Learn everything from Kyle Coleman's 10-year journey from SDR to CMO

*This is Kyle's total engagement numbers from his 10-year journey (through July 22, 2024) 

Introduction

Kyle's journey in B2B SaaS started at Looker as an SDR.  That was 10 years ago.  It's amazing what a decade can bring you if you focus on the long game.  I believe the saying goes: "You overestimate what you can do in a year and underestimate what you can do in 5."  It's something like that but WOW, this is impressive.  

Here's what the journey looks like (pulled from a post on December 28, 2020): 

In a span of 10 years, going from an individual contributor at Looker to the CMO at the platform that we'll be the backbone of all modern GTM teams that want to leverage AI.  (Hint: That's every B2B SaaS company) 

Through his journey at Looker, Clari and Copy.AI, it's clear that he did something right. 

The biggest takeaway that I could find in his journey here, is just saying YES.  

This is why I call him The Yes Man.  That's his creator style.  

It's more than a creator style for him.  It just feels like a way of life for him. 

Now, let's get into this Creator Style and talk about what a Yes Man really is. 

Content Style: The Yes Man

This style is more about having an open mind and saying Yes to those things that others might turn down.  

Throughout the journey that you'll learn about here, you'll see that his style is very unique. 

One of the most important things you'll see is that he's just saying YES to posting consistently. 

He's seen drastic growth since 2017 to today on LinkedIn.  

In 2017, he only posted 7 times and in 2020 he posted 304 times with 97,842 reactions to his content.  

It takes time to find your flow and that is evident here.  

But, it's important to remember that we all start somewhere. 

Now, let's get into story time.... 

We All Start Somewhere

Kyle Coleman started posting on LinkedIn in 2017, with this first post ever shared on October 10, 2017 

Hook: Embedded Analytics in Action (1 reaction)

Today, Kyle’s posts have thousands of reactions and several hundreds of comments and reposts. But his first post ever had just 1 reaction.

Needless to say again, we all start somewhere! This was Kyle’s starting point on LI.

And Hey! Every top creator on LinkedIn today had their first baby step on the platform.

After his first post, Kyle went on to share 7 more posts in 2017. 

In 2018, Kyle shared 10 posts. Check out the most performing of them;

January 30, 2018

LookML isn't a replacement for SQL, it’s the next step in SQL’s evolution. (45 reactions, 5 reposts)

June 29, 2018

Here are some of the ways we analyze our outbound #salesdevelopment efforts at Looker. If you like what you see, come join us! We’re hiring #SDR roles in Santa Cruz, New York City, and Dublin. (30 reactions, 5 comments)

In 2018, Kyle had a total of 190 reactions, 6 comments, and 10 reposts. That's just a fraction of what he gets today on a single post. Of course, despite having used the platform for a full year, he was still starting.

March 25, 2019

I started at Looker exactly 6 years ago today as the 6th employee… (345 reactions, 40 comments)

Despite having this impressive performance among other low-performing posts, some obvious factors may have helped with achieving this spike...

Firstly, the post was short and effectively communicates his career journey up to that point.

Time is invaluable, and sharing short, impactful posts shows that have respect for your audience’s time. 

Secondly, Kyle made some key mentions in the post. He mentioned two companies and two individuals - those things count. 

Thirdly, closing with humor. Posts perform better when they close with a funny twist. Talking about your career journey and making a sharp twist to finding $6 while walking your dog is definitely something. 

June 6, 2019

Very happy for my good friends and mentors @ Looker. And proud to have been part of the ride. More good things ahead! (115 reactions, 4 comments)

November 25, 2019

Fun exercise with our friends in Product Marketing today. (96 reactions, 8 comments, 1 repost)

Testing Phase

In January, 2020, Kyle started posting on LinkedIn as a creator - he shared a total of 305 posts in 2020.

There're even 262 weekdays in the year 2020. He had more posts that the number of weekdays in the year. Of course, there were days he shared more than 1 post.

305 posts was such a huge leap from the 54 posts he shared in the previous year. Kyle activated his Creator Mode on January 9, 2020 with this post;

Hook: It’s unlikely that people will offer to be your mentor. (454 reactions, 5 comments)

This is another spike. And like the previous one, let’s check out some of the factors that possibly contributed to this result.

• The time of the year. This post is about personal and career development and there is no better time to share it than the beginning of the year. Most people are motivated at that time and sharing such value is normal to get a response like this. 
• It is brief and straight to the point, each sentence making a complete sense and sharing a full idea. 
• Kyle reposted Hila Segal’s (another creator) content, making his voice even stronger on the subject.

You can however, argue that it’s a spike, because it was almost becoming like a new normal for Kyle to share posts that gets this much attention. See some other posts with similar performance, shared in January, 2020;

January 13, 2020

I set my first meeting as an #SDR nearly 7 years ago. (452 reactions, 27 comments, 4 reposts)

January 21, 2020

I’ve stopped asking #SDR candidates to pitch my product in interviews. Hear me out...  (524 reactions, 79 comments, 8 reposts)

January 27, 2020

Should #SDRs go to Sales Kickoff? (403 reactions, 68 comments, 1 repost)

Finding Kyle's Creator Style

February 6, 2020

Over the last 10 days, I’ve received plenty of #SDR outreach. I’ve responded to little of it… (1239 reactions, 219 comments, 30 reposts)

Seeing Kyle’s performance in the past 1 month that he started posting (as a creator) on LI, seeing him cross the 1k reaction bar is not so surprising - it’s a big deal though. 

As a creator, Kyle has improved his copywriting skills and has mastered the use of hashtags, white space, short sentence structures and key points. 

More importantly, 2 things uniquely stand out with this post;

1. It was based on a personal experience. This opens your eyes as a rep to know user experience. - not just your imagination. 
2. His use of stats. One thing that has proven to be effective over the years on LinkedIn posts is the use of numbers. 

April 8, 2020

There’s no sentence that’s guaranteed to trigger me more than:...(3201 reactions, 395 comments, 114 reposts)

May 8, 2020

I heard from an SDR yesterday who was denied a promotion. 

I lost my mind when I heard why. (1826 reactions, 347 comments, 12 reposts)

October 5, 2020

I used to think that it was a badge of honor to not take time off work.

I was dead wrong… (1346 reactions, 95 comments, 19 reposts)

December 28, 2020

Career growth is not a ladder that goes straight up.

 It’s much more similar to a rock climbing wall…. (1946 reactions, 181 comments, 25 reposts)

Just to mention a few things about this post and why it probably performed the way it did. 

• It’s a personal experience. Nothing beats personality when it comes to content creation. Your personality is what makes all the difference between your post and any other random stat or image online. Everyone has a unique story, “YOU” make you story special. 
• Kyle created a perfect image for the post. Seeing this image, the entire post makes so much more sense than only text would ever have. 
• This theme may be controversial, but this is a general experience. So, more people will resonate with a topic like this. 

February 12, 2021

From here on out, I will respond to every single cold email I get. (2724 reactions, 282 comments, 12 reposts)

You want to check this post, again, and see why it performed in this manner??

Everyone appreciates giving back to others (who really need it), especially, your time, knowledge, and invaluable experience. Kyle went further by showing an example of what he means, further helping more sales reps like the case he was addressing here. 

May 13, 2021

I’ve hired 8 former bartenders as SDRs, and they’ve all been phenomenal.

 Natural conversationalists, quick learners, able and willing to experiment… (4828 reactions, 476 comments, 81 reposts)

Aside from bringing a highly controversial topic to the table, Kyle gave vivid, experiential examples to back his side of the conversation. 

Then, he mentioned two other top creators. What happens when you do this is that the creators are compelled to react comment, and possibly share your post. This helps your post to 'fly'. 

Finally, have you noticed his use of emojis?? He doesn’t stuff them - just enough to make the content look good and appealing!

July 27, 2021

I no longer ask SDR candidates to pitch my product in interviews. Here's why. (1480 reactions, 143 comments, 14 reposts)

September 3, 2021

I got 4 emails in 5 minutes yesterday from the same SDR.

December 6, 2021

An SDR just sent me an email with {{INSERT RESEARCH HERE}} in the first line. (3120 reactions, 170 comments, 10 reposts)

March 14, 2022

Proud to announce I’ve been promoted to a Group VP role at Clari.

4218 reactions, 303 comments

April 22, 2022

I’ve hired 9 former bartenders as SDRs, and they’ve all been phenomenal.

 Natural conversationalists, quick learners, able and willing to experiment. (9688 reactions, 644 comments, 209 reviews)

Remember this post from May 13, 2021??

About a year prior to this time, Kyle shared the same post, getting almost 5k reactions. This time, the post gave Kyle his highest performance on LI as of May 2021.

A post that went viral before will highly likely go viral again (with or without tweaking), if shared with the right audience. Many top realtors do this, and it works over and over again!

June 7, 2022

Proud to announce I've been promoted to Senior Vice President, Marketing @ Clari. (8494 reactions, 585 comments, 4 reposts)

November 9, 2022

Important update: Gavin was right!! … (7744 reactions, 912 comments, 49 reposts)

January 11, 2023

I was told to hire Ivy League grads with business degrees.

 Instead, I hired former bartenders & servers, retail salespeople, philosophy & English majors, real estate agents. (8382 reactions, 340 reactions, 107 comments)

This is based on the same post Kyle shared on May 13, 2021, and reposted on April 22, 2022.

Again, if it performs well once, it can perform well again - tweak it and share again!

March 8, 2023

If you don’t have women on your sales team, you’re making a huge mistake. (3859 reactions, 142 comments, 213 reposts)

September 5, 2023

Proud to announce I’ve been promoted to CMO at Clari. (8351 reactions, 641 comments, 5 reposts)

January 4, 2024

Introducing my new course: Born Yesterday. (1344 reactions, 176 comments)

July 15, 2024

Average players want to be left alone.

Good players want to be coached.

Great players want to be told the truth. (749 reactions, 43 comments, 12 reposts)

Conclusion

Here’s what you should take away from Kyle's journey: 

• Commit to a year (and don't worry about the day to day)
• Repurpose Repurpose Repurpose 
• Lean into the brands you work for

Working at fast growing B2B SaaS startups probably didn't hurt his ability for growth.  Devin Reed talks about this too.  He was at Gong and was able to lean into that brand to help with growth.  

The point isn't to go find a job at a fast growing B2B SaaS startup.  It's more about leaning into the brand you work for to find your voice.  We talked about this last week with DemandJen's journey.  She was able to carve out a Chief Evangelist role that allowed her to really build off of what was built.  

As you're thinking about your journey and how to apply the learnings from Kyle, remember to do these three things.  

Here's a bit more detail for you on each one.