LinkedIn Content Strategy for Public Investors and VC Leaders | Netwarm
LinkedIn playbook · Case study
LinkedIn content strategy for public investors and VC leaders: how an Amsterdam investment CEO reached 714 founders, investors and directors in 6 weeks
We read the first 100 reactions on each of 21 posts from an Amsterdam public investment CEO. 1,427 people, 714 founders, investors and directors. Here is what brings buyers, what brings peers, and the 5 posts we’d publish next.
Max Sawyer · Netwarm··12 min read
The creator in this case studyAn Amsterdam-based CEO of a public investment institution
Followers38,960
Posts
These numbers are from 5 November. Your audience has already moved.
New founders, investors and directors turn Hot every week and others go quiet. Run your free scan to see today’s version, with the names.
SellsPatient capital for capital-intensive innovation: deeptech, climate and energy tech, life sciences, and the step from startup to scale-up
PeriodSep 25 – Nov 5
Ideal client: founders and CEOs of capital-intensive scale-ups, co-investors and fund managers, and the policy and ecosystem leaders who shape the investment climate.The challenge: The CEO posts in Dutch and English, about deals, policy, data and the team. Every post gets reactions, many from colleagues and the wider ecosystem. Which posts reach the founders and investors the CEO wants at the table?
Key takeaways
Half the readers are buyers.714 founders, investors and directors reacted between 25 September and 5 November: 50% of everyone we read.
Topics are flat, posts are not.Every topic brings about half buyers. But the European VC post brought 64%, the MedTech announcement 31%.
64 keep coming back.64 founders, investors and directors reacted to 3 posts or more, 13 of them to 5 or more.
01
Who actually reads you, and what the LinkedIn algorithm changed
The CEO posts three to four times a week, in Dutch and English: deals and partnerships, ecosystem data, policy and the National Investment Institution, the team, and events. 21 posts between 25 September and 5 November, from 26 to 1,064 reactions each.
The LinkedIn algorithm shows a post to the people who reacted to the last ones, then to people like them. An announcement with ministers travels far, but it travels to everyone. Reach can’t tell a founder from a colleague. Who reacted can. We sorted the first 100 people on each post by role.
21posts in 6 weeks
1,427people reacted
714founders, investors and directors
64came back 3+ times
Audience by roleThe 1,427 people who reacted, by roleFree
Half the audience is the room the CEO wants to reach: 714 founders, CEOs, fund managers, partners, board members and directors in government and industry.
79 people are colleagues, students, recruiters and assistants. They push reach and rarely invest or co-invest. The other 634 are professionals in every kind of role: readers, not decision-makers.
SeniorityAll people who reactedFree
Founder, owner, C-level28.4%
Director, VP8%
Manager9%
Independent6%
Other48.6%
IndustriesFounders, investors and directors onlyNetwarm
Investors, VC & finance37.8%
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Core audience64 founders, investors and directors engaged 3+ times · 13 engaged 5+ timesNetwarm
64 founders, investors and directors came back to 3 posts or more. One of them reacted to 8 of the 21.See your regulars
Engager company sizeEveryone who reacted, by company sizeNetwarm
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See which company sizes your founders, investors and directors work at.See company sizes
02
What to post on LinkedIn to reach founders, investors and directors
Most executives judge a post by its reactions. A CEO who wants founders and co-investors at the table should judge it by who reacted.
We tagged each of the 21 posts by topic, then measured the share of founders, investors and directors among the people who reacted.
Your topicsWhat your 21 posts were aboutFree
21posts
Data and ecosystem analysis6
Deals and partnerships5
Policy and the NII4
Team and recognition4
Events and transatlantic ties2
Topics that attract founders, investors and directorsShare of each topic’s reactions from founders, investors and directorsNetwarm
Events and transatlantic ties61.2%
Team and recognition54.8%
Policy and the NII50.8%
Data and ecosystem analysis50.5%
Deals and partnerships49.3%
One post brought 2x the share of buyers of another. See which.See which topics
Every topic brings about half buyers, from 49.3% to 61.2%. The real gap is between single posts: 64% for the European VC post, 31% for the MedTech announcement.
Posts that brought the most founders, investors and directorsShare of founders, investors and directors in each post’s reactions1 of 5 open
#1From Lab to Commercialization: see you in Eindhoven70.4%
#2Is European venture capital outperforming the US?64.3%
#3Tech30: thirty people who make Dutch tech63.3%
#4Bpifrance and Invest-NL join forces61%
#52026 a top year for scale-ups, not for early-stage startups58.3%
For comparison, the €150 million MedTech announcement had the biggest reach of the period, 1,064 reactions, and the lowest buyer share: 31.3%.
6 rules for LinkedIn engagement from founders, investors and directors
These rules come from what worked on the CEO’s own profile, and from the best-performing posts on venture capital, European tech and scale-up funding over the last 3 months.
1
Answer one belief with numbers. “The US is in a league of its own.” “Public money is for losers.” Quote the belief your audience holds, then answer it with two or three figures. Investors react to a number that changes their view.On this profile: the European VC vs US post reached 64.3% buyers, the second highest share.
Explain the why behind the deal. The announcement says what. The post that brings founders and co-investors says why: the reasons, the people in the room, what it opens up next.On this profile: the Bpifrance post, with the why and the people, reached 61% buyers. Across the niche: “Why did Mollie buy GoCardless?” drew 2,711 likes.
Put the founders before the ministers. A deal post that opens with ministers and institutions travels far, to everyone. Open with the founders and what they build, and the founders and investors read on.On this profile: the MedTech announcement had the biggest reach (1,064 reactions) and the lowest buyer share, 31.3%.
Turn the quarter’s data into a list. Funding totals, round counts, rankings: one numbered list, then the one line that worries you. Data is what investors forward.On this profile: the top-year-for-scale-ups post reached 58.3% buyers. Across the niche: a list of 40 funded startups drew 517 likes.
Name the people in the room. Tech30, the French-Dutch pact, the dinner at the ambassador’s: posts that name the founders, investors and leaders around the table bring more of them.On this profile: the Tech30 post reached 63.3% buyers, and events posts averaged 61.2%, the highest topic.
Keep invitations short. Two lines, a date, and who should come. A short invitation to an event is read by the people who plan to be in the room.On this profile: the two-line Eindhoven symposium post reached 70.4% buyers, the highest share (38 of 54 reactors).
When founders, investors and directors read: the best time to post on LinkedIn for public investors and VC leaders
We compared the share of founders, investors and directors by the day and the hour each post was published (Amsterdam time).
Share of founders, investors and directors by posting dayAmong the people who reacted to each postFree
57.1%
Mon
45.9%
Tue
56.6%
Wed
55.3%
Thu
49.4%
Fri
52.2%
Sat
Best time to post, by hourShare of founders, investors and directors among people who reactedFree
52.9%
6:00
52.4%
8:00
Monday (2 posts, 57.1%), Wednesday (4 posts, 56.6%) and Thursday (3 posts, 55.3%) brought the highest share. Tuesday was lowest at 45.9%. The spread is small: the post matters more than the day.
Keep the early slot: 16 of the 21 posts went out between 6:00 and 10:00, with about 52% buyers. Put the posts written for founders and co-investors (data, the why behind deals, invitations) on Monday to Thursday.
05
5 posts ready to publish to target founders, investors and directors
Each post follows the rules above, in the CEO’s voice: three in Dutch, two in English, like the profile. Swap in your own details before posting: the real founder, the real figure, the real room is what makes it land.
1Ready to postMyth buster with numbers
Three myths about public capitalRule 1: take one belief your audience holds and answer it with numbers. Modelled on the CEO’s European VC post (64% buyers) and Pieter Kemps’ “AI wrapper” post.
Hook
𝗗𝗿𝗶𝗲 𝗺𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗽𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗸 𝗸𝗮𝗽𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗮𝗹 𝗱𝗶𝗲 𝗶𝗸 𝗻𝗼𝗴 𝗲𝗹𝗸𝗲 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸 𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗿.Na de column van mijn collega Mustafa Torun kreeg ik veel reacties. Van oprichters, van investeerders, en ook een paar kritische. Mooi. Dus nog één keer, kort en op een rij.𝗠𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝟭: “𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗽𝘀 𝗱𝗶𝗲 𝗽𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗸 𝗴𝗲𝗹𝗱 𝗻𝗼𝗱𝗶𝗴 𝗵𝗲𝗯𝗯𝗲𝗻 𝘇𝗶𝗷𝗻 𝗸𝗻𝗲𝘂𝘀𝗷𝗲𝘀.”
Op basis van meer dan 7.000 fundingrondes: bedrijven met een combinatie van privaat en publiek kapitaal halen veel vaker opnieuw geld op. En ze bereiken twee keer zo vaak een groeironde.𝗠𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝟮: “𝗣𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗸 𝗴𝗲𝗹𝗱 𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗱𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘁 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗮𝗮𝘁 𝗴𝗲𝗹𝗱.”
Publiek kapitaal stroomt juist daarheen waar het risico hoog is, de terugverdientijd lang en de technologie complex. Bij 53% van alle deeptech-rondes zat een publieke investeerder aan tafel. Bij software was dat 12%.𝗠𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝟯: “𝗛𝗼𝗲 𝗺𝗲𝗲𝗿 𝗽𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗸 𝗴𝗲𝗹𝗱, 𝗵𝗼𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗿.”
Ook niet. Puur publieke rondes, of rondes waarin publiek geld heel dominant is, hebben juist minder kans op succes.Dus is het allemaal hosanna? Nee. Maar publiek kapitaal is geen vervanging van privaat kapitaal. Het vult aan en het verlaagt risico’s.Oprichters en investeerders: welke van de drie hoor jij het vaakst?
Visual · ImageThree short myth cards side by side, each with one number: “2x vaker een groeironde”, “53% vs 12%”, “puur publiek = minder succes”.Check before postingCheck every figure against Mustafa Torun’s column and the research behind it, and tag him if he agrees.
See you in Eindhoven on November 17Rule 6: a short invitation to the room, with who should come. Modelled on the CEO’s symposium post (70% buyers, the highest share) and Nick Knuppe’s “busy week in AMS tech” post.
Hook
𝗡𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝗧𝘂𝗲𝘀𝗱𝗮𝘆: 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗘𝘂𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲’𝘀 𝗗𝗲𝗲𝗽-𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗶𝗻 🚀On November 17 I’ll be at Eindhoven University of Technology for the symposium From Lab to Commercialization, co-organized by DeepTech Capital Partners and TU/e.Three questions I’ll talk about:🔹 Where are the biggest bottlenecks in Europe’s deep-tech financing chain?
🔹 How do public and private capital work together to scale breakthrough technologies?
🔹 What must Europe do differently to build the next generation of tech champions?If you are a founder raising for a capital-intensive company, or an investor looking at deeptech, come and find me during the drinks. I’d love to hear where you get stuck.📍 TU Eindhoven
📅 Tuesday 17 November, 12:15 – 16:00See you there!
Visual · ImageThe event visual, or a photo of the CEO on stage at a past deeptech event.Check before postingConfirm the time and the registration link with the organisers, and add the link in the first comment.
The founders behind the electric regional aircraft roundRule 3: put the founders, not the institutions, in the first lines of a deal post. Modelled on Filip Felician Dames’ Exploration Company post; the CEO’s ministry-led MedTech post had the biggest reach and the lowest buyer share (31%).
Hook
𝗘𝗲𝗻 𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗸𝘁𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗵 𝗿𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗮𝗹 𝘃𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗴𝘁𝘂𝗶𝗴, 𝗴𝗲𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘄𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝗘𝘂𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗮. 𝗪𝗮𝘁 𝗵𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝘃𝗮𝗻 𝗩Æ𝗥𝗜𝗗𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗼𝗼𝗿 𝗻𝗼𝗱𝗶𝗴 𝗵𝗮𝗱.Vorige week maakten we het bekend: VÆRIDION haalde €124,5 miljoen op om het eerste Europese elektrische regionale vliegtuig te bouwen. Samen met SHIFT Invest leidden wij vanuit Invest-NL een ronde van €30 miljoen. Daarnaast kreeg het bedrijf €94,5 miljoen toegezegd uit het EU Innovation Fund.Dat zijn de cijfers. Maar ik wil het vandaag over iets anders hebben.Ivor van Dartel, Markus Kochs-Kämper en hun team bouwen iets wat nauwelijks in een spreadsheet past. Een vliegtuig ontwikkel je niet in een paar sprints. Het vraagt om jaren certificering, fabrieken en klanten die durven te tekenen voordat het eerste toestel vliegt.Daarom kan zo’n bedrijf het niet met één soort kapitaal. Het had nodig:✈️ Private investeerders die het lange traject durven aan te gaan
✈️ Een pan-Europees consortium van bestaande investeerders dat blijft bijleggen
✈️ Publiek geld dat het risico deelt, zonder het over te nemenDit is precies waarom ik zo vaak zeg dat publiek en privaat kapitaal elkaar nodig hebben. Niet als slogan, maar omdat bedrijven als VÆRIDION anders in Europa niet kunnen groeien.Ivor, Markus: wat was voor jullie het moeilijkste moment in deze ronde?
Visual · PhotoThe founders next to the aircraft model or in the hangar, not the signing table.Check before postingAsk Ivor and Markus to read it before posting, and use their own answer on the hardest moment if they share it.
Five numbers on Dutch startup funding that keep me busyRule 4: turn the quarter’s data into one numbered list, then say what worries you. Modelled on the CEO’s top-year post (58% buyers) and Ivan Landabaso’s list of 40 funded startups.
Hook
𝗩𝗶𝗷𝗳 𝗰𝗶𝗷𝗳𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗽𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝗡𝗲𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗱𝗶𝗲 𝗺𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘇𝗶𝗴𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗱𝗲𝗻.1️⃣ €3,1 miljard
Opgehaald in de eerste drie kwartalen van dit jaar. 25% meer dan in heel 2025.2️⃣ 39
Investeringsrondes van €15 miljoen of meer, nu al. Jarenlang vroegen we ons af of onze scale-ups grote rondes konden ophalen. Dat gaat de goede kant op.3️⃣ 85%
Van al het kapitaal ging afgelopen kwartaal naar grote rondes.4️⃣ #101
De plek van Nederland wereldwijd bij bruto kapitaalvorming. Terwijl het aantal nieuwe vroege-fase startups al een paar jaar stokt.5️⃣ #81
De plek van Nederland wereldwijd bij afgestudeerden in science & engineering.Dat schuurt.Want zonder voldoende aanwas van early stage startups hebben we straks onvoldoende groeibedrijven. En zonder bèta-talent geen deeptech.Dus ja, vier de grote rondes. Maar zorg dat er voldoende (publiek) kapitaal blijft voor de vroege fase: de SEED Capital-regeling en de Regionale Ontwikkelingsmaatschappijen.Oprichters en investeerders in de vroege fase: herkennen jullie dit?
Visual · CarouselFive slides, one big number each, and a last slide with the question.Check before postingCheck the figures against the latest quarterly funding data and the Lijst der Lijsten rankings from your October posts.
What 50+ US investors told us about Dutch deeptechRule 2 and the lead magnet: one finding from your own research, the why behind it, and the full report for a comment. Modelled on the CEO’s transatlantic dinner post (56% buyers) and Christoph Aeschlimann’s Swiss Scale-Up Report post.
Hook
𝗗𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝗨𝗦 𝗰𝗮𝗽𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝗻 𝗗𝘂𝘁𝗰𝗵 𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗲-𝘂𝗽𝘀 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗨𝗦? 𝗪𝗲 𝗮𝘀𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀.At the dinner at the US Ambassador’s residence in October, one question kept coming back. The larger the funding round for a Dutch scale-up, the greater its dependence on US investors. So are we exporting our best companies?Earlier this year my colleague Liz Duijves set out to answer exactly that. ‘The Transatlantic Bridge: US Capital as a Strategic Instrument for Dutch Deeptech’ draws on more than 50 interviews with US investors, Dutch founders, ecosystem partners and public stakeholders, plus an analysis of transatlantic investment flows.What I took away:🇺🇸 US capital does not inevitably mean a company moves to the United States, lock, stock and barrel.
🇺🇸 American investors bring more than deeper pockets: specialised expertise, strategic networks and a gateway to the world’s largest economy.
🇺🇸 Their interest in Dutch and European ventures is genuine, driven by world-class research and engineering.And for Europe the lesson stays the same. We need deeper capital markets and more institutional capital for growth, so that US money is a choice, not the only option.Founders and investors: want the full report? Comment BRIDGE and we’ll send it to you.
Visual · DocumentThe report cover plus one page with the three findings, as a short PDF carousel.Check before postingCheck the three findings against the report, and line up the team who will send it to everyone who comments BRIDGE.
Free forever: unlimited scheduling through LinkedIn’s official API, with images, video and PDF carousels.
06
LinkedIn lead generation: lead magnets that work to target founders, investors and directors
Reactions show interest. A download shows intent. The fastest way to find out which founders and investors want to talk is to give them something useful and see who asks for it.
In venture capital and startup funding content, these formats get the most requests:
Format 1The investor toolA tracker or fit score built from real research, given away for a comment.
Format 2The investor listA filterable list of funds by stage, cheque size and geography. Founders ask for it in the comments.
Format 3The research reportOne finding from a report in the post, the full report in the comments or on request.
Our pick for you: “The Transatlantic Bridge”Built from the report the CEO’s team published this year: more than 50 interviews with US investors, Dutch founders and ecosystem partners on US capital for Dutch deeptech. Offer it on post 5 for the word BRIDGE: everyone who asks is a founder or investor thinking about US money right now.With a Reveal link, every person who downloads it is shown by name, with their role and how warm they are. Your first Reveal link is free.Create your free Reveal link
07
From reactions to clients
Content brings founders and investors to the profile. It doesn’t say when to reach out. Most never comment, so they stay invisible, and a founder who reacts to a post on deeptech funding in October may have closed the round elsewhere by January.
On LinkedIn, the right moment to start a conversation is when someone keeps coming back. We call that Hot: 5 or more points over 90 days, where a reaction counts 1, a repost 2, a download or a reply 4. In this sample, 13 founders, investors and directors already reacted to 5 posts or more.
Hot right now13 founders, investors and directors · not contacted yetNetwarm
13 founders, investors and directors are Hot. See who to message first.See who’s Hot
First messageAn opener for each Hot person, based on the posts they readNetwarm
Hi Sanne, you reacted to my post on public and private capital. Are you raising for the next stage this year?Hi Mark, I saw you liked the Eindhoven symposium post. Will you be there on the 17th?
A first line for each of them, ready to send.See the openers
Netwarm sends nothing for you. It tells you who and when, and you write the message. It also works inside Claude and ChatGPT: ask “Who’s Hot today?” and get the list.
08
FAQ
Posts founders and co-investors can use: a belief answered with numbers, the why behind a deal, the quarter’s data as a list, and short invitations to the room. On this profile, the European VC post brought 64% buyers, the MedTech announcement 31%.
For this CEO, Monday (57.1%), Wednesday (56.6%) and Thursday (55.3%) brought the highest share of founders, investors and directors, and Tuesday the lowest (45.9%). The gap is small: the post matters more than the day.
Three to four times a week worked here: 21 posts in 6 weeks reached 714 founders, investors and directors. Keep most of them written for the people you want at the table.
Look at who reacts, not how many. Group reactions by role, measure the share of your ideal audience per post, and follow the people who keep coming back. A free Netwarm scan does this for you.
Yes. Netwarm only reads public reactions to your own posts. It never logs in as you, never asks for your password, and never messages anyone for you.
How we made this playbook
We read the public reactions on 21 posts published between 25 September and 5 November 2026: the first 100 reactors on each post, 1,908 reactions from 1,427 people, out of 6,598 reactions in total. Three posts were left out: two removed or duplicate posts and one event organiser’s post about the creator. Comments were not counted, so engagement figures are a floor.
Niche rules come from top posts on venture capital, European tech and scale-up funding over the last 3 months. Role groups are approximate, read from LinkedIn headlines; a Netwarm scan matches people to your own ideal audience.
