a startup.
It’s a story about a man who turned every closed door into an open platform.
An empire, built not on profit,
but on principle.

Fractional CFO for B2B SaaS ($2M+ ARR) | Founder @FounderFirst

Ever had a “brilliant idea”…
that never turned into anything?

Ideas are exciting.
They come with clarity, momentum, and that rush of this could really work.

But turning an idea into something real?
That’s the part no one prepares you for.
Because between idea and execution lives a messy middle:
• Trade-offs you didn’t expect
• Constraints that aren’t in the slide deck
• Systems that don’t talk to each other
• Models that work beautifully… until they meet real customers
• People problems, tech problems, money problems, all at once

Execution is rarely a straight line.
It’s craftsmanship.
And that means rethinking, rewriting, rebuilding - again and again.

The idea is just the spark.
But building? That’s the fire you have to keep feeding.
So if you’re in the weeds right now, keep going.
This is the part where the real product - and the real company - gets made.

*video credits: growasentrepreneurs insta

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The Battle

Ryan Yockey

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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);}Ryan Yockey's LinkedIn Performance

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