LinkedIn Top Voices 2019: Entrepreneurship & Small Business

Today we’re unveiling our 5th annual Top Voices list, highlighting professionals in a variety of industries and regions who are building communities and starting thoughtful conversations on LinkedIn through their articles, posts, videos and comments. These are the people you should be following to get inspired and stay informed. 

To find standout voices, we used a combination of quantitative and qualitative signals, starting with a custom algorithm from our LinkedIn Data Science team and then curated by our LinkedIn Editors. You can learn more about how we compiled the list at the bottom of this article and can check out Top Voices around the world and across industries — from finance to education — here. 

I dug into the data to find standout voices in entrepreneurship & small business. These members have shared about everything from raising your first $1 million and how much of a salary to take when you’re just starting out to the real value of influencers. They are curating what you need to know to stay ahead when it comes to running your business.

Here are this year’s 10 #LinkedInTopVoices in entrepreneurship & small business.

What he talks about: Marketing pro Sheridan wants to pay it forward by helping businesses with their own marketing and branding efforts. His videos and posts get people talking about the true value of influencers and why buyer personas are a waste of time.

Opportunities he’s had from sharing on LinkedIn: “The biggest benefit of sharing on LinkedIn has been the fact that it keeps me on the mind of clients, prospects and potential prospects. I've had quite a few organizations say something like, ‘Hey Marcus, I saw that video you did about X, could you come to my event and speak about that to my team?,’” he said.

Follow Marcus Sheridan

What she talks about: Dufu is an expert in women’s leadership and uses her profile to help other female startup founders navigate being their authentic selves or how raising their first $1 million.

A great conversation starter: Sharing an article about one of her idols — Dolly Parton — and the lessons she’s learned from her that still apply today. The post clearly resonated, getting more than 500 reactions.

Follow Tiffany Dufu

What he talks about: Kataria focuses on his areas of expertise: customers and software. His videos spark debates about whether customer success managers should work on support tickets or when it’s time to reboard a customer.

His best professional hack: “Books and authors are the fastest way to learn from someone else’s decades of experience,” he said. “And to fast track it even more: Watch Youtube for the Author video lectures. If I like the 60 minute intro, I’ll go and get the full book.”

Follow Puneet Kataria

What she talks about: Podcast host Emerson is quite literally all about small businesses, sharing resources on tax deductions to save your business money and building brand awareness.

Something people should know about her: “I'm a divorced, single mom of a teenage son, and I have traveled to 17 countries.”

Follow Melinda Emerson

What she talks about: A long-time business owner and consultant, Fearnley writes about the gender pay gap in consulting, when to scale your business and how to keep yourself from burning out as an owner. 

Best career advice she’s been given: “Don't confuse self-doubt for a lack of capability,” she told LinkedIn. “As women, we fear we are out of our depth and instinctively hold back when more often than not, we need to step forward and into the role we were always capable of having.”

Follow Jessica Fearnley

What he talks about: Design guru Do specializes in helping creatives brand themselves or their business and navigate the ins and outs of creating a living doing this work. He posts podcasts on finding an effective mentor and slideshows on how to price your services.

How he comes up with ideas: “Persistent questions are often the springboard for posts, articles and videos. I also try to comment on trending topics if I feel like I can contribute to the conversation,” he said.

Follow Chris Do

What she talks about: Thinking about taking your business global and wondering which markets to pursue? Sahin is the person to read. She is the founder of a company that helps firms do just that and posts her learnings.

Her best productivity hack: “When you’re not in the flow, stop working. Take a few minutes to chat with a friend or go for a walk,” she said. “When you get back to work, you’ll be ten times more productive than you would have been if you tried to grind it out.”

Follow Nicole Sahin

What he talks about: As an investor and entrepreneur, Bhansali uses the platform to give back to other founders. In his videos, he dispenses advice on how much of a salary to take in the early years and best ways to talk about market size when pitching to investors.

Top story he watched in 2019: Former WeWork CEO Adam Neumann’s “negotiation skills to pull off a personal financial success out of his ouster. While others found it distasteful, I saw it as a study in negotiating with boards and large investors.”

Follow Vinit Bhansali

What she talks about: An expert in policy and small business, Pe?a shares updates on regulations that will impact owners, stories of other entrepreneurs and information for women and minority-owned businesses.

Book that inspired her this year: A Mindfulness Solution by Ronald Siegel. “It inspired me the most because it helped bring balance to my life. The book constantly reminds me about self-care and balance,” she told LinkedIn.

Follow Xiomara Pe?a

What he talks about: If you want to learn more about the ins and outs of the cannabis industry, follow Simon. He’s the CEO of a business in this space and thought leader, posting about everything from why the industry should focus more on medicinal customers to growing a cannabis firm. 

His favorite conversation starter: He asked what the biggest problems are in the cannabis industry, instructing readers not to hold back. They sure didn’t. The post garnered almost 200 thoughtful comments from industry experts on what improvements could be made.

Follow Max Simon

You’ve read about the Top Voices in entrepreneurship & small business this year. Now, check out the #LinkedInTopVoices in finance, job search & careers, sales and more.

How we compiled the Top Voices list

First, our editors partnered with the LinkedIn Data Science team to measure the actions a member is able to generate when they engage on the platform. Specifically, we looked at the volume of responses a person’s contributions sparked and the secondary spread of those responses. These signals are proxies for conversation and community development. That said, engagement metrics aren’t enough. Our next filter was qualitative. Editors refined the list by looking at the member’s body of work: Are the contributions insightful, conversational and timely? Do they seek to give and get help vs being self-promotional? Finally, does this list reflect the world we work in today? 

All sharing activity measured took place over a 12-month period, from September 2018 to September 2019. As with all LinkedIn Lists, we exclude LinkedIn and Microsoft employees from consideration.?