The Truth About Giving Away Tips

I have a confession to make.

 If I had a rupee for every time I heard that from a fellow founder, “Give away too much and nobody will ever pay you.”

I’d… well, probably be retired by now.

To be honest, some of my best wins came right after I ignored that exact advice.

A few years back, I stumbled across Morning Brew — yeah, that daily business newsletter that’s everywhere now. Back then, it was run by two college guys hustling out of a dorm room.

It had genuinely useful, plain-English business tips in my inbox every morning.

Even my buddy Agnel John, the founder of Error Makes Clever, who has opened his new office recently, did the same. He’s dropped more than fifty 6-8 hour tutorials on programming for free on his YouTube channel.

And right now it’s one of the top three ed-tech companies in the state.

That got me thinking: What if I stopped trying so hard to “play it safe” with my own content? What if I just gave away advice that actually worked for me—even if it felt like I was sharing a trade secret for free?

So, here’s what I did: I started writing LinkedIn posts where I broke down the ugly side of brand building. The campaigns I bombed, the awkward product launches, the client calls where it felt like I’d never close the deal.

Instead of shiny wins, I went all-in on real, step-by-step stories of how I actually fixed things. Some posts were straight-up embarrassing.

Guess what? The responses were wild. People started sharing my posts with their teams. A few even lifted my customer scripts word-for-word. (Honestly? Flattering.)

And something odd happened: my network ballooned, and clients started landing in my inbox.

When I asked clients why they reached out, it wasn’t because I played hard-to-get with my knowledge. It was because they’d already seen my process, my thinking, and how my advice landed in the real world.

People want proof they can use. Not just big talk, but small wins they can see today.

The Morning Brew guys didn’t worry about guarding their “secret sauce.” They just focused on making readers’ lives easier. Most of my loyal clients came in through that very door — thanks to free, actionable advice that actually showed results.

Look, I get the urge to keep your best stuff behind closed doors. But if you want people talking about what you do — if you want real loyalty, then start solving their problems before they pay you for it.

Pick a pain point your people are facing today. Break it down. Walk through your own mess.

Give away the real steps, not just a teaser. You’ll stand out, build trust, and who knows—maybe end up with your own “Morning Brew” story.

Reply and let me know, are you holding back? Or are you handing out real wins?

If you want to see how I break down tough branding messes, just ask. I’m always up for a no-BS chat.

See you tomorrow,
Shashank

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