I dig studying thought-leaders on LinkedIn who turn content into serious revenue.

Introducing: Gagan Biyani, CEO at Maven.

Maven generated $25M+ revenue from 2022-2024 - more than 50% of that come from LinkedIn, with $0 marketing spend.

Gagan post ~2 per week. He’s masterful at telling stories that sell - without selling hard.

Here’s a playbook I’ve synthesized from studying 100+ of his posts:

Step 1: Define content pillars and ICP

• What topics position you as the expert? Gagan’s share career insights of the top 1% experts
• Define your ICP? Gagan’s customers are early- to mid-career knowledge-workers (≈ 25-45) in tech-centric or digital-first roles
• What's your authentic tone? Gagan’s tone is slightly contrarian, thoughtful mentor.

Step 2: He does NOT chase vanity.

• No hacks. No auto engagements. No fancy tools. Be warned: these will get your account red-flagged
• No fancy visuals - most of his posts are plain texts. Do not chase empty followers! Remember 1,000 people who can buy from you > 10,000 who can't. Gagan does not have a huge following (62k followers). But most of them are loyal, and they engage. This is how he made $25Mil from 40k students, the majority of that comes from LinkedIn.

Step 3: Tell stories that trigger EMOTION and help people LEARN (without preaching)

• Inspire, be contrarian, provoke. An example from Gagan: “When hiring, avoid "vampire energy" like the plague.” Most LinkedIn content fails because it's too safe. But don’t provoke just for clickbaits. Provide substance from your expertise.
• Teach people something, but don’t preach. Think of a mentee who is a brilliant person you highly respect. Write like you’re talking to this person. This helps you come across credible yet humble. Only talk about topics you have deep experience in.

So: be like Gagan, and post 2 per week. Not so hard, right?

But if you still don’t know how to tell stories like Gagan, or do not have the time to execute his playbook, check out LIFT (LinkedIn For Thought Leader), where I handcraft your LinkedIn brand strategy and tell stories that sell for you.

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