Jonny Longden's Systems-First Growth Writing Playbook

Jonny Longden's LinkedIn Edge: Systems, Not Vibes

I went down a little LinkedIn rabbit hole and came out with one clear favorite: Jonny Longden. The numbers caught my eye first - 21,564 followers, 4.7 posts per week, and a Hero Score of 46.00 (which is basically a neon sign saying "this audience actually reacts").

But here's what surprised me: Jonny's advantage isn't a gimmick, or a "post more" strategy. It's that he writes like an engineer trapped in a consultant's body. Everything is a system. Everything has failure modes. And he keeps calling out the industry's lazy thinking in a way that's oddly… refreshing.

Here's what stood out:

• He turns abstract growth ideas into concrete mental models (metaphors that actually teach, not just entertain).
• He publishes like a professional - steady cadence, consistent themes, low nonsense.
• He closes with conviction, not desperation - fewer "comment below" games, more memorable warnings.

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Jonny Longden's Performance Metrics

What's interesting is Jonny isn't the biggest creator in this comparison, and he's not the smallest either. But his Hero Score (46.00) lines up with creators at very different audience sizes, which tells me his content is doing the hard part: staying engaging even as the follower count grows.

Key Performance Indicators

Before we go deeper, I wanted to see how the "shape" of success differs across the three creators.

Same Hero Score across all three. Totally different starting points. That makes this a fun comparison, because it pushes you to ask: what are they doing that keeps the audience responding?

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What Makes Jonny Longden's Content Work

Jonny's writing style is the big tell. It's direct, slightly cynical (in a good way), and weirdly comforting if you've ever been stuck in metric chaos. He uses metaphors like tools, not decoration, and he keeps dragging ideas back to first principles: systems, telemetry, methodology, and incentives.

1. He Leads With a Metaphor That Forces Clarity

So here's what he does: he starts in a totally different world (jets, cars, kitchen gadgets, rulers in the ocean), builds the scene just long enough that you "get" it, and then pivots into growth, CRO, or product decision-making.

And because the metaphor is usually about safety or failure (crashing the car, flying blind, breaking the system), it creates tension. You keep reading because you want the mapping back to work.

Key Insight: Start with a non-business scenario where the "wrong" behavior is obviously stupid, then map it to the business behavior you want to challenge.

This works because it bypasses ego. If you open with "your experimentation program is broken," people argue. If you open with "imagine flying a plane without gauges," people nod. Then they realize you're talking about them. Too late.

Strategy Breakdown:

Now, compare this to Alan and Steve.

• Alan Blount tends to win with identity and range: "I do PM, I do ML, I do OS, I do everything". That attracts builders.
• Steve Bartel tends to win with authority and specificity: hiring, recruiting, founder lessons.
• Jonny wins by making you rethink your operating system.

2. He Publishes With "Consultant Consistency" (Without Being Boring)

4.7 posts per week is no joke. That's basically showing up every weekday with extra reps. But it doesn't feel like spam, because the posts orbit a tight theme: experimentation, systems thinking, and the human mistakes we keep repeating.

And here's a detail I love: we were given best posting times of 08:30-09:30. That's such a "I take this seriously" window. It's morning attention, commute scrolling, first-coffee reading time.

Comparison with Industry Standards:

Alan is likely more intermittent and "signal heavy" when he posts (smaller audience, same Hero Score suggests strong resonance). Steve can ride bigger network effects because founder content travels. Jonny sits in the middle: he earns distribution with repetition and clarity.

3. He Picks a Fight With Lazy Metrics (And People Love That)

Jonny's posts often read like a calm intervention. He keeps pointing at the same enemy: METRIC thinking without SYSTEMS thinking.

I noticed a pattern: he doesn't just say "A/B tests matter." He says, "If you treat numbers as truth, you'll make the system worse." That distinction is everything.

Why does this land? Because most teams have lived it. Someone saw conversion dip, panicked, shipped random changes, and then declared victory or failure based on noisy data. Jonny gives people language for that frustration.

Want a practical way to copy this without being annoying? Call out the behavior, not the people.

• Bad: "Marketers are idiots." (Eye roll.)
• Better: "This is what happens when we confuse a dashboard with reality." (Now we're talking.)

4. He Ends With "Tough Love" Closers Instead of Engagement Bait

This is subtle, but it matters. Jonny often closes with a warning, a rule, or a short directive. Not a needy "What do you think?" Not a fake debate prompt.

That kind of closing does two things:

1. It makes the post feel finished, like an essay.
2. It makes the reader feel like they were taught something, not harvested.

Steve sometimes uses closers that point to resources (like his hiring site) because that's aligned with his niche. Alan can end with playful "if you know, you know" energy. Jonny ends like a person who wants you to stop hurting yourself with bad methodology.

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Their Content Formula

Jonny's formula is repeatable. And once you see it, you can't unsee it.

Content Structure Breakdown

The Hook Pattern

He opens posts with one of three moves:

1. A sharp observation
2. A setup line that feels like a story beginning
3. A challenge that questions a default belief

Template:

"Most people treat [thing] like [simple idea], but it's actually [more accurate system]."

A couple example openings in his style (not quotes, just patterned after it):

• "Most teams think experimentation is a backlog, but it's actually an operating system."
• "Imagine driving a car where the speedometer lies half the time."

This hook works when you have a strong point of view and you're willing to commit. If you try it with a weak insight, it'll feel dramatic. The bar is higher. That's the trade.

The Body Structure

Jonny's "metaphor-to-manifesto" flow is basically:

• Start with the scene
• Show the failure
• Pivot to business
• Deconstruct what's really happening
• Close with a rule

Body Structure Analysis:

Now, here's where it gets interesting: this structure is also why Jonny can post frequently without burning out. He isn't inventing a new format every time. He's swapping in a new metaphor and applying the same reasoning engine.

The CTA Approach

Jonny's CTA is often "anti-CTA." It's more like:

• A warning
• A principle
• Occasionally a direct link if he's promoting something

Psychologically, that works because it signals confidence. People trust the creator who doesn't beg. And on LinkedIn, trust is the actual conversion.

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Side-by-Side: What Each Creator Is Really Selling

Same Hero Score does not mean same strategy. It means each has found a way to create a strong reaction relative to audience size.

If you want a simple mental model:

• Jonny sells an operating system.
• Alan sells a multi-tool.
• Steve sells a playbook.

And Jonny's operating system approach is especially sticky because it changes how you interpret everything else you read.

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3 Actionable Strategies You Can Use Today

1. Write one metaphor per week - Pick a real object (car dashboard, recipe, gym program) and map it to your work so people actually remember the lesson.

2. End with a rule, not a question - Try a closer like "Be careful with [habit]." It signals confidence and stops the endless comment-bait loop.

3. Pick one enemy and keep fighting it - For Jonny it's "metrics without systems." For you it might be "process theater" or "shipping without feedback." Repetition builds a brand.

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Key Takeaways

1. Jonny's consistency is strategic, not noisy - 4.7 posts/week works because the themes are tight and the structure is repeatable.
2. The metaphor is the delivery system - It makes complex ideas feel obvious, then a little uncomfortable (the good kind).
3. Same Hero Score, different engines - Alan wins with craft identity, Steve with founder authority, Jonny with systems thinking.
4. Strong closers build trust - A principle-based ending is often stronger than asking for comments.

If you try one thing from this, try the metaphor pivot. Write the story first, then earn the right to teach. Pretty impressive what happens when you do.

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Meet the Creators

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This analysis was generated by ViralBrain's AI content intelligence platform.