This week I crossed 100,000 followers. Only 2 years ago I was sitting around 5,0
By Jordancarver · November 4, 2026 · Curated by George's Blog
This week I crossed 100,000 followers. Only 2 years ago I was sitting around 5,000.
So first, thank you. And second, here’s what I learned along the way - it’s less a strategy than a set of things I noticed.
The first is the least flattering: a good logo behind you helps. People pay attention to someone who works at a16z for reasons that have nothing to do with what they post or how well they write - I’d be fooling myself if I pretended otherwise. Some of what looks like growth was tailwind, and that's worth acknowledging.
The second is that you should be adding value. Most advice posted online is hollow, and people can tell, so they tune it out fast. What worked for me was making things people could actually use: job lists for people who were searching, short videos explaining how startup hiring works, or just trying to give an inside look into venture capital. The test I use is simple - "Is this for them, or is it for me?"
But the third thing is that sometimes it should be for you. My longer articles, on the fundamental nature of recruiting as a trust translation layer or how agents will change it, get far less reach than anything else I post. They’re also the ones candidates mention when we get on a call. The same is true of Newly Charted, a Substack I write about what’s happening in Science each week - it has nothing to do with recruiting and does nothing for my follower count. I write it anyway, because writing is how I think, and the few people who read it tend to be the ones I end up having the best conversations with.
The fourth is consistency, though not for the reason people usually give. I ran out of things to say within the first month - for a while I was writing just to write. What I didn’t expect was that the forced reps would expand what I was able to talk about. Consistency didn’t just keep me visible, it made me into someone with more to say.
The fifth is that you can and should take strong positions, and disagreement in the comments will help your post travel. But there’s a difference between planting a flag and being a jerk. One means saying what you believe and being willing to argue for it, while the other means punching down for no reason. Do the first, the second isn’t a good way to live even if it might benefit your social reach.
The last is that what you post stays out there, so post things you can stand behind. That doesn’t mean your opinions shouldn’t change - they should. You should aspire to have strong ideas held weakly. But the way to have opinions that improve is to say them when you have them and let them evolve in public.
None of this is complicated. Most of it is just showing up, being useful, and being honest. Thanks for being here while I figured that out - I hope you find value in what I write/post.