I've worked with over 30 personal brands. Professional athletes, business owners, c-suite execs. Buckle up and bookmark this - I'm sharing everything I've learned (including proven methods to gain followers)....

I started in business at 17, helping small local shops get customers. Most of them were excellent at their craft. They had NO idea how to market. I watched legitimately great businesses close their doors because nobody knew they existed. The products were great. The owners had a fantastic work ethic. But nobody outside their immediate circle ever found them. That memory is behind every website we build at Gravitate. Marketing is not optional. It's the difference between a business that lasts and one that quietly disappears.

Him: You really want to work 90 hours a week for someone else? Me: I don't care. I'll make a sh*t load of money. Him: And you'll waste your 20s. We were freshmen at Dartmouth. I was set on going to Wall Street after graduation. That's what you did at a school like that. You put in your time, you made your money, and you figured out the rest later. Then one day my teammate and I had that conversation. I'd never actually questioned the Wall Street path. I was going to do it because everyone around me was doing it. After that, I started paying attention to what was possible outside of a corporate track. My entire career traces back to that one conversation in our dorm hallway. As for that teammate? He became an investment banker. The guy who planted the seed that sent me down the entrepreneurial path went down the exact path he told me he'd never take. I don't say that to knock him. Everyone makes the choice that's right for them. But it's a reminder that the most important advice you'll ever receive sometimes comes from someone who won't take it themselves.

Not everything can be solved by AI. Sorry AI gurus. Sometimes, you just have to do the work you don't want to do. Even when it drives you crazy. For me, that's recruiting. It's time-consuming and draining. Could I hire someone to recruit for me? Absolutely. But they don't have my standards. So even though I hate it, I do it anyway because I know how important it is to have A-players. Ask me how I know.

The Block. The comeback. The promise fulfilled. @imanshumpert on LeBron's legendary 2016 Finals run 🏆 #NBAFinals

Interesting trend I'm seeing with B2B founders in the $500K to $2M range. And it's the kiss of death for your personal brand. "I'm hiring an assistant to run my content." When you're running a successful business, it's easy to hire away your problems. Problem: I don't have time to make my own content Solution: Hire in-house to take it over But it's never that easy, is it? Break down the math on that for a second. A decent assistant runs you $40K to $50K a year in salary. Add payroll taxes, benefits, and onboarding time and you're closer to $55K to $60K annually. Even if you hire offshore (which I NEVER recommend for personal content creation), you're still all-in for ~$30K-$40K. They don't know your voice. They don't understand your industry. They've never built a personal brand from scratch or turned content into pipeline. So the first 60 to 90 days are spent training them and putting out way below-average content. You're now 4 months in. You've spent $15K. And your content sounds like AI slop. The founders who actually generate pipeline from their personal brand are using a full content system that runs for them behind the scenes. They didn't build it themselves or waste money trying to figure it out. They leveraged the knowledge of a content agency with a full team of experts to build their personal brand. That's money well spent.

Three sales calls booked for a client from X last week. Lmk if you want your calendar to look like this.

In 5 years, there will only be two types of founders: 1) The ones who built a personal brand: inbound leads, premium pricing, and a network that keeps compounding. 2) The ones who didn't: cold outreach, racing to the bottom on price, and watching less talented people become more successful because they're more visible. Anything less than 100% effort into your personal brand is a death sentence for your business.

One of the first clients we ever signed and is still with us today. In the agency world, churn is inevitable. But when you provide results and a positive ROI, clients stay happy.

Big fan of offshore hiring. I was able to scale @Greenbox_storag with talent from the Philippines, Pakistan, South Africa, Mexico, Colombia, etc. But I'd never hire offshore for FounderBrands. When content is the product you're selling, having the right cultural context is non-negotiable. If you're hiring an offshore content agency, good luck.

The best time to start your personal brand was 3 years ago. The second best time is when you finish reading this. It's time to make the switch from "consumer" to "creator."

We closed our first 6 sales calls. At the time, I thought we were just that good... looking back, we were just that cheap. A 100% close rate is not the flex you think it is. If every single person you pitch says yes, you're not charging enough. The right price point should make 70% of the people walk away. If you're just starting a business, you have no track record or proof that you can deliver. So how do you charge more when you haven't earned the credibility yet? I'll give you 3 ways:

How to book 15 sales call from X or LinkedIn in 60 days: 1. Pick one platform. Master it before you touch the other one. 2. Rewrite your profile around credibility and relatability. People respond to authority. 3. Write down the 3 biggest problems your best clients had before they found you. That's your content for the next month. 4. Post once per day, no skips. Share opinions, stories, and lessons from your experience. 5. Find 20 accounts your ideal client follows and reads. Show up in those comment sections every single day. 6. Leave comments that actually say something. We all know by now what AI comments look like. Be different. 7. When someone engages with your content, look at their profile. If they're a fit, follow them and start engaging with their posts. 8. DM the people who engage with your posts more than once with a genuine observation about something they posted. 9. When the conversation is warm, offer something specific and useful. Something that proves what you know. 10. Ask for the call. Don't give the same old "let's hop on a discovery call sometime." Give a specific day and time and a specific reason for the call. By the way, none of this requires a big following. You just have to put in the work.

One of our clients is closing in on $50 million in real estate financing because of a connection he made on X. That's what I call 'luck surface area.' The post we wrote for him wasn't intended to raise capital. But the connection found him because he was visible. He posted consistently and made content that people actually wanted to read. You can't predict which post leads to a conversation or which comment turns into a client. But you can increase your 'luck surface area' so luck strikes more often.

My firm has corrected two returns for two different people this year in which AI made huge mistakes on preparing their returns. Luckily neither of these folks went as far as to e-file their incorrect returns, they came to us wanting a second opinion. I'm glad they did! One of those situations would have had the taxpayer owing nearly six figures more than they were legally obligated to pay. If your return has complexity, hire a tax professional to take care of it, the tax pro's fee is well worth it. Need help navigating business taxes? That's our specialty! Reach out and let's get you on track for optimal tax management.

There was a week where my company was 1 client away from going out of business. I remember sitting there thinking I might have to shut it down. The company was barely breaking even and we had no pipeline. At the time, we were a team of 2 people. And the reality of being an early stage agency was hitting us. We were the sales team, content team, client success team, and outbound team all rolled into 2 human beings. It wasn't sustainable. We lost 3 clients within a month. That feeling is something I don't talk about enough. Because from the outside, people see where FounderBrands is today. 7 full time employees. World-class content and service. And results we're genuinely proud of. They don't see that week back in February 2025. The week where two people were holding something together that felt like it was about to fall apart completely. I'm glad I didn't give up on it. Within a few months we had a dramatic turnaround. By June of 2025 we had to put people on a waiting list. Now we're closing in on a $1m / year business (at 1.5 years old). If you're an owner, you're going to have a week like that eventually. Don't let it be your last one.

The finance office is where I've seen more deals go sideways than anywhere else in the process. You've spent hours getting to a number you're comfortable with. You shake hands and you feel good. Next comes the roller coaster of emotion. Then you sit down in a small room with someone you've never met whose entire job is to add margin back into a deal you just finished negotiating. And, by the way, they're not doing anything illegal. They're doing their job. But that doesn't mean you have to like it. I stay with you from our first conversation through delivery specifically because of these moments. Before my client sits down in that room, I walk them through exactly what's coming. What products will be offered, what each one actually costs over the life of the loan, which ones have legitimate value depending on the situation and which ones are worth declining. I also review the final paperwork before they sign. The out-the-door price we negotiated should match what's on the contract. Sometimes it does. Sometimes there are fees that weren't part of the conversation that need to be addressed before you sign. I'm either on the phone, a video call, or right there with you in person (if you're local). The deal isn't done until you're driving home in the right car at the right price with nothing in the paperwork you didn't agree to. That's when I consider the deal done.

If you want to buy a vehicle and you want to get the best price hit up @MikeCalcara The man is a guru

“This is the healthiest company culture I’ve ever had. I truly enjoy everyone I work with.” Almost shed a tear when an employee told me that.

By the time my client pulls out of their driveway to go test drive a car, I've already had conversations with 4 to 6 dealerships on their behalf. Most buyers find out what's available when they walk in the door. I find out 3 days before you ever get there. But why does that matter? First, I confirm the vehicle you want is physically on the ground at the dealership, prepped, and ready to drive that day. Dealers will tell you a car is available in the loosest possible interpretation of that word. I need the stock number and confirmation it's sitting on the lot before my client makes the trip. Then, I find out who we're working with. I ask for a specific person. Someone I've worked with before or someone who's been recommended to me. My client is not walking in cold to whoever happens to be standing near the door when they arrive. I want all my clients walking in to meet someone who already knows their name, what they're looking for, and why they're there. After that, I set the terms of the visit. My client is coming to drive the car. That's it. The salesperson knows they're not buying today. No "what's it going to take to put you in this car today." Setting everything up beforehand allows you to go in with no pressure. Then I do it again at the next dealership. And the next one. By the time my client has finished their test drives they've visited two or three dealers who were expecting them, had vehicles ready, and knew exactly what the visit was and wasn't. If that sounds way better than how you normally go to a dealership, there's a link in my bio to get started.