Guest: Tarja Stephens, Founder @ Leaders of the Future

What happens when you ditch the corporate playbook and start treating LinkedIn like a journal instead of a billboard?

You build real relationships that turn into speaking gigs, partnerships, and a global network.

In this episode of Haamucast, Edward sits down with Tarja Stephens, who went from corporate exec to entrepreneur and built her entire thought leadership platform by sharing her journey authentically – no grand strategy required.

You'll hear:

👻 Why the next 10 years will bring more change than the past hundred – and what that means for leaders who stay silent

👻 How Tarja grew her influence by replying to every comment and treating posts as conversation starters, not announcements

👻 The simple "three C's" framework that gets overwhelmed leaders posting consistently (commit, connect, create)

👻 Why only 2% of LinkedIn's 1 billion users actively post – and why that's your biggest opportunity right now

👻 How to use AI as a thought partner instead of just a grammar checker (plus why authenticity beats volume in an AI-flooded world)

Bonus: Tarja's networking hack – reach out to anyone who inspires you on LinkedIn with a simple message. You'll be shocked how open global leaders are to connecting right now.

Guest: Marjut Sadeharju, Founder & CEO at Splendid

What happens when you stop thinking about personal branding and start thinking about what you can give?

You build a 12,000-person network that actually means something. In this episode of Haamucast, Edward sits down with Marjut Sadeharju, founder and CEO at Splendid, who went from a lonely consultant to a community-building CEO – all by focusing on giving first and building connections in Finland's tight-knit tech scene.

You'll hear:

👻 Why Marjut ditched digital learning content when she realized it wasn't her professional identity anymore

👻 How she organically discovered her content pillars by tracking engagement rates and following the conversations

👻 The "give, give, give" strategy that turned 400 LinkedIn connections into 12,000 over four years

👻 Why she thinks human connection will be "the new oil" in an AI-dominated world

👻 Her advice for scared first-time posters: "Just do it scared – as long as you do it"

Bonus: Marjut shares why she gets recognized at Reaktor ecosystem events before she even introduces herself – and how that instant connection changes the entire dynamic of business conversations.

Guest: Kira Sjöberg, Co-founder at Goodin

What happens when you hit 40, realize you're not getting any younger, and decide you need a bulletproof career strategy for the AI age?

You pick a lane – and become the expert everyone needs. In this episode of Haamucast, Edward sits down with Kira Sjöberg, who went from art historian to AI literacy evangelist by doing something most people avoid: getting really honest about what the next decade holds.

You'll hear:

👻 Why Kira chose the "expertise route" over the "run 150+ people" path – and her brutally realistic take on career options after 45

👻 How she uses LinkedIn as her learning laboratory, writing in-depth posts that actually make people think (instead of scroll)

👻 The "data empathy" concept that bridges the gap between "normal people" and "tech people"

👻 Why she deliberately ignores algorithm advice and writes long-form content that requires "brain space"

👻 Her backup plan if AI expertise doesn't work out (spoiler: it involves plumbing)

Bonus: Kira reveals why change isn't fast, AI literacy is the skill everyone needs but nobody's teaching, and how turning 45 can be the best career wake-up call you never wanted.

Guest: Erica Rankin, Co-founder & CEO at Doozi

What happens when you share the unfiltered reality of entrepreneurship – including the failures?

You build a network that outlasts any single business. In this episode of Haamucast, Edward sits down with Erica Rankin, who went from shutting down her food company Bro Dough to launching travel app Doozi.

Erica breaks down how posting vulnerably about bankruptcy, failure, and the messy middle turned her personal brand into her most valuable asset.

You'll hear:

👻 Why Erica decided to "climb cringe mountain" and share her bankruptcy story in real time (not after her comeback)

👻 How her transparent LinkedIn content attracted investors, retailers, and even a free corporate lawyer worth $20K

👻 The mental health angle that most founders ignore – and why you can't compartmentalize your life as an entrepreneur

👻 Her "museum of failure at 30" post that went viral and created a safe space for others to share their losses

👻 How building in public helped her pivot from a failed CPG brand to a travel tech startup with a co-founder she met on Bumble BFF

Bonus: Erica reveals why the people calling your content "cringey" are the same ones who secretly wish they had your courage to post.

Guest: Frida Ahrenby, CMO at Rillion

What happens when you're a marketer targeting CFOs but your finance team won't touch social media?

You flip the script. In this episode of Haamucast, Edward sits down with Frida Ahrenby, CMO at Rillion, to talk about how she got her own finance leaders posting on LinkedIn – and why that changed everything about how they understand their customers.

You'll hear:

👻 Why finance leaders are actually easier to convince than you think (once they see the business value)

👻 Frida's "never force it" philosophy – and how copy-paste content is totally allowed

👻 How targeting CFOs made her relationship with her own CFO completely different

👻 The organic guerrilla tactic that's driving branded search and pipeline growth👻 Why authenticity beats framework every single time (and how to enable without controlling)

Bonus: Frida reveals why her finance team actually wants to post now – unlike every other company where the answer was always "no, no, no."

Guest: Sebastian Mellblom, CEO & Co-founder @ Reveal

What happens when you're building in a sector where museum directors aren't scrolling LinkedIn?

You question everything about founder-led content strategy. In this episode of Haamucast, Edward sits down with Sebastian Mellblom, CEO of Reveal, who's been following founder-led content from the sidelines while building his startup in the travel and visitor experience sector – and shares his honest take on why he hasn't pulled the trigger yet.

You'll hear:

👻 Why Sebastian's co-founder told him to follow "this Samuli Salonen guy" when they were working from a basement

👻 The equation every founder faces: "If I put two hours here, what do I get back?" – and why it's not always clear with content

👻 How targeting museum directors versus VCs requires completely different messaging strategies (and why LinkedIn might not be the answer)

👻 The perfectionist trap: wanting every piece of content to have core value instead of just "posting for posting"

👻 Why Sebastian can calculate ROI on cold calls but struggles to measure founder-led content impact

Bonus: Sebastian reveals the startup reality most people miss – everyone talks about €100M rounds, but founders need help getting from 0 to 0.1, not 0.1 to 100.

Guest: Sari Venäläinen, Co-founder & CEO @ Haamu.io

What happens when you realize executive-led content isn't new at all, just newly appreciated?

You build a company around it.

In this episode of Haamucast, Edward sits down with newly announced Haamu.io CEO Sari Venäläinen to discuss her journey from marketing agency veteran to founder, why founder-led content isn't actually a shift but a recognition of what's always worked, and her vision for expanding Haamu beyond LinkedIn.

You'll hear:

👻 How a seed planted in Samuli's mind during a casual conversation turned into a business opportunity that perfectly matched Sari's own vision

👻 Why Sari believes founder-led content isn't actually new: "This is something we've been doing all the time for our customers in marketing agencies"

👻 The fascinating cultural differences in content performance (why video doesn't work as well on LinkedIn for Finnish audiences despite the platform pushing it)

👻 Her excitement about exploring platforms like YouTube Shorts, which has outperformed her expectations compared to TikTok and Instagram Reels for B2B

👻 The real-world results Haamu customers are seeing, from 80+ new connection requests per post to direct sales (though she emphasizes brand awareness over lead generation)

Bonus: Sari's "lame but essential" advice for hesitant founders: "Don't be afraid of someone not liking your content or thinking it's cringe. Your brand should be a magnet and a filter at the same time, attracting your ICP while filtering out everyone else."

Guest: Samuli, Co-founder at Haamu

What happens when a prominent journalist calls your startup a "bad idea" on LinkedIn?

You accidentally create the best marketing campaign of your career. In this episode of Haamucast, Edward sits down with co-founder Samuli to unpack how a scathing LinkedIn post about ghostwriting turned into Haamu's biggest PR moment – and sparked a Finland-wide debate about authenticity in the process.

You'll hear:👻 How one journalist's rant about ghostwriting backfired and generated 100+ supportive DMs👻 Why PayPal is hiring a "Head of CEO Social Content" for up to $190k (spoiler: this isn't new)👻 The mental rollercoaster of going from panic to celebration in 24 hours👻 Why writing for your own LinkedIn vs. writing for clients requires completely different skills👻 How to turn polarization into your competitive advantage (even when it hurts at first)

Bonus: Samuli shares why building something people hate is better than building something that's just "okay" – and how authenticity became their accidental differentiator in the ghostwriting debate.

Guest: Roman Hipp, Co-founder @ BetterContact

What happens when you need high-quality pipeline but have zero marketing budget?

You put a human face behind your SaaS product and let authenticity do the selling. In this episode of Haamucast, Edward sits down with Roman Hipp, co-founder of Better Contact, who's been building founder-led content for 1.5 years and attributes 70% of his company's revenue to LinkedIn – directly and indirectly.

You'll hear:

👻 Why Roman shifted from technical product posts to personal failure stories (and why vulnerability works better than features)

👻 How CEOs of huge companies started reaching out after consuming his content – without ever having a sales conversation

👻 The "founder-market fit" concept: why building your personal brand is just as experimental as finding product-market fit

👻 Why spending most of your time on the hook matters more than perfecting the body of your post

👻 The "rented audience" problem with social platforms and why email still beats everything for owning your audience

Bonus: Roman explains why asking ChatGPT to write your founder-led content will do more harm than good – and why treating it like a proper marketing channel with time and resources is non-negotiable.

Guest: Heikki Lindroos, Technology Lawyer & Partner @ Byro

What happens when a risk-averse lawyer decides to start posting personal stories on LinkedIn?

You break through in an industry where nobody else is doing it. In this episode of Haamucast, Edward sits down with Heikki Lindroos, a technology lawyer who went from obsessing over disclaimers to getting 150,000 views on a single post about work-life balance – proving that being authentic beats being perfect every time.

You'll hear:

👻 How Heikki and his co-founders built 3,000 connections each before launching their law firm (by adding 160 strangers daily)

👻 Why lawyers are naturally risk-averse about posting – and the mindset shift from "this is legal advice" to "this is just sharing insights"

👻 The Harvey Specter comparison post that went viral and brought 150+ new connections from total strangers

👻 Why posting about half-marathons and work-life balance gets more traction than pure legal content

👻 How being the only active lawyer on LinkedIn in your space creates a massive blue ocean opportunity

Bonus: Heikki reveals the lawyer's dilemma – spending hours perfecting a two-second video edit because "it needs to be as accurate as possible" – and how letting go of that perfectionism unlocked everything.

What happens when you turn your entire team into LinkedIn advocates instead of chasing after people who won't post?

You drive half your inbound pipeline through personal brands. In this episode of Haamucast, Edward sits down with Madhav Bhandari, who's been transparently sharing company performance for nearly a decade and has now built StoryLane's employee advocacy into a revenue machine with 16 active team members.

You'll hear:

👻 Why transparency became Madhav's GTM secret weapon – and how showing real revenue numbers cuts through the "we grew 10x" noise

👻 The LinkedIn club Slack channel and leaderboard system that gamified posting without offering prizes

👻 How positive reinforcement beats calling people out for not posting every single time

👻 The "pattern interrupt marketing" philosophy that gives teams something actually worth sharing

👻 Why Madhav's CEO mentions LinkedIn advocacy in every all-hands meeting (and why that matters more than any incentive)

Bonus: Madhav reveals why going from 50K to 250K isn't the same as 2M to 10M – even though both are "5x growth" – and why context is everything in transparent marketing.

Guest: Ognjen Bošković, Founder @ Raven

What happens when you realize founder brand isn't about posting pretty content?

You start building one of the last effective go-to-market channels left. In this episode of Haamucast, Edward sits down with Ognjen Bošković, founder of Raven and a founder brand strategist who's seen what works (and what definitely doesn't) when executives try to build their personal brands.

You'll hear:

👻 Why founder brand is becoming essential as cold outbound dies and AI makes everyone's content look the same

👻 The "realm of relevancy" framework – why targeting your ICP's entire ecosystem beats chasing vanity metrics

👻 Why most "thought leaders" are actually just followers afraid to challenge the status quo

👻 The mindset shift from "creating content" to "documenting what I'm already doing" that unlocks everything for technical founders

👻 Why you're probably the only person getting bored of your core message (and why that's exactly when it starts working)

Bonus: Ognjen explains why the best founder brand candidates have been their own customer – and why trying to build for an audience you don't understand is setting yourself up to fail.

Guest: Samuli Salonen, Co-founder @ Haamu.io

What happens when you realize founder-led content isn't just for customer acquisition? You unlock its full potential. 

In this episode of Haamucast, Edward sits down with fellow Haamu co-founder Samuli to unpack their biggest learnings about founder-led content from both their own journey and working with clients. From unexpected use cases to common mistakes, they break down what actually works in the real world.

You'll hear:

👻 Why the lead generation obsession is misguided ("I would not even consider testing it for less than six months") and the four alternative goals that drive success

👻 How to find your authentic voice using the "CEO at a bar" exercise: "Imagine two CEOs having a beer, and one tells the other they should follow you on LinkedIn. What would they say about you?"

👻 The content matrix framework borrowed from Justin Welsh that combines topics, formats, and angles to generate "an unlimited amount of content"

👻 Why your best-performing posts should be recycled every month with slight variations rather than constantly creating new ideas

👻 The unexpected ROI beyond leads: speaking invitations, newspaper features, investor relationships, and even improved internal communications

Bonus: Samuli reveals his biggest sales call change: "I don't try to sell customers in, but I actually try to sell them not to do it" because founder-led content isn't a quick win but a long-term game.

Guest: Casey Hill, CMO @ DoWhatWorks

What happens when you structure your LinkedIn strategy like a TV series instead of random posts? People start watching for the next episode. 

In this episode of Haamucast, Edward sits down with Casey Hill, whose methodical approach to content experimentation recently drove back-to-back viral weeks with over 4 million views in a month, converting directly to six-figure enterprise deals.

You'll hear:

👻 Why viral content actually does drive business (his biggest deals came directly from his Clay logo post that got 500,000+ views)

👻 The power of his "This is the only company I've seen do this" series that gives featured brands a built-in incentive to amplify his content

👻 His 100-comment experiment that generated 250,000 views in 2.5 hours (and why he targets high-profile accounts with the bell icon turned on)

👻 The "Five Degrees of Content" framework that explains exactly when to talk about your product versus your industry based on audience size

👻 Why smart content distribution strategies include other companies with "a vested interest in amplifying your content"

Bonus: Casey reveals why he deliberately waits to post again if his current post is still growing by more than 10% day-over-day to avoid cannibalizing his own reach.

Guest: Samuli, Co-founder at Haamu

What happens when you build the audience before you build the processes?

You scale fast, make mistakes faster, and learn what actually works. In this H1 recap episode of Haamucast, Edward sits down with co-founder Samuli to break down Haamu's first six months – from 0 to 15 customers and €30K MRR, all while working day jobs and figuring it out as they go.

You'll hear:

👻 Why selling "LinkedIn lead generation" was their biggest mistake – and what founders should actually expect instead

👻 How they went from 5 to 15 customers in one month (and why that nearly broke them)

👻 The customer profile that actually gets results: people with strong opinions who aren't scared to share them

👻 Why Samuli thinks 60-70% profit margins are misleading when founders aren't paying themselves

👻 The "saying no" problem: how trying to do podcasts, websites, and social media simultaneously left everything half-done

Bonus: Samuli reveals why their best customers come from "boring" industries like legal – because no one else is posting, making it a blue ocean for thought leadership.

Guest: Luke Matthews, Founder @ The Wizard of Odd Marketing

What happens when you say what everyone else is thinking but no one dares to post? You get banned a dozen times and build a thriving business. 

In this episode of Haamucast, Edward sits down with Luke Matthews, who transformed from a construction worker with 33 LinkedIn connections into a content creator with nearly 200,000 followers by deliberately pushing boundaries and going against the grain.

You'll hear:

👻 Why Luke's transition from Instagram fashion blogging to LinkedIn required a complete content strategy flip (from curated visuals to unfiltered opinions)

👻 How his "say what everyone's thinking" approach earned him double-digit bans but also built his ghost writing agency's entire client base

👻 The major shift in LinkedIn strategy needed today versus 2020: "If I started again now, top-of-funnel content wouldn't work on LinkedIn anymore"

👻 Why he measures success through quality comments and DMs instead of vanity metrics (and how he's scaled back from posting 3x daily to 2-3x weekly)

👻 The unexpected connection between sobriety and AI adoption: "I used booze to help me write better and at scale when I quit, I couldn't write anymore"

Bonus: Luke reveals why evening posts attract higher-quality leads than morning content: "When you post later in the day, you tend to attract that like-minded person who's putting in extra time, obsessively chasing a goal."

Guest: Samuli, Co-founder @ Haamu.io

What happens when you're too focused on selling instead of serving? Nobody engages. 

In this episode of Haamucast, Edward sits down with fellow Haamu co-founder Samuli to unpack the common mistakes that kill LinkedIn momentum, and how these failures are actually necessary stepping stones to finding your authentic voice and building real business results.

You'll hear:

👻 Why being "too salesy" is the #1 mistake Samuli sees both in his own early posts and with Haamu clients (and what to share instead)

👻 How his viral salary transparency post in 2018 taught him the power of pushing boundaries even when half the commenters disagreed

👻 The critical difference between "vanity metrics" and business results (and why his beach photos from Vietnam get 500+ likes but generate zero leads)

👻 Why having a strong, polarizing opinion generates better engagement than "vanilla" takes even when you understand both sides of an issue

👻 The 95/5 rule of content testing: expect that only 5 out of 100 posts will get real traction as you discover what works for your audience

Bonus: Samuli explains why the fear of failure stops most people from posting when the real worst-case scenario is usually just that "no one sees it and you go to the next one."

Guest: Monika Liikamaa, Co-founder & Co-CEO @ Enfuce

What happens when you stop worrying about clicks and start focusing on the change you want to see in the world? You find your authentic voice. 

In this episode of Haamucast, Edward sits down with Monika Liikamaa, whose unfiltered approach to LinkedIn has turned her personal platform into a catalyst for meaningful conversations about climate action, fighting financial crime, and uplifting women in tech.

You'll hear:

👻 Why Monika's posts come from genuine frustration with injustice rather than a strategic content plan ("For fuck's sake, let's open the discussion on this")

👻 How she balances Enfuce's business content with her mission to amplify positive voices in a world obsessed with negative news

👻 The power of writing your own obituary instead of polishing your CV – and how it shapes the legacy you want to leave

👻 Why her sauna sessions at the cottage often lead to Sunday reflection posts (and why she has zero system for tracking performance)

👻 How she and her co-CEO complement each other perfectly – with Monika writing on LinkedIn while her partner hosts a podcast

Bonus: Monika shares her unapologetic approach to critics: "I'm 50, I really don't give a shit... If you don't like reading what I write, then don't. Either tune in or tune out – I really don't care."

Guest: Siiri Laaksonen, Co-founder & CEO @ TalentBee

What happens when you make founder-led content your #1 marketing strategy from day one? You build a business where everyone, not just founders, generates inbound leads. 

In this episode of Haamucast, Edward sits down with Siiri Laaksonen, who transformed her occasional employer branding posts into a systematic, company-wide content machine that's still TalentBee's primary growth engine three years later.

You'll hear: 

👻 How Siiri went from uncomfortable LinkedIn poster to confident CEO voice by embracing the "hui method" (post it, feel uncomfortable, and let it go) 

👻 Why each co-founder naturally carved out their own content territory—business growth, talent acquisition, and employer branding 

👻 The content formula that worked best: practical tips, strong contrarian opinions, and "old way vs. new way" frameworks 

👻 How Siiri's content evolved as she transitioned from employer branding expert to CEO (and why her old topics stopped working) 

👻 Why TalentBee extends their LinkedIn strategy beyond founders to every team member: creating multiple sources of inbound leads

Bonus: Siiri reveals the employer branding twist that makes this approach doubly effective: companies that help hiring managers build content attract talent because "people want to work with inspiring people on the team."

Guest: Emir Atli, Chief Revenue Officer @ HockeyStack

What happens when cold outbound fails and you have no ad budget as a bootstrapped startup? You turn to LinkedIn and build in public. In this episode of Haamucast, Edward sits down with Emir Atli, whose consistent LinkedIn strategy helped land HockeyStack's first customers, fueled their growth to Series A, and now drives millions in monthly revenue—all through his personal profile.

You'll hear: 

👻 Why Emir went from thinking LinkedIn was "cringe" to posting 5x per week (and how it landed their first 15 customers) 

👻 The content mix that took him from 5,000 to 30,000 followers in just 8 months 

👻 How he measures success beyond vanity metrics with a custom system tracking follower growth within their ICP 

👻 Why his team obsesses over the "one big post" each week that will drive 80% of their reach 

👻 The brutal truth about polarizing content—and why LinkedIn rewards comments over likes (even when posts get 200 comments but only 55 likes)

Bonus: Emir breaks down why deep technical dives flop for most people, and why "Yesterday I spoke to a CMO..." posts don't work anymore—plus the content sweet spot that's "deep enough but simple enough" to drive engagement.