Rodrigues vs. Verhagen: Two Paths to LinkedIn Growth
Barry Rodrigues builds community and trust through vulnerability, positioning himself as a fractional CMO for early-stage B2B startups. Stijn Verhagen, in contrast, focuses on direct, AI-driven lead generation systems for B2B founders, using aggressive contrarian hooks and pricing transparency. Their distinct approaches offer different blueprints for LinkedIn success.
Barry Rodrigues
Growing Early Stage B2B Startups by scaling their marketing ● Marketing Strategy ● Demand Generation ● Video Content Creator ● AI Enthusiast ● Fractional CMO ● Productivity Advocate ● Keynote Speaker
Stijn Verhagen
One-person marketing teams for professional services firms | Built from your own expertise | 95+ founders helped
- Rodrigues: Community-first, vulnerable, fractional CMO.
- Verhagen: AI-driven leads, contrarian, builder's approach.
- Rodrigues: High engagement, low cadence.
- Verhagen: High engagement, high cadence, direct sales.
- Choose by your goal: relationships vs. direct leads.
Side by side
| Dimension | Barry Rodrigues | Stijn Verhagen |
|---|---|---|
| Voice | Barry writes like a founder, mixing casual language with earned frameworks, oscillating between irreverent and collaborative. | Stijn writes like an impatient builder, using short, punchy sentences and contrasting old ways with new AI-native approaches. |
| Content mix | Barry blends event announcements, fractional CMO value propositions, B2B growth frameworks, and founder war stories. | Stijn focuses on AI-powered LinkedIn systems, contrarian comparisons, live builds, and transparent pricing models. |
| Hook style | Barry uses vulnerability, 'Stop/Forget' imperatives, bold financial claims, and location specificity to draw readers in. | Stijn employs contrarian claims with price anchors, experiment reveals, time-to-build comparisons, and live demo urgency. |
| Engagement pattern | Barry's posts average 88 engagements, often leading with personal vulnerability before pivoting to tactical frameworks. | Stijn's posts average 147 engagements, frequently using direct attacks on competitor pricing to generate high interaction. |
| Posting cadence | Barry maintains a low cadence, posting approximately 0.8 times per week. | Stijn posts frequently, with an average cadence of 5.7 posts per week. |
Who wins what
Stijn's top hook 'NEVER use GPT for LinkedIn content again…' generated 4083 engagements, significantly higher than Barry's 136.
Stijn's conversation index is 69.4%, indicating a much higher rate of comments and dialogue compared to Barry's 12%.
Barry's repost rate is 3%, suggesting his content is more often saved and shared by users than Stijn's 0.7%.
Stijn posts 5.7 times per week, demonstrating a much higher and more consistent content output than Barry's 0.8 posts/week.
Pick Barry Rodrigues if…- You are an early-stage B2B founder seeking fractional CMO insights and community building strategies.
- You value building trust and relationships through vulnerability and human connection over direct sales tactics.
- You want to learn how to host anti-pitch networking events and position yourself as a connector.
- Lead with vulnerability and personal moments ('My voice is shot') to build rapport before sharing tactical frameworks.
- Position yourself as a community builder, using events ('NextWave networking') to connect founders and solve pain points.
- Use signature phrases like 'We're building something here' to foster a collaborative and inclusive tone.
Pick Stijn Verhagen if…- You are a B2B founder focused on generating leads directly from LinkedIn using AI-driven systems.
- You want to learn how to build automated content and lead generation workflows without hiring agencies.
- You are interested in contrarian comparisons and transparent pricing models to establish credibility.
- Employ contrarian hooks with specific price anchors ('replaces a $50K/year LinkedIn ghostwriter') to grab attention.
- Show live builds and specific results ('312 profile views, 47 qualified leads') to prove system effectiveness.
- Use transparent pricing comparisons to highlight value and challenge expensive industry norms.
These two creators show that LinkedIn success isn't one-size-fits-all. Barry builds deep relationships and community, converting engagement into trust for his fractional CMO services. Stijn, however, prioritizes direct lead generation through AI systems, using aggressive hooks and transparent proof to drive immediate action. Your strategy should align with your business model: are you building a community, or are you building a lead machine? Both approaches, executed with distinct voice and consistent patterns, can yield significant results.
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