The Challenge: Realizing LinkedIn's Power While Struggling to Leverage It

After earning his MBA, Blaine Davis, Co-Founder at a stealth mode startup, carved out an investment career in venture capital leading pre-seed and seed rounds. During this time he gained immense exposure to the startup ecosystem and in doing so pinpointed a consistent challenge in the space: an overwhelming number of ineffective, cold outbound AI sales softwares. This realization set Blaine on an entrepreneurial journey to create a more human-centered, network-empowered sales system.

As a venture capitalist, Blaine explains that he “spent a ton of time with founders, and everyone was always, more so than expected, posting on LinkedIn, talking about how important and how good of a channel it is to generate leads, but also build a brand and just stay top of mind when you’re chatting with customers, potential investors – everything.” 

And yet, despite understanding the power of LinkedIn and having a strong network from his VC experience, Blaine never posted anything. The opportunity to build an effective brand and raise awareness on LinkedIn while still in stealth mode was clear, but the execution of doing so was both daunting and time consuming.

The Solution? Professional Branding and Content Creation on Autopilot

Blaine partnered with Windmill Growth's Professional Branding service to transform his LinkedIn presence without the time investment. This end-to-end solution provided him with personalized brand strategy, content creation, and targeted outreach—ideal for busy founders seeking authentic engagement.

The process began with Blaine meeting his dedicated copywriter to develop a comprehensive brand strategy playbook that captured his voice, content strategy, and target audience. From there, regular check-ins ensured content remained aligned with his vision while Windmill handled the execution.

"She understands me. We've got good banter, and she knows when to show my sense of humor," says Blaine about working with Jacqueline, Windmill's Lead Copywriter. This partnership created content that felt genuinely his—a critical factor for LinkedIn success.

For Blaine, the value was clear: "You know what you need to do, but nobody ever has time for it. Setting that on autopilot is just unbelievable." And within just three months, this strategic approach delivered impressive results:

✓ Closed first inbound deal within two weeks of posting

✓ 700,000+ impressions across LinkedIn

✓ 60%+ increase in followers

✓ Generated a 10%+ increase in customers directly through inbound leads


All while still in stealth mode!

"I hadn't looked at LinkedIn for the first two weeks of working with Windmill," Blaine shared. "Then I went and looked, and I was like, 'holy shit. These are actually people reaching out, asking what we're doing, and how they can get involved.'" 

Blaine discovered that establishing his personal brand on LinkedIn through posting consistent, strategic content, he has been able to more effectively attract potential VCs and engage potential customers. He explains that,  “I had expected I would need to spend a ton of time doing outreach after the posts, but people are reaching out to me… It’s a lot more inbound than I had expected it to be, pretty much right from the get go.”

Building this kind of hype, energy, and brand awareness for a stealth mode startup helps create customer traction, attract investors, and accelerate growth in the critical early phases of business development. Investing in his personal brand early on, enabled Blaine to accelerate his company’s growth prior to publicly launching.

Key Lessons for Every Founder:

Blaine's personal branding journey on LinkedIn offers critical insights for founders:

1. It's never too early to start!

"There's no such thing as too early to warm the channel up," Blaine explains. "We've already gotten customers through LinkedIn, even though we're still in stealth."

2. Investing in LinkedIn is worth it and the ROI is obvious:

“The ROI is almost immediate, so it’s really a no-brainer in that sense. I’ve heard that from everybody I’ve referred as well… like the first week Windmill starts posting, they’re like ‘oh my god, this is worth it.’”

3. Authenticity is key to strategic content creation and brand development:

“I think it’s always worth putting in work around your personal brand. Your reputation precedes you, so it’s always worth it, especially when you’re in the early-stage trying to sell a lot.”

With Windmill's Professional Branding service, Blaine transformed his LinkedIn from a passive network to an active business development engine – all while remaining in stealth mode. His advice to other founders is clear: “It’s a better channel than you think. I was skeptical at first, but it’s fantastic.” So, take it from Blaine, and just do it.