If you follow me, you’ve noticed I haven’t been on social media over the past week. Some of you have already noticed—I’ve disappeared from LinkedIn and Twitter.
This year, I set out with one clear mission: stay focused on execution and ship work that matters. For the past three weeks, I’ve been grinding relentlessly—juggling client projects, building Foundry One Group, and pumping out content to appease the algorithms on platforms like LinkedIn and X, convinced that opportunity would eventually unfold.
I was posting multiple times a week, carefully crafting each piece to maximize engagement. I was watching analytics, studying what performed well, tweaking my approach based on likes and shares. I was playing the game everyone told me I needed to play to “build my brand” and “stay relevant” in the digital space.
But then I did something I should have done sooner. I stopped and asked myself the hard questions:
What’s the actual ROI on the work I’m putting out there?
Do I need to be “popular” for people to discover my work and want to collaborate? Is my daily hustle serving my clients and improving the quality of what I deliver? Most importantly, am I moving closer to my biggest goal this year—putting Foundry One Group in front of investors to build the ventures in our pipeline?
The answer hit me hard: creating content for social media algorithms is the lowest ROI activity I could be spending my time on.
The Algorithm Trap
Here’s what I realized: I was spending hours each week creating content not because it was valuable, not because it represented my best thinking, but because I was chasing an algorithm. I was measuring success by the wrong metrics entirely—followers, views, likes, shares. None of these numbers were translating into meaningful business outcomes or moving me closer to my actual goals.
The effort it takes to stay on top of the latest writing trends, contort my message to fit the algorithm, and constantly adapt to whatever the platform decides will get reach this week—it’s exhausting and, more importantly, it’s not working. At least not for what I’m trying to build.
I found myself spending more time thinking about how to package an idea for maximum engagement than actually developing the idea itself. I was writing for the algorithm, not for the people I actually want to reach. The tail was wagging the dog.
And for what? Vanity metrics that look impressive on paper but don’t translate into shareholder value, don’t help my clients, and don’t bring me closer to securing the investment Foundry One Group needs to launch the ventures in our pipeline.
The Realization
The breaking point came during my retrospective this past week. I mapped out where my time was going and what I was getting back in return. The numbers were sobering.
Hours spent on social media content: significant. Meaningful business conversations started from that content: minimal. Real opportunities created: nearly zero.
Compare that to the time I spend directly with clients, building actual products, having real conversations with potential investors and partners—the ROI difference is staggering. Every hour I invest in direct relationship-building, in actually executing on our ventures, in deepening my expertise, pays dividends. Every hour I spend optimizing for social media algorithms is essentially wasted.
I kept asking myself: am I building something real, or am I just feeding the content machine?
The answer was uncomfortable but clear.
Taking Back Control
So I’ve made a decision: I’m taking ownership of my platforms, my voice, and what I put out into the world.
No more dancing for algorithms. No more writing content designed to trick a system into showing it to people. No more measuring my success by how many strangers double-tapped a post they forgot about five minutes later.
From now on, my only distribution channels will be the ones I control—the Dive Into Product blog and podcast, both available at my site. This is where I’ll share my real thinking, my actual insights, the behind-the-scenes journey of building Foundry One Group.
My other goal? Simplify my life so I can focus on what actually moves the needle toward my goals while maintaining meaningful relationships with you—my community and close network.
That takes us back to basics: email and phone numbers.
If we can’t connect on that level, then honestly, I’m probably speaking to the wrong audience anyway. I’d rather have 30 people on my mailing list who are fully engaged, who read what I write, who reach out with questions and opportunities, than 30,000 subscribers with low open rates and zero engagement.
Quality over quantity. Depth over reach. Real relationships over phantom followers.
What I’m Choosing Instead
I’m slowing down to create more thoughtful, quality content—things I genuinely believe are worth sharing with you, not just what’s catchy for the algorithm.
This means I’ll be writing longer, more detailed pieces when I have something meaningful to say. I’ll be sharing the real story of building a venture studio, including the messy parts, the failures, the pivots, and the hard-won lessons. I’ll be treating you like intelligent people who can handle nuance and complexity, not like content consumers who need everything broken down into bite-sized, easily digestible chunks.
I want to build something that matters, with a community that’s actually engaged in the journey. I want to have real conversations, not broadcast into the void hoping the algorithm smiles on me that day.
This shift also gives me something invaluable: my time back. Time to think deeper. Time to build better. Time to actually execute on the vision instead of just talking about it online.
What This Means Going Forward
I’ll still post on YouTube and podcast platforms to distribute the podcast, but my primary focus will be the blog and podcast with email notifications for subscribers. These are the mediums that allow for depth, for real exploration of ideas, for the kind of content that actually provides value rather than just generates engagement.
Here’s what to expect: an email or three from me each week with a short subject line and a link to the full blog post or podcast episode. No clickbait. No manipulation. Just honest subject lines that tell you what’s inside.
I’ll be sharing:
- Insider information on Foundry One Group as we launch our ventures—the real story, including the challenges, the decision-making process, the wins and the setbacks. You’ll get to see how a venture studio actually operates from the inside.
- My side projects and experiments—the things I’m personally interested in and testing out. These are often the seeds of bigger ideas, and I want to share that exploratory process with you.
- Key learnings—both from my own work and from what I’m observing in the market. These won’t be hot takes designed for engagement; they’ll be thoughtful reflections based on real experience.
- Industry news and relevant venture information I’m following—curated and contextualized, not just shared for the sake of staying “active” on a platform.
This approach will help me optimize for focus and doing what truly matters to advance the Group’s goals while growing this community in a more personal, direct way—without the clutter of algorithms, the noise of false metrics, and the distraction of phantom followers.
Why This Matters
I know some of you might be thinking: “But what about reach? What about growing your audience? Isn’t social media necessary for business these days?”
Maybe it is for some businesses. But for what I’m building, I don’t need reach—I need the right people. I don’t need thousands of casual followers—I need dozens of engaged partners, clients, and collaborators who actually care about the work.
The traditional wisdom says you need to “build your personal brand” on social media to be taken seriously. But I’m betting on a different approach: do great work, share it thoughtfully with people who care, and let that speak for itself.
This isn’t about being contrarian for the sake of it. It’s about aligning my actions with my actual goals. And when I look at my goals—building successful ventures, securing investment, serving clients excellently, creating real shareholder value—none of them require me to be a social media influencer.
In fact, the time I spend trying to be that person is time I’m not spending becoming the person I actually need to be: a focused executor, a clear thinker, a reliable partner, and a builder of real value.
A Fresh Start
I know this week’s email was less informative than usual, but consider this a reset. I’ll be back to the regular format next week—the first week of February, week 5 of the year. Can you believe it?
This is me drawing a line in the sand and committing to a different path. It might be quieter. It will definitely be slower. But I believe it will be better—better for the work, better for the relationships, and better for actually achieving the goals I’ve set for myself and for Foundry One Group.
If you’re reading this, thank you for being part of this community. Thank you for caring enough to open this email and read this far. That already puts you in a rare category, and it’s exactly the kind of engaged relationship I want to nurture.
If you haven’t already joined the mailing list and you’d like to be notified when I post, do that now or bookmark the new link below.
This is where the real conversation happens from now on. No algorithms between us. Just direct communication, thoughtful content, and a shared journey of building something that matters.
Catch you in the next one.
Bookmark the new blog: https://varimahenry.com/diveintoproduct/