SKM boldly proclaimed 2024 as the "Year of the Newsletter," and their reasoning is equally true today.
As a founder, starting a newsletter gives followers the chance to know you better. To see where you've come from and understand the value you offer. And newsletters are a two-way platform. You get a window into your readers' thoughts, opinions and problems whenever they reply.
That's probably why around 98% of LinkedIn's newsletters come from individuals rather than companies. And why some of the biggest names in the business take the time to post a regular newsletter on LinkedIn.
If you want to boost your thought leadership by starting your own LinkedIn newsletter, you're in the right place. I searched Reletter's LinkedIn Top 50 newsletter to find five of today's best LinkedIn newsletter examples. (See Reletter's charts here - for free).
In a media landscape that’s losing trust, the inbox reigns supreme.
The SKM report
Table of Contents
Ask Richard
Author: Richard Branson, Founder at Virgin Group.
Description: "A place where you can ask me anything, and we can learn from one another."
Subscribers: 5,660,000+
Publishes: monthly, 500-800 words & photos
Richard treats his readers' questions with care and consideration. He delivers business insights and personal wisdom in every post, resulting in thousands of reactions, comments and reposts.
Recent queries by LinkedIn members include: "What's your dream (and how do you turn it into reality?)"; "What defines a successful entrepreneur in an uncertain, AI driven world?" and "How do you train your brain to think inventively?"
Gates Notes
Author: Bill Gates, Microsoft Founder, Chair, Gates Foundation and Founder, Breakthrough Energy.
Description: "The blog of Bill Gates."
Subscribers: 4,800,000+
Publishes: bi-weekly, 400-1500 words, photos and videos
Each post shines a light on some aspect of Bill's work around the globe. Recent 2025 articles include: "My visit to Utah to see the future of geothermal power"; "What it takes to take a breath" and "The world has a lot to learn from India."
LinkedIn 360 By GaryVee
Author: Gary Vaynerchuk, Chairman – VaynerX, CEO – VaynerMedia, Creator – VeeFriends
Description: "Gary Vaynerchuk's monthly recap of the most valuable content on business, social media, future tech trends, marketing and more."
Subscribers: 1,915,800+
Publishes: monthly, approximately 1-2000 words, photos and videos
Posts keep readers up-to-date with Gary's varied business ventures and offer life and business advice (often aimed at people under-30.) Recent 2025 titles include "Wild Week if you're into collectibles"; "What to do after Graduation" and "L.O.V.E - a four-part framework for life and career success."
On My Mind
Author: Ariana Huffington, Cofounder of HuffPost.
Description: "Actionable advice on how to improve health, productivity, and resilience — plus some fun and inspiring extras."
Subscribers: 1,289,500+
Publishes: monthly articles
Each lengthy edition of On My Mind includes several sections, each loosely following a central theme on Arianna's mind. For example, the June edition—"Food's Big Tobacco Moment"—includes research and links on a first-of-its-kind lawsuit, a snapshot of Ariana's recent baccalaureate address at USC, a podcast episode description and link, plus the 'Neologism (new word) of the Month', 'Book of the Month' and a 'From the Mouths of Babes' cartoon.
Reinventing Life
Author: Deepak Chopra MD, Founder at Deepak Chopra LLC.
Description: "Exploring Body Mind Spirit."
Subscribers: 1,071,000+
Publishes: a weekly newsletter article including links to products, courses and more.
Deepak Chopra uses thoughtful essays on spiritual and mental health, and writes about the biggest questions of life to connect with his audience and establish authority in his field. Each post gathers hundreds of comments and many LinkedIn shares. Recent articles include 'The Universe Is Either Perfect or a Total Mystery — Here’s Why' and "Taking the Cosmic Riddle Personally.'
The business case for founder LinkedIn newsletters
Apart from the obvious—reach new audiences and establish authority in your industry—I can think of several compelling reasons why founders should publish a LinkedIn newsletter.
1. Platform momentum
LinkedIn's reputation as the professional's platform lends itself to newsletters aiming to reach that business or professional audience. So, with over a billion users, the sheer size and scale of LinkedIn is on your side. You're creating content where potential readers are already hanging out.
The platform's auto-subscribe mechanics encourage growth, too. If you have a newsletter, LinkedIn will automatically subscribe readers when they follow you. That can make it easier to build a subscriber list compared to platforms like Substack or traditional email newsletters.
You'll also find analytics tools like subscriber demographics and a trends section showing article views and new subscribers to help you gauge when your articles are working or need tweaking.
2. Trust advantage of a human face
People trust a human voice over a corporate body. They trust authentic stories, tales of failure and success and see them as proof that they’re following an actual human. That’s why LinkedIn experts like Oscar Hoole report client success stories showing impressions 5-10x higher when publishing articles under their personal brand rather than a company page.
And it’s why founder-led growth continues to thrive. When top founders like Richard Branson or Ariana Huffington speak directly to their audience through a LinkedIn newsletter, they build familiarity, credibility and long-term loyalty.
But you don’t have to be a household name to make a major difference. You can build a following by using your LinkedIn newsletter to:
- Share your weekly thoughts on trending topics
- Include tidbits that show your personality and give your target audience the chance to get to know you
- Publish quality content showing your expertize
- Use videos and photos of real events
- Demonstrate why they can trust you and—by extension—your business
- Include relevant keywords and website or contact links
- Keep your audience engaged and encourage discussions by answering comments thoughtfully rather than just liking or saying “thanks”.
3. Revenue & pipeline upside
Every edition is an opportunity to attract, nurture and convert warm leads without hard selling.
Remember, whether you have ten, one hundred or even a million subscribers each one has asked to get your newsletter, so they’re already interested in you. Each week’s newsletter gives you the chance to show how your products and services can help them too.
Perhaps you might showcase products like Gary V and Deepak Chopra so when they include links to videos, courses and upcoming events.
Why not share a case study in your newsletter and include a demo link to encourage readers to click through and learn more? Or, generate extra sales on an older product by telling your subscribers about a significant milestone as Ariana Huffington did when her book "Thrive" reached its ten-year anniversary.
As your subscriber list increases and the comments show enthusiastic audience engagement, others in your industry might reach out with collaboration or partnership ideas. Journalists will start to notice you too and could DM you asking for comments or interviews.
4. Talent & investor magnet
Your LinkedIn newsletter isn't just reaching customers. It's also attracting potential hires, investors and strategic allies. Every post helps shape how others see your leadership, your company culture, and your vision.
Talented people want to work for companies with purpose, clarity, and momentum—and they often follow founders to gauge those things. Therefore, sharing what you're building, how you think, and what values drive your decisions can attract like-minded talent to your door.
Investors are always looking out for new opportunities.
Your smart, articulate newsletter could spark interest before you've even thought about raising capital. So, for early-stage founders, LinkedIn newsletters can serve as informal investor updates as you share insights, or upcoming plans.
5. Cost vs. other channels
LinkedIn newsletters cost nothing but the time it takes to create them. Each edition gets delivered to your subscribers' emails and feeds, organically driving visibility and traffic without the recurring cost of paid ads.
Compare that with paid social media where you pay per click to gain attention or the cost of running a newsletter on platforms such as Mailchimp, Kit or Beehiiv.
For example, Meta (Facebook/Instagram) can be complicated to work out, but could be anything between 0.30c and $3.90 or more, depending on your industry, audience, your competitors ads and even the time of day they go out.
Paid ads on LinkedIn include sponsored content, messages or texts, and dynamic ads and costs vary dramatically depending on your paid content strategy. Again, LinkedIn doesn't declare a fixed price per click but according to the Carvertise blog, there's a minimum requirement of $2.00 for CPC and CPM bids, and a minimum daily spend of $10.00.
Final thoughts
Newsletters are one of the best ways to improve visibility in your industry.
Start writing a LinkedIn newsletter, post interesting content and build your thought leadership as a highly cost-effective way to build relationships, gather more traffic and even potentially generate leads.
And why not boost visibility and expand your reach by getting featured in other newsletters, too? Do you have something you can pitch to get featured organically. Or do you want to secure ad spots in newsletters that reach your target audience?
Reletter offers information on subscriber numbers, contacts, rankings and much more for three million email newsletters on Substack, LinkedIn and Ghost.
