BACKGROUND
Kennan Davison is the Founder and CEO of Icon, the AI Ad-maker.
Icon targets e-commerce companies who want to produce better ads at scale using AI - it’s essentially an AI CMO.
They zoomed past $5M ARR within a month and are backed by the likes of Peter Thiel's founders fund.
As the guy who thinks about founder-led marketing all day, I was especially interested in his LinkedIn content.
3 months ago, he pulled off one of the most viral launches ever.
Here’s my line-by-line breakdown of the Icon Launch Post (9,523 likes) [link in the comments]:
Opens with "𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗜𝗰𝗼𝗻, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱'𝘀 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗔𝗜 𝗔𝗱𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗿" - immediately states what they are and claims category leadership.
"𝗪𝗲'𝗿𝗲 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝗣𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝗲𝗹'𝘀 𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗙𝘂𝗻𝗱 & 𝗲𝘅𝗲𝗰𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗢𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗔𝗜, …" - instantly gives social proof and answers the reader’s “Why should I care?”.
"𝗜𝗰𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝘁𝗚𝗣𝗧 + 𝗖𝗮𝗽𝗖𝘂𝘁, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗱𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗔𝗜 𝗶𝗻 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝘂𝘁𝗲𝘀." - perfect analogy and dummy proof value prop for marketers.
“𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀 (𝗶𝗻 4 𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗽𝘀):...” Breaks down functionality into 4 clear steps. Technical enough to be credible, simple enough to understand immediately.
“3-𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺𝘀 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 30 𝗮𝗱𝘀 𝗽𝗲𝗿 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗵. 𝗪𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗜𝗰𝗼𝗻, 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 300." - addresses common scaling pain & offers 10x solution.
Name-drops co-building with "$100𝗠+ 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘂𝗲 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗥𝗶𝗱𝗴𝗲, 𝗝𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘀 𝗥𝗼𝗮𝗱, 𝗜𝗺𝗺𝗶, 𝗕𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗯𝗼𝗻𝗲, & 𝗠𝗨𝗗\𝗪𝗧𝗥" - establishes both credibility and shows they understand big e-commerce problems.
Lists everything competitors charge "$2𝗞-$30𝗞/𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗵" for, then reveals Icon does all that "𝗽𝗹𝘂𝘀 𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗽𝘁𝘄𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 & 𝘃𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗼 𝗲𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴... 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 $399/𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗵." The value prop is undeniable.
The cherry on top: "𝗪𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗻 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗚𝗼𝗼𝗴𝗹𝗲 𝗗𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 1000 𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗱𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗱𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 $20𝗠+ 𝗶𝗻 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘂𝗲... 𝗧𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆, 𝘄𝗲'𝗿𝗲 𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘁 𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗳𝗿𝗲𝗲. 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 '𝗜𝗰𝗼𝗻' 𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗼𝘄." - riding the wave of a LinkedIn format that’s been working very well.
TL:DR - how to do a viral launch:
- pack it with social proof
- be clear about your value prop
- turn the post itself into valuable asset
On top of having a killer product, Kennan understands:
- the dynamics of a platform like LinkedIn
- how to write for his audience
- the value of “founder-led”
Combine all of that, and that’s 3000+ demos in the pipeline.
This post was originally shared by on Linkedin.