Last week I had a 59-minute call with a friend who coaches the biggest founder brands on LinkedIn.

(Think heavyweights like Adam Robinson, Sam Jacobs, Gal Ala)

Every once in a while we jump on a call and geek out about LinkedIn.

We talked about 3 things:

1. what’s happening to the feed
2. what will work in 2026
3. why AI is quietly making people worse at writing

Here are my predictions and takeaways from that conversation.

1. The "human-written" renaissance

AI has a huge negative impact on LinkedIn. It's flooded with "best practices" that anybody could write. Comment sections are infested with AI-generated comments.

Just because copywriting has become easier with AI, doesn't mean it's better. There's a human-written renaissance going on. It's been going on for months. It's still quite silent. But it will be loud.

People are fed up with mediocrity and sameness. They want REAL, raw, and unfiltered insights backed up by real experience and stories.

Imo, this has always been the case. The contrast between what's real and what isn't is just bigger nowadays.

If you've been using AI for writing, challenge yourself by writing without it. You'll notice that your writing muscle has weakened. The only way to get it back is like hitting the gym: rep by rep.

And heck, you'll start to enjoy writing again soon enough.

PS. there's probably typos and grammar flaws in this email and I'm okay with that.

2. The rise of pattern interruptors

You've probably seen them:

• Short Tweet-like copy-only brain dumps with 100s of likes
• Ridiculing influencers by mimicking their photos
• The most random topics that get tons of engagement

People enjoy them because they're a breeze in a sea of sameness.

I think this is one of the best ways to get better reach on your content. The problem is that it's actually quite hard to force humor and come up with pattern interrupting ideas.

I'd test these formats and still subtly drop hints to what you do and whom you want to attract. At the end of the day, you still want people to buy from you.

3. The fundamentals will never die

If you want to attract and sell to the right people on LinkedIn, you need to know a few fundamentals:

• Telling stories in a way that you relate with the right people
• Showcasing your expertise so people think "hey, that's our go-to person"
• Sharing proof that you can deliver when the right people knock on your door
• Having the communication skills to turn leads into new revenue

If you do this right (and long enough), success is virtually inevitable.

It took me long time of jumping on shiny objects and trends to figure that out.

4. LinkedIn is like crypto

I've been sharing content on LinkedIn for 3.5 years. My friend has for 6 years.

If you do something long enough, you'll start to notice patterns.

The same with crypto:

• You see a couple of crypto bros doing well
• You obsessively start investing and lose money fast
• Your spirit took a hit, you give up, and you'll never see profit

But if you stick to it, you'll see that time in the market beats timing the market.

In other words; you'll give up fast if you go all-in too fast.

It's better to treat this like DCA (Dollar Cost Averaging).

The principle of DCA'ing is consistently making small contributions for a long time. This way, you ride the highs and lows. You slowly build momentum until the compound effect kicks in.

In my experience, it's the same on LinkedIn:

It took me 12 months to get to 10k followers. Then another 12 months to get to 30k. And after 3.5 years in total, I'm at 86k followers.

The same effect happened to my profitability.

5. Small accounts thrive (and legacy ones struggle more)

I still remember the good ol' days where every post hit 500-700 likes. Virality was almost predictable.

Last year, I already read a comment by Chris Walker that there's some kind of algo setting that kicks in when you pass 50k followers.

Like clockwork, it kicked in for me as well.

Then about 6-9 months ago, reach for most big accounts started to decline in general.

I've seen many of my peers struggle and even give up. Expanding to other platforms, finding a "normal" job, or just disappearing.

But smaller accounts (1k to 20k followers) grew like crazy.

My assumption is that LinkedIn incentives beginners to start posting. They give you a boost and it allows you to ride it for a while. And then you actually have to work hard for it.

I think more platforms do this and the tactic probably even has a name.

So if you're in that bracket, ride that wave.

And if you're beyond that bracket:

Don't fucking give up.

Look, I don't have all the answers.

I have no real data to back up what I'm saying in this email.

I don't even find these insights groundbreaking. Because as mentioned earlier in my email, I believe the fundamentals never die.

Just sharing thoughts and experiences - something that literally changed my life on LinkedIn.

Hopefully it helps you to keep going.

Next Tuesday, I start a new program with a small private group.

We'll work together on creating content that turns attention into more opportunities on LinkedIn (and more).

We'll go through every fundamental mentioned in this letter.

If you'd like to join, reply with "CONTENT DESIGN" and I'll share the details.

(Early Birds seats are almost sold out)

Let's get it 💪

Nick