Nathan Barry
Founder and CEO at Kit - Helping creators build more valuable businesses
Nathan Barry builds thought leadership around creator economics and company culture by sharing behind-the-scenes stories from his 102-person remote team and high-profile collaborations. His most distinctive move is the narrative hook that opens with a vivid image or counterintuitive premise, then grounds it in a specific example before closing with a call to action or reflection.
7.6/wk
99 posts in 30d
72
avg per post
19.7%
comments / total
1.8%
reposts / total
mixed
Fri · 11 AM CET
Voice & tone
Nathan writes like a founder who thinks out loud with his audience. He's conversational but structured, mixing vulnerability (admitting his own "check the box" mentality) with authority earned through real examples. His tone avoids hype and instead uses phrases like "the thing is" and "to me" to signal honest reflection rather than prescription.
Signature phrases
- “The thing is, companies with great culture often have great compensation too.”
- “Build a skyscraper, not a strip mall.”
- “It doesn't matter if the experiment itself succeeded or failed.”
- “You don't have to wait until you're a famous author to bring people together like this.”
- “At some point the dynamic flips.”
Top 3 posts, dissected
Their highest-engagement posts, broken down line by line. Steal the structure.
Imagine getting a trophy for experimenting. This is exactly what they do in Steven Bartlett's office. The experimenter of the week gets a trophy. It doesn't matter if the experiment itself succeeded or failed. It's about generating awareness within the team that experimentation is what's celebrated. Steven even sends encouraging messages to employees who are experimenting. The idea is to incentivize everyone to try new things. Failures will happen along the way, but in the end, the output is what's important. Watch the full episode here: https://lnkd.in/ghwxd3GX Grace Miller
Imagine getting a trophy for experimenting stops the scroll because it's absurd enough to be memorable, yet relatable enough that readers immediately want to know if this is real. The hook doesn't explain; it provokes curiosity.
Hook (vivid scenario) > Attribution (Steven Bartlett's office) > Explanation of the practice (experimenter of week gets trophy) > Reframe (success/failure doesn't matter, experimentation does) > Broader principle (incentivizing new things) > Call to action (watch full episode).
- Short, punchy opening sentence that stands alone
- Specific attribution to a recognizable figure (Steven Bartlett) to borrow credibility
- Repetition of key word (experiment/experimenting) to reinforce the theme
- Reframe that flips conventional thinking (failures are celebrated, not hidden)
Watch the full episode link drives engagement because readers want to see the trophy and hear Steven explain it directly. The CTA is soft but clear.
Open with a specific, visual scenario that makes readers curious, then immediately ground it in a real person or place to earn trust before explaining the principle.
James Clear and I co-hosted a mastermind in Nashville last week with some of the top non-fiction authors in the world. The goal was simply to get great people in the same room to share what's actually working in their book launches and content. We had some amazing group dinners,…
James Clear and I co-hosted a mastermind works because it signals insider access and proximity to a bestselling author. Readers want to know what happens in rooms with famous people, and Nathan gives them permission to feel included.
Hook (mastermind announcement) > Context (goal and format) > Specific outputs (podcast episodes recorded) > Name-dropping (James Clear, Madeline McIntosh, Will Guidara, Brian Canlis) > Personal history (workshopping Atomic Habits a decade ago) > Permission structure (you don't have to wait to do this).
- Stacking of credible names to build authority and FOMO
- Personal anecdote (workshopping with James in a cabin) that humanizes the connection
- Explicit permission statement (You don't have to wait until you're a famous author) that makes the lesson actionable
- Truncation at the end (text cuts off) which may have originally included a call to action
The post ends with an incomplete sentence but the implicit CTA is to consider hosting your own mastermind. The permission structure is the real close.
Use name-dropping and insider access as a hook, but always follow it with a permission statement that makes the reader feel capable of doing the same thing.
We just wrapped our 17th Kit team retreat in Puerto Vallarta. We do these twice a year in the summer and winter. It's the one time our fully remote team of 102 is all in one place. This week we dove into our biggest projects for 2026 and figured out how to accelerate them. But …
We just wrapped our 17th Kit team retreat in Puerto Vallarta uses specificity (17th, location) to signal this is a proven, repeatable practice, not a one-off. The number 17 is credible because it's oddly specific.
Hook (retreat announcement) > Context (twice yearly, 102-person remote team) > Activities (projects, hiking, golf, meals) > Transition to bigger question (What is culture actually?) > Definition through negation (not beanbag chairs or ping pong tables) > Real definition (trust) > Expansion (three types of trust) > Alignment back to mission.
- Specific number (17th) that builds credibility through repetition
- Concrete activity list that makes the retreat feel real, not corporate
- Rhetorical question (What is culture actually?) that reframes the conversation
- Definition through negation (what culture is NOT) before stating what it IS
- Three-part structure (trust in job, trust in leaders, trust in coworkers) for memorability
The post closes by tying culture back to mission and Kit's purpose (helping creators earn a living). No explicit CTA, but the implicit ask is to think about culture differently.
Use a specific, repeatable practice as your hook, then use it as a springboard to redefine a common concept (culture) in a way that challenges conventional wisdom.
What drives their engagement
Nathan's posts invite reflection and disagreement by presenting a principle, then asking readers to apply it to their own situation. The culture post (287 comments) works because readers want to share their own culture stories or push back on his definition of trust.
Reposts are low (1.8% average) because Nathan's content is personal and founder-specific. Readers engage with the ideas but don't feel the need to broadcast them to their own networks as urgently as they would a generic productivity tip.
High. Posts like the skyscraper metaphor and the career arc post are designed to be revisited and referenced later. The metaphors are memorable enough that readers save them as personal reminders.
Content pillars
Company Culture and Remote Teams
35%Stories and lessons from running Kit's 102-person remote team, focusing on trust, retreats, and how culture drives results.
Creator Economy and Business Strategy
30%Tactical advice on focus, saying no, and building sustainable creator businesses through depth rather than breadth.
Thought Leadership and Networking
25%Behind-the-scenes access to masterminds, podcast recordings, and collaborations with authors like James Clear and Steven Bartlett.
Experimentation and Learning
10%Celebrating failure and iteration as core to growth, often tied to team dynamics or personal career reflection.
Hook patterns
Vivid Scenario Opening
Start with a concrete, relatable image or scenario that makes readers pause, then reveal the insight behind it.
“Imagine getting a trophy for experimenting.”
→ The reader immediately visualizes the scene and becomes curious about why this matters, creating cognitive engagement before the argument begins.
Counterintuitive Flip
State a common belief, then reveal when or why that belief stops being true.
“Early in your career, saying yes makes sense. But at some point the dynamic flips.”
→ Readers recognize themselves in the first statement, then feel validated when Nathan shows them they've evolved beyond it.
Metaphor-Based Contrast
Compare two opposing approaches using concrete, visual language (e.g., building types, structures, or objects).
“Build a skyscraper, not a strip mall.”
→ The metaphor is instantly memorable and makes abstract strategy advice feel tangible and actionable.
Announcement with Credibility Signal
Lead with a recent event or collaboration that signals access and authority, then unpack the lesson.
“James Clear and I co-hosted a mastermind in Nashville last week with some of the top non-fiction authors in the world.”
→ Readers are drawn to insider access and proximity to well-known figures, which makes them more receptive to the advice that follows.
Milestone or Observation Hook
Start with a specific number or recent event, then zoom out to the bigger insight.
“We just wrapped our 17th Kit team retreat in Puerto Vallarta.”
→ The specificity (17th, Puerto Vallarta) creates credibility and signals this is earned wisdom, not theory.
Top-performing hooks
“Imagine getting a trophy for experimenting.”
“James Clear and I co-hosted a mastermind in Nashville last week with some of the top non-fiction authors in the world.”
“We just wrapped our 17th Kit team retreat in Puerto Vallarta.”
“Build a skyscraper, not a strip mall.”
“Early in your career, saying yes makes sense.”
“I was invited to speak in Dubai for the 1 Billion Followers Summit.”
“I sat down with two of the best hospitality minds in the world on the podcast.”
“In the last 10 years, Kit has paid $9.8M in profit sharing to our team.”
“Awkward silence once made me $30,000.”
“Pick one thing. Finish it. Move on.”
What works
- Specific number + credibility signal. The 17th retreat and 102-person team size make the culture post feel earned and repeatable, not theoretical. This specificity drove 275 engagement.
- Metaphor-based advice. Build a skyscraper, not a strip mall is instantly memorable and quotable. It outperformed longer posts because it's dense with meaning in few words.
- Permission statements. You don't have to wait until you're a famous author to bring people together like this gives readers agency and makes them feel capable of replicating Nathan's success.
- Reframing through negation. Culture is not beanbag chairs or ping pong tables challenges readers' assumptions before offering a better definition, which drives comments as readers debate.
- Personal vulnerability. Admitting his own check the box mentality in the skyscraper post makes the advice feel earned, not preachy, which increases trust and engagement.
Steal this for your own LinkedIn
- Start your next post with a vivid scenario or counterintuitive statement, not a generic observation. Test Imagine getting a trophy for experimenting or Early in your career, saying yes makes sense as templates.
- Include one specific number or date that signals this is earned wisdom, not theory. Replace vague claims like we do retreats with we just wrapped our 17th Kit team retreat.
- End a post with a permission statement that makes your insight actionable for your reader. Add a sentence like You don't have to wait until you're a famous author to [do the thing you just described].
- Use a two-word metaphor or contrast as your core idea. Test Build a skyscraper, not a strip mall as a model for how to compress strategy into something memorable and quotable.
- Define a concept by first saying what it is NOT, then what it IS. Practice this structure on a topic in your niche: Culture is not [common misconception]. Culture is [your definition].
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Posting patterns
Nathan posts 7.6 times per week with 99 posts in the last 30 days, showing extreme consistency and a commitment to daily or near-daily presence.
Friday at 10 AM UTC performs best, suggesting his audience checks LinkedIn at the start of the workweek or end of week when they have time to read longer posts.
Medium-length posts (80-180 words) perform best at 74 average engagement. This range allows for a hook, context, and a principle without overwhelming readers, while short posts (30-80 words) underperform at 51 engagement, suggesting his audience wants substance.
