Nate Herkelman Punches Above His Weight in AI

Nate Herkelman Punches Above His Weight in AI

I was scrolling LinkedIn and did that thing where you stop mid-scroll because a post feels like it was written by someone who actually built the thing they're talking about. Not "thought leadership" vibes. More like, "I tested this, it worked, here's the workflow." Then I looked at the numbers: 36,165 followers, a 197.00 Hero Score, and a steady 3.3 posts per week. That combo is spicy.

So I got curious. What makes Nate Herkelman's content pop, and why does it feel so reliable? And to keep myself honest, I compared him with two other strong creators in the same AI-adjacent orbit: Khulan Dav ✦ (creative workflows) and Giovanni Beggiato (AI automation agency growth).

Here's what stood out:

• Nate wins with practitioner-grade education that feels immediately usable
• Khulan wins with taste and creative clarity (high signal, low noise)
• Giovanni wins with clear business outcomes and community-driven momentum

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Nate Herkelman's Performance Metrics

Here's what's interesting: Nate's audience isn't the biggest in this trio, but his Hero Score is the highest. That usually means one thing: the content is pulling above its weight for the size of the crowd. Not just reach, but response.

Key Performance Indicators

Quick side-by-side: audience vs. punch

What surprised me? Giovanni has the biggest audience, but Nate edges him on Hero Score. Khulan has about half Nate's followers, yet sits right behind him on Hero Score. So the story here isn't "who's loudest". It's "who's most consistently useful".

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What Makes Nate Herkelman's Content Work

When you read Nate's posts, you can feel the pattern. It's structured, direct, and built for people who ship. He doesn't try to entertain you into learning. He teaches you like you're going to use this tomorrow.

1. He writes like a builder, not a commentator

So here's what he does: he leads with something concrete he tested, built, or compared. That one move quietly answers the reader's biggest question: "Is this person guessing or doing?"

You'll see phrases like:

• "I built..."
• "I just spent hours comparing..."
• "So I put together..."

Key Insight: Start the post with the work you did, not the opinion you have.

This works because builders trust builders. And in AI, the gap between "sounds smart" and "actually works in production" is massive.

Strategy Breakdown:

2. He makes scanning effortless (and that's not an accident)

Want to know what surprised me? The content feels dense, but it reads fast. That's because Nate is ruthless about structure: short paragraphs, blank lines, and lists that land like mini checklists.

He also uses those "anchor" phrases that pull your eyes down the page:

• "Here's why this matters:"
• "Key takeaway:"
• "Here's the key takeaway:"

Comparison with Industry Standards:

And because he posts around 3.3 times per week, that consistent formatting trains the audience. People know what they're going to get.

3. He teaches in templates, not theory

This is the big one. Nate doesn't just say "use AI agents". He tends to show:

• what the thing is
• when to use it
• how to wire it up
• what breaks in real life

It's the difference between inspiration and instruction. And honestly, instruction wins on LinkedIn right now.

A common pattern is a list introduced by a simple promise:
"Inside the video, I walk through..."
"Here are the big shifts..."
"Together, they can..."

But wait, there's more: he often makes the post valuable even if you never click anything. That sounds small, but it's huge. The post stands alone.

4. His CTA is low pressure, high intent

He rarely does the aggressive "comment X and I'll send" gimmick. Instead, it's usually:

• "Link to the full video in the comments 👇"
• "If you want the full walkthrough, the link will be in the comments 👇"

That CTA style does two things at once:

1. keeps the post clean and scannable
2. gives interested people a clear next step without feeling pushed

Now here's where it gets interesting: that CTA also acts like a filter. Only the people who actually want the walkthrough will go hunting for it. So the downstream audience is warmer.

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Their Content Formula

Nate's formula is basically "mini-lesson + structured breakdown + optional expansion". It's not flashy. It's dependable. And that's the point.

Content Structure Breakdown

The Hook Pattern

His openings are usually one of these:

1. a new release + what changed
2. a build + what it can do
3. a blunt promise ("No coding. No embeddings workflow.")

Template:

"[Tool/feature] is here: what you need to know"

A couple example hook styles that match his vibe:

• "OpenAI just changed how file search works (here's why it matters)"
• "I built an AI receptionist in n8n. Here's the workflow."

This hook works when your reader is busy and technical. You're not teasing them. You're respecting their time.

The Body Structure

He tends to move fast: hook, 1-2 lines of context, then straight into the breakdown.

Body Structure Analysis:

The CTA Approach

Psychologically, his CTA is smart because it doesn't interrupt the value delivery. He gives the lesson first, then offers a longer version for the people who want depth.

Also, because best posting times are listed as 14:00-18:00, it's likely he's catching builders in that afternoon window when they can actually watch a walkthrough later.

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Comparing Nate, Khulan, and Giovanni (what each nails)

Table 1: Positioning and value promise

Table 2: Content delivery style

Table 3: What their metrics suggest

If you only take one thing from that: all three are clear about who they serve. That's the cheat code people ignore.

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3 Actionable Strategies You Can Use Today

1. Write a builder-first opener - Start with "I built" or "I tested" and name the tool so the right people stop scrolling.

2. Turn the middle into a checklist - Use "Here's why this matters:" then 3-7 bullets that a reader could literally copy.

3. Use a low-pressure CTA - Give the value in the post, then offer the deeper resource ("I'll drop the link in the comments").

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Key Takeaways

1. Nate's edge is clarity plus proof - He teaches like someone who had to make it work in real life.
2. Hero Score tells you who really lands - Nate and Khulan are both punching hard relative to audience size.
3. Structure is a growth multiplier - Short blocks, clean lists, and a consistent flow make dense topics feel easy.

If you're building in public (or even just learning in public), try one Nate-style post this week and see how people react. I'm genuinely curious what you'd get.

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Meet the Creators

Khulan Dav ✦

AI Creative @ Google | AI Art Direction & Creative Workflows

18,879 Followers

195.0 Hero Score

📍 United States · 🏢 Industry not specified

View LinkedIn Profile →

Giovanni Beggiato

I help founders scale to $10K/mo+ with their AI Automation agencies, from zero | Made $50k+ in 6 months with mine | Join other AI Agency owners in my Skool community (Link in the featured section)

42,691 Followers

194.0 Hero Score

📍 Luxembourg · 🏢 Industry not specified

View LinkedIn Profile →

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