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August 28, 2025
Twenty thousand followers might not sound like much if you're a professional content creator, but for a busy founder who literally got off social media for six years while raising four kids, it feels insane.
I'm not a natural content creator. I don't have a background in social media, I don't love being on camera, and I certainly don't have time to plan elaborate content strategies. But when I started building Theanna last fall, I knew I had to gather a following because I didn't have extra cash to spend on ads.
Here's the reality: as an early-stage founder, literally everything you do is potential content. Every call you have, every exchange, every insight - it's all material you can leverage. The problem isn't lack of content; it's overthinking how to turn your daily founder life into engaging posts.
The biggest mistake founders make with content creation is thinking they need to create content from scratch. They sit down with a blank page trying to come up with brilliant insights, then get paralyzed by analysis paralysis because nothing feels good enough.
But here's what I realized: you're already having the conversations that could become great content. You're talking to customers, potential partners, other founders, advisors, and team members every single day. These conversations are full of insights, challenges, breakthroughs, and authentic reactions that people want to hear about.
The key is having a system to capture and repurpose these moments instead of letting them disappear into the ether of forgotten calls and meetings.
If you're not using a note-taker on all your calls, you should be. Tools like Otter, Fireflies, or Granola automatically transcribe and summarize every conversation you have. But here's how to turn those summaries into content gold.
Go back and revisit your call summaries from the past week. Pull out the most interesting discussions, insights, or challenges that came up. Copy those sections into ChatGPT or Claude and ask: "Based on this conversation, give me 10 things I can talk about in social media posts."
Then create reaction videos. "We talked about this topic on a call today. Here are my thoughts." Share your authentic opinions based on real conversations you just had (keeping things anonymous, of course). This approach works because it's genuine - you're not manufacturing content, you're reflecting on real experiences.
If you don't have an AI note-taker yet, here's an even simpler system: keep a notebook and pen next to you during every call, meeting, or conversation. Whenever something sparks an emotion - whether positive, negative, funny, frustrating, or exciting - write it down immediately.
The emotional reaction is your content signal. If something made you feel strongly during a conversation, it will probably make your audience feel something too. After each call, go back to your notes and ask yourself: "Should I talk about this? Should I share my reaction to this?"
This system works because emotions are what make content engaging. People don't follow founders for dry business updates; they follow for authentic reactions to the real challenges and victories of building something from scratch.
Analysis paralysis is in every entrepreneur's DNA. We overthink everything because the stakes feel so high. But overthinking is exactly what kills good content before it ever gets created.
The content that performs best for founders is usually the most authentic and spontaneous. It's the quick reaction to something that just happened, the insight you had during a customer call, the frustration you felt when something didn't work as expected.
When you start from real experiences and genuine emotions, you don't have to manufacture authenticity - it's already there. Your job is just to capture and share it before you have time to overthink it into generic business advice.
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My approach works specifically because I'm not trying to be a content creator. I'm trying to be a founder who shares the real experience of building something. That authenticity resonates because people can tell the difference between manufactured content and genuine insights.
Instead of planning content calendars or brainstorming topics, I just document what's actually happening in my founder journey. Customer calls that go well, challenges with product development, insights from conversations with other entrepreneurs, reactions to industry news - it's all material.
This approach is sustainable because it doesn't require extra time or energy. You're not creating content on top of building your business; you're turning the process of building your business into content.
Starting from zero followers and building to 20,000 happened because the content was genuinely helpful to other founders going through similar experiences. When you share real challenges and insights, people relate to them and share them with others facing similar situations.
The compound effect kicks in when your authentic sharing attracts other founders, potential customers, and industry connections who want to be part of your journey. You're not just building followers; you're building a community of people who are invested in what you're creating.
This community becomes incredibly valuable for everything from customer feedback to partnership opportunities to investor interest. The content isn't just marketing; it's relationship building at scale.
Content creation doesn't have to be another overwhelming task on your founder to-do list. You're already living the content - you just need systems to capture and share it.
Start with one approach: either implement a note-taker for your calls or commit to keeping a notebook handy for emotional reactions. Give yourself permission to share authentic, imperfect thoughts instead of waiting for polished insights.
Remember, your audience isn't looking for perfection. They're looking for real experiences from someone who's building something meaningful. Your daily founder journey is more interesting than you think - you just need to start documenting and sharing it.
The goal isn't to become a content creator. The goal is to build authentic relationships with people who care about what you're building. Content is just the vehicle for those connections.
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