What if Trying to Sound Brilliant Is the Reason You’re Holding Back?
A simple breakdown for founders who overthink, underpost, and want to change that.
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There’s a quiet kind of burnout that doesn’t come from doing too much.
It comes from trying too hard to sound like someone you’re not.
You overthink every sentence.
You draft, delete, tweak, and abandon.
You scroll past posts that feel lightweight and think, “If that’s what works, maybe I don’t belong here.”
Especially on LinkedIn, where it feels like every post is a pitch, a perfectly packaged lesson, or a thread full of wins, it’s easy to believe that showing up only works if you’ve already “made it.”
But deep down, you know this isn’t about not having something to say.
It’s about trying to say it in a way that sounds “smart enough” to earn respect.
This pressure to sound brilliant is what’s keeping too many bootstrapped founders silent.
Not because they don’t care about building a personal brand.
But because showing up imperfectly feels risky, and trying to show up perfectly is exhausting.
Why This Pressure Exists in the First Place
Founders are used to solving problems through logic, proof, or clever thinking.
So when it’s time to show up on LinkedIn, many try to lead with “insight,” something deep, sharp, or brilliant enough to prove their value in one post.
But LinkedIn isn’t a pitch deck.
It’s a social platform.
And what people actually connect with is consistency, clarity, and relevance. Not verbal gymnastics.
Still, there are reasons why that pressure exists:
Fear of being underestimated: You’ve worked hard to build a complex product or enter a serious market. The last thing you want is to look like you don’t know what you’re doing.
Internalised comparisons: You see thought leaders racking up likes for polished posts, so you hold back yours until you can sound that put-together too.
Anxiety about your writing voice: You’re not a content person. You build. So the idea of writing something public that falls flat makes you anxious.
Pride: You’d rather not post at all than post something that makes you feel exposed or average.
These aren’t just mindset issues. They are protection strategies. But ironically, they keep you invisible to the very people who need to know what you’re building.
What This Fear Is Costing You
When you obsess over sounding brilliant before you post, here’s what you lose:
Momentum: You pause too long between ideas. No rhythm, no traction.
Relatability: You over-polish instead of letting people see your real process.
Opportunities: You don’t build the familiarity that drives referrals, DMs, or inbound interest.
Feedback loops: You don’t post enough to know what actually resonates with your audience.
And even when you do post, if it’s coming from a place of over-proving, it often reads stiff, bloated, or hard to engage with.
Not Every Founder Disappears the Same Way
From research and pattern tracking, here’s what I’ve seen:
1. The “One Day” Thinker: They’ve written five drafts that never made it out of Notion. Still thinking about their “content strategy” but haven’t said a word publicly in months.
2. The Intermittent Poster: They post once in a while but ghost afterwards. No follow-up, no system. They feel bad about it and promise to do better, but don’t.
3. The Consistent but Cautious: They post regularly but keep everything surface-level or polished to the point of bland. No strong takes, no visibility patterns, no resonance.
This article speaks to all three. Because the root cause is the same:
A belief that being visible means sounding brilliant.
When in reality, showing up consistently and intentionally is what builds the authority you’re chasing.
What Actually Builds Trust
Let’s set the record straight:
You don’t have to be the smartest person on LinkedIn.
You just need to be clear, relevant, and present.
The founders who become visible aren’t always the most insightful.
They’re the ones who picked a few core ideas and showed up consistently around them.
They share not just what they know, but what they’re noticing, testing, building, and questioning.
Over time, that builds a pattern people recognise.
That pattern builds trust.
And trust makes people reach out, remember you, and refer others to you.
A Real-World Reflection
Between October 2024 and March 2025, I posted on LinkedIn inconsistently. Some months spiked, others went completely quiet. You’ll notice two full months where nothing happened at all. I kept wondering what I was doing wrong.
From April to June, I started showing up more regularly. Not with perfect takes or viral content. Just steady, useful thoughts.
There were no major spikes. But overall, impressions became more stable and frequent.
In just two months, I’ve already matched the results it took me six months to reach before.
Not every post landed. But the needle moved. And that’s what I needed to see.
A Simple Framework to Break the Brilliance Trap
1. Pick one audience: Write for the kind of founder, buyer, or user your product is actually built for.
2. Anchor three core themes: Recurring ideas help you show up without sounding random or repetitive.
3. Post messy. Learn fast: Use early posts to gather feedback, build clarity, and test what resonates.
4. Zoom out and track progress: Look at profile views, connection requests, saves, and replies.
That’s where real signals live.
Don’t Build in Silence
Trying to sound brilliant before you post is like trying to get ripped before you enter the gym.
You don’t need to perfect your voice before you start building a brand around it.
You just need to start where you are and build from there.
If you’re done letting overthinking stall your visibility, I’m offering a 30-day free trial of my LinkedIn Authority Accelerator.
It’s designed specifically for bootstrapped AI SaaS founders who want to build trust and visibility, without burning out or guessing their way through it.
Let me help you figure out a system that works for you.
Such a great reminder Tope. LinkedIn is probably in its last phase of offering organic engagement to folks and founderd should better take its advantage while it lasts. I like the simple framework you provided to break the brilliance trap too. Thanks for putting this together!
Your advice for founders struggling to post is so relatable.