LinkedIn feels noisier than ever. AI posts, surface-level expertise, endless scroll. So is it still worth your time as a founder?

James Johnson and Freddie Birley tackle the question: should you still be posting on LinkedIn in 2025, or is there a better way to build your personal brand?

The honest answer: It depends on what you're trying to achieve.

Are you building for speaking opportunities? Attracting clients? Hiring talent? Or just holding yourself accountable to write? The strategy changes completely based on intention - and most founders skip this step.

What you'll learn:

• Why the more you use LinkedIn, the worse it feels
• The exact question to ask before spending another hour on social media
• How to know if LinkedIn is right for your goals (or if you're wasting time)
• The 80/90% delegation model that cuts your time from 10 hours to 1 hour/week
• Alternative ways to build personal brand without LinkedIn
• Why committing to one strategy beats trying 500 things at once

Key insight: Personal brand ≠ LinkedIn. If you've decided it's right, commit fully. But if you're doing it because "everyone says you should" - pause.

More from James:

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Your VCs have hidden value beyond capital. Most founders never ask for it.

D'Arcy Martin has been Head of Platform at Outward VC for six years. She's watched hundreds of funding rounds close. And there's one pattern she sees: founders who treat VCs like a bank account versus founders who extract every ounce of value.

The difference? They ask.

In today's episode, I'm joined by D'Arcy Martin, who sits at the intersection of founders, LPs, and portfolio companies at Outward VC. Her job is connecting dots most founders don't even know exist. LP introductions that become your biggest clients. Portfolio partnerships that unlock new markets. Co-investor networks that solve your hardest problems.

But here's the thing: if you don't ask, you don't get.

The hidden benefits we unpack:

• Why you should reference-check your VCs before signing (and how to do it)
• What value adds beyond capital: sector expertise, LP networks, portfolio ecosystems
• Why VCs are startups too (and what their fundraising journey means for you)
• How to build your dream funding round (and which specialisms to prioritise)
• Why some founders get way more attention than others
• The "Christmas list" strategy: What to ask for right now

D'Arcy shares the story of one founder who sat down for a catch-up, shared they were selling to similar customers as another portfolio company, and D'Arcy connected them. Today they're doing a joint partnership and it's one of their first enterprise clients in the US.

👆 If you've raised capital (or you're about to), and you want to know how to extract way more than just money from your investors, this conversation shows you exactly what to ask for.

About D'Arcy Martin

D'Arcy Martin is Head of Platform at Outward VC, where she's been for six years – almost from the fund's first close. Starting during a graduate rotation programme at a bank that was a founding LP, Darcy convinced the team to let her stay beyond the three-month rotation. She's tried every role in the fund and built what "platform" means at Outward from the ground up.

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"You're in it together, then you're on a pedestal, then you're a statue."

In this Post Bag episode, James and Freddie Birley tackle one of the most honest questions we've received: Why does success often feel more isolating than the early startup days?

From sitting in rubbish pubs with your first team believing in the vision, to suddenly being on a pedestal where everyone expects you to have all the answers, to becoming a "company relic" that new hires have never even met - the journey of scaling can be lonely.

But here's what makes this conversation different: we don't just acknowledge the loneliness; they show you why it's normal, why it sometimes serves you, and most importantly, how to fill that deficit in your life.

Together we unpack:

• Why early-stage camaraderie is so powerful (and why it can't last forever)
• The three stages of founder isolation: in it together → on a pedestal → becoming a statue
• Why your team can't be your friends at a certain scale (and that's okay)
• How projections and expectations create distance even when you're surrounded by people
• The trap of trying to "get back" to your old life vs creating a new one
• Why vulnerability is required to build new connections (even when it's uncomfortable)
• Practical strategies for re-cultivating connection outside your business

👆 If you've ever felt like you've scaled yourself into isolation, or you're five years in and realizing you've lost touch with everyone outside your business - this conversation will help you see it differently.

More from James:

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Your business is running you. Not the other way around.

Steve Duncan spent 20 years in the same company but built three different businesses. His secret? He stopped playing defense and started playing offense.

Here's what that actually means: You're either dictating what happens in your business, or you're reacting to everything thrown at you. One feels like control. The other feels like drowning.

In today's episode, I'm joined by Steve Duncan, Managing Director of C Studios. After starting as an intern, Steve has launched three entrepreneurial ventures by staying on offense – even when everything around him screamed "just react and survive."

The frameworks we unpack:

• Instinct vs impulse: One builds your business, the other destroys it
• The activator trap: Why fixing everything immediately keeps you stuck
• The 10-minute rule: Why breakthrough thinking feels unproductive at first
• The Monday WIN list: What's Important Now (and how it connects to your annual goals)
• When playing defense is actually okay (and how to get back on offense fast)

Steve's view is simple: You can never be on offense all the time, but aim for 60/40, maybe 70/30 on a good week. When you're only spending 20-30% of your time on offense, that's where it gets concerning.

👆 If you're drowning in reactive mode, constantly putting out fires, or feel like you've lost control of your week, this episode gives you the exact framework to take it back.

About Steve Duncan

Steve Duncan is Managing Director of C Studios, a place marketing agency working with destinations like Austria, New York, Amsterdam, and Puerto Rico. After starting as an intern 20+ years ago, he's stayed within the same company family by being given three entrepreneurial opportunities. His latest venture launched a European subsidiary three years ago, proving that sometimes the grass is greener when you water your own side.

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"How do you separate your identity from the company's success or failure?"

That's Alex's question – and it's one every founder grapples with, especially in those vulnerable early stages.

Welcome to the Peer Effect Post Bag, where James Johnson and Freddie Birley tackle your toughest founder questions. This week, we explore the dangerous trap of calling your business "your baby," why that language might be taking critical options off the table, and how to create healthy separation between yourself, your team, and your company.

In this episode, we unpack:

• Why your identity and company identity need to be separate circles (with your team as the third)
• The danger of calling your business "your baby" and when that language stops serving you
• How to know when your identity is helping versus harming you and the company
• Why "I'm only successful if my company is successful" can keep you stuck
• The three-tier check: Is this serving me? My team? My company?

Plus, Freddie shares her emotional journey of putting her flat on the market after six years and what it taught her about change and timing.

👆 If you're struggling to separate yourself from your company's performance, or wondering whether your attachment is helping or harming you, this conversation will give you a framework for healthier founder psychology.

Got a question for the Post Bag? Send it to hello@peer-effect.com

More from James:

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"We were adding customers, losing customers, adding customers, losing customers. We were stalling."

Gaurav Bhattacharya had $2.5M ARR and 50 customers. On paper, things looked fine. But momentum wasn't there. Instead of pushing harder, he split his company in two – and nine months later, Jeeva AI had 10,000 users and 300 enterprise customers.

In today's episode, I'm joined by Gaurav Bhattacharya, Founder and CEO of Jeeva AI. After successfully exiting his first healthcare AI startup, Gaurav spent five years building a data intelligence platform to $2.5M ARR before recognising it would never become the great business he wanted. His solution? Split the team in two – one to keep the lights on, one to prove product-market fit for a completely new idea. The result was Jeeva AI, a sales intelligence tool that exploded to 10,000 users in nine months.

Together we unpack:

• How to decide when a "good" business will never become great
• The two-team strategy: keeping lights on whilst proving new product-market fit
• Why pattern recognition is the most underrated founder skill
• How to pivot without killing team morale or burning investor relationships
• The shift from enterprise sales to PLG (and why it required completely different muscles)

👆 If your business is functioning but not truly moving, or you're wondering whether it's time to pivot, this conversation will give you a framework for thinking through your next step.

About Gaurav Bhattacharya

Gaurav Bhattacharya is the Founder and CEO of Jeeva AI. After successfully exiting his first healthcare AI startup, Gaurav spent five years building a data intelligence platform to $2.5M ARR before pivoting to Jeeva AI – a sales intelligence tool that grew to 10,000 users and 300 enterprise customers in nine months. His journey proves that knowing when to walk away is as important as knowing when to persist.

Connect with Gaurav Bhattacharya on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gaurav-agentic/

More from James:

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"When everything looks like it's working, how do you avoid getting complacent?"

That's Sarah's question - and it's the dream problem most founders wish they had.

Welcome to the Peer Effect Post Bag, where James Johnson and Freddie Birley tackle your toughest founder questions. This week, we explore what happens when you finally reach that rare moment where nothing's on fire, your team is stable, clients are happy, and your numbers look good. The question is: how do you use that gift of time without falling into complacency or wasting the opportunity?

In this episode, we unpack:

• Why it's so rare for founders to feel like everything's working (and why you should celebrate when it happens)
• The difference between urgent tasks and important non-urgent work that drives real impact
• How to shift from executor mode to creator mode when the fires aren't burning
• Why "slow is smooth and smooth is fast" – and how to use breathing room strategically
• The importance of gathering feedback and reconnecting with your team during calm periods

Plus, James and Freddie discuss the founder isolation paradox – how coaches support 10-12 founders whilst having no one to support them, and why peer networks matter.

👆 If you're in that rare moment where things feel stable, or you're wondering how to make the most of breathing room when you finally get it, this conversation will help you turn that gift into a strategic advantage.

Got a question for the Post Bag? Send it to hello@peer-effect.com

More from James:

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"78% of salespeople miss their sales targets. That means your entire revenue forecast is riding on just 22% of your team."

That's the brutal reality Matt Milligan discovered after spending years in go-to-market transformation – and it's what drove him to build Uhubs, a company that's now helping teams achieve 83% increases in revenue per head.

In today's episode, I'm joined by Matt Milligan, CEO and Co-founder of Uhubs, Forbes 30 Under 30 honouree, and former professional golfer. After playing on the IGT tour in South Africa, Matt moved into consulting at EY, where he built their startup network and observed the massive gaps in how companies hire, enable, and manage their sales teams. His solution? Combine quantitative data, qualitative assessments, and call recording analysis to identify what actually separates high performers from the rest – then use AI to create roadmaps that close the gap.

Together we unpack:

• Why relying on Salesforce dashboards alone misses the human component driving performance
• How first-time managers are the single greatest point of failure in most organisations
• Why managers spend all their time with underperformers (and how that kills your A players)
• The three data sources you need to truly understand what makes your best sellers great
• Why gut-feel hiring is killing your growth (and what to do instead)

👆 If you're a founder struggling to scale your GTM team, wondering why most of your sellers underperform, or trying to figure out where to invest your training budget, this conversation will give you a framework for driving real performance improvement.

About Matt Milligan

Matt Milligan is the CEO and Co-founder of Uhubs, a company helping revenue leaders identify and close performance gaps in their go-to-market teams. After a season as a professional golfer on the IGT tour in South Africa, Matt moved into consulting at EY where he built their startup network and cut his teeth on sales and go-to-market transformation. Recognised in Forbes 30 Under 30 and with Uhubs named Rising Star at London Tech Week, Matt has spent five years proving that you can use data and assessment to help companies achieve up to 83% increases in revenue per head.

Connect with Matt Milligan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-milligan/

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