ISSUE #3

Growth series: Why the highest-leverage media format in B2B is a person

When the brand was the interface

When I acquired SaaS Weekly in late 2022, I had a clear belief about how B2B content was shared.

Back then, it felt like the best media properties owned the trust layer. The publication itself (the brand) was the interface. An audience followed the newsletter or blog, not necessarily the person behind it.

This model made sense to me. I had studied how corporate blogs like HubSpot and Zapier became the go-to source for marketing content. Or how companies like MailChimp and Paddle added media arms by acquiring independent properties.

Even the personality-driven brands like The Hustle (later acquired by HubSpot) felt institution-shaped. Despite having a unique tone and voice, the individuals behind them were largely interchangeable. The brand was the interface.

So I built SaaS Weekly with that mental model: let the publication do the heavy lifting for building trust – I was simply the source of content.

And for a while, that worked.

Then I started seeing a different pattern.

What I noticed

Within SaaS Weekly, the posts that performed best weren't the ones that summarized industry news or explained concepts objectively. Instead, they were articles grounded in lived experiences – the operator perspective and a first-person observation.

For example, when I wrote about how we turned Statsig's Series C into a timeline takeover, that piece resonated because it came from the trenches. I was sharing what we actually did, what worked, and what I learned. That credibility – the authenticity of having been in the room – can't be manufactured or commoditized.

And this lens helped me frame what other companies were doing.

Observations across the industry

The actual inspiration for this post came from observing developer-first companies.

I started noticing two patterns: 1) they owned media properties that showcased an executive or employee, and 2) I started following said spokesperson across other media properties (on social and other podcasts). For example:

• Stripe launched the Cheeky Pint podcast, with the CEO as the interviewer

• Linear produced a series on building products, with employees as the storytellers

• Frontier AI model companies have their own podcasts, featuring executives from the CFO to the head of a product line

The list of companies taking an individual-led content approach goes on. I’m also seeing early-to-mid-stage companies do the same: Patrick Thompson, the co-founder and CEO of Clarify, launched a Substack, and Varun Anand, co-founder of Clay, launched LinkedIn-native videos.

Pretty interesting – but why is this happening?

What changed

First, the supply of content exploded. With LLM-generated blogs and posts, "objective explainer" content became abundant and cheap to produce. The differentiated content is now grounded in a personal observation or a lived experience. This form factor adds credibility and authenticity.

Second, trust started localizing around an individual. As distribution fragments across more media properties, the consistent anchor is the individual featured across those channels. Companies are building audiences around their leadership team, and that audience grows as the person shows up in more places.

Put these two things together, and you get a different content model.

The old way was: build a brand, let the brand accumulate trust, bring that trust to your spokesperson (those building or selling the product).

The new way is: build up a person, let the person accumulate trust, and then attract your audience to your company page. The interface your audience interacts with is now the individual.

How to build an individual-led content engine

You don't need to invest in a standalone media property as these companies did. Instead, what matters is how you approach content creation, both internally and externally. I'll break it down into three questions: what to say, where to say it, and how to sequence it.

What to say

Build trust through lived experiences.

A company, a product, a feature exists on the foundation of a perspective: the way the world worked, didn't work for you or a group of people. At some point, you had an intention, faced an obstacle, and decided to solve it.

So, as you think about what content to write, start with your past experiences: the problems you faced, the observations you made, the lessons you learned. For a founder, this could mean sharing the moments that led to your company. For a GTM lead, this could mean sharing your background and domain expertise. The goal is to use stories to build authenticity and credibility with your audience.

But lived experiences alone are not enough. Stories don't always scale (how many experiences do you really have?), and they need direction (leading your audience toward something).

The next layer is connecting your stories to the company's mission. Share where the industry is going and why your company is building toward that future. Or share what problem your product solves and why it should be solved this way.

I saw this approach play out at Statsig. Most employees in the company, from the CEO to the engineers building the feature, shared content across different channels. They were the voices online, sharing their personal stories.

Where to say it

The obvious channel for posting individual-led content is social.

On LinkedIn, X, or even a personal Substack, you are the interface: your profile represents you and your network.

The important point is that the content matches the channel. These platforms are built for personal content, so if you're genuine (and don’t write AI-slop), the format rewards authenticity.

But distribution becomes more nuanced as your brand matures. Where you share your content begins to matter as much as what you say. Why?

Because the channel itself adds to your narrative – a publication has an inherent brand trust that legitimizes your messaging.

For example, if you read a post in the New York Times or Bloomberg Tech, you'll likely give it more weight (more belief) than something in SaaS Weekly (well…for now). Same thing for new media channels – companies featured on the Acquired podcast or The Pragmatic Engineer inherit a certain brand credibility just by being there.

This is an important point that is often overlooked. Where you share your content influences how it resonates with your audience.

Here’s a helpful framework I used at Statsig. It breaks down a channel into three layers: persona, content format, and media type.

Not a hard and fast rule, but a helpful starting point to find the right channel to distribute content.

And speaker fit matters throughout the selection. The channel gets you in front of the right audience, and the speaker works to build trust with them.

How to sequence it

You can do anything, but you can't do everything at once (said by someone smarter than me).

Building any type of content program is a long-term investment. To maintain the momentum, I’d recommend sequencing the initiatives into small internal and external motions.

First, have leadership consistently produce content. It doesn't need to be a fixed cadence like weekly. Instead, it can simply be tied to specific campaigns or releases. This sets the precedent from the top down that content matters.

Then build an internal culture where every employee shares content. Whether they’re an engineer, a PM, or a GTM lead, they should feel encouraged to share their perspective on social channels. Not everyone has to participate, but the culture should make it feel like a natural extension of the work.

When you’re thinking about getting featured on podcasts, have your spokespeople start with smaller channels where the stakes are lower. Let them get comfortable with the format and refine the narrative. Then scale into larger channels over time. The same goes for landing press coverage.

We took this approach at Statsig. Not only did it help groom the spokesperson, but it also helped with pitching more well-known podcasts later on.

Keep in mind that the real constraint here is resourcing. Producing content takes time, regardless of the format. It’s important to make long-term bets and prioritize short-term initiatives. The returns on content compound slowly, and they're invisible for a while until the engine really starts humming.

The path forward

To be clear, individual-led content is not the only content-led growth play. SEO, community-led initiatives, partnerships – these are all valid strategies with their own merits. And the format will vary as well: written, podcasts, or short-form video. The exact mix depends on your company.

Regardless of the play or format, the principle is the same: weave individual-first content into your brand ethos. Make it a guiding principle.

For me, I’m placing a bet that the form factor for content in the future will be more personal, more opinionated. Because in the end, people buy from people.

Cheers,

Ian at SaaS Weekly