Promote your brand to 30,000+ engaged Founders & CEOs.
Sponsor a newsletter feature or LinkedIn post and watch qualified leads hit your site.
Previous Sponsors
Why sponsors choose The Honest Founder
Up to 60% Open Rates
60% open rate vs. 21% industry average. Your message actually gets read, not ignored.
Get 100-500 Website Visitors
Sponsors see up to 50 demo bookings from a single campaign. Real leads, not vanity metrics.
Decision-makers with budgets
Pre-seed to Series B+ CEOs, ex-founders who exited, and operators at $1-10M+ ARR companies. People who can actually buy.
82k Impressions
Seeing the Linkedin post.
388 Founders
went on the Tokenize.it website.
512 Likes
meaning they liked the post.
141 Comments
which shows high engagement.
Flexible Sponsorship Options.
Either choose to sponsor a Linkedin post or feature a Substack Newsletter article - or both.
Combo Sponsorship
- LinkedIn for awareness (30K reach) + Newsletter for conversion (50-60% opens)
- Double the touchpoints = higher brand recall and action
- Audience: Founders, CEOs & Operators across both platforms
- Best for: Maximizing both reach and qualified leads
- Save 20% with the combo, starting at 1,250€
What you get as a sponsor.
Stays online forever.
Your sponsorships will remain live forever as they are published on my Substack or Linkedin.
Highly Engaged Audience.
4,600 Founders & CEOs who actually open emails (50-60% open rate vs industry standard of 21%).
Website Visitors and Leads.
Sponsors average 100-500 qualified website visits, with best performers seeing 50 demo bookings from a single campaign.
Next steps.
Sponsorship Review.
We’ll review your request within 24–36 hours and email you once it’s approved. After that, we’ll share the offer for you to accept.
A few days before launch.
We will send you the proposal for the sponsorship. You can review and edit it with comments.
Go-Live and Analytics.
We’re going live on a Tuesday morning.
I’ll keep you updated throughout the rollout and share the full analytics around one week after launch.
Kind words from the Community.
Honest reflections from people who’ve found value in my content.
Just wanted to say that I really enjoy your “Honest Founder” stories.
They’re a refreshing alternative to all the AI write-ups, pseudo-insights, and Coaching Kens & Karens content being shared here.
Keep it up! Hope you know what to do with your reach.
Dirk Grote
Global Head Comms & Media Go-to-Market @ ServiceNow
Just wanted to say thanks for writing your newsletter and sharing everything so openly. It’s also really well written, I get goosebumps every time I read it. I know from my own experience what it’s like to hit the limit sometimes, and your stories are such a powerful reminder to take care of yourself. So yeah a big thank you!
Lucas Spreiter
Founder @Venta Al(YC S23)
Xaver, your post made me finally take the plunge. I have been leading "projects and processes" of all kinds for organizations and individuals, other than myself. I need to fulfill the promise of my own Purpose, my own North Star. I have an approaching milestone within sight. After that, I need to build on my Purpose. I am looking forward to building it with all the tools, frameworks, and inspiration I can get. Starting with the Honest Founder newsletter subscription.
Shashi Matta
Vice Dean, Professor WFI University
Xaver thanks for being raw and honest with us. These chats are unexpected but hit hard and stay with you for life - some of us in the room felt like standing up and giving you a huge hug hearing your story. The sentiment I think you are reflecting back for founders in your new phase of life.
Tarang Patel
CEO, SaaS Founder
Hi Xaver :) I just finished my Master’s degree at TU. I find your content really inspiring and see a lot of myself in it.
Toni Koster
Growth @Circle Health
The Honest Founder is one of the few things online that actually feels real. Xaver writes the stuff most founders only talk about behind closed doors... the doubts, the pressure, the small wins that keep you going. Every time I read it, I feel a bit less alone in this whole journey.
Adam Probst
CEO & Founder ZenML
Hey Xaver, thanks for connecting! Just read your post. Really inspiring what you’ve built, and awesome to stand in front of your old student apartment again! 😄
Best regards!
Mahir El
Strategic Alliance Leader Google Germany & AI Strategist
Xavier, been reading your posts lately. Sharp, grounded, and actually worth reading (rare on here).
One of the few founders and entrepreneur I like to follow on LinkedIn. You are legit and planning to work together
Xhoni Mimillari
Founder & Sales Coach
Hey Xaver, listened to your episode on Unicorn Bakery at the end of September… thanks for the honest insights, you rarely hear that, and it really gives founders guidance in tough times.
Florian Hasibar
Co-founder Stealth
About me.
I built and sold an AI company for $60M, then burned out.
I am a serial entrepreneur, keynote speaker and investor from Munich.
I founded e-bot7, scaled it to 130+ employees and $60M in revenue, then sold it to a NASDAQ-listed company for $60M.
After the exit, I launched VidLab7 with backing from EQT and other top-tier investors. I left after burning out - the wake-up call that changed everything.
Now I help founders build companies that don't destroy them in the process.
I've worked with 200+ founders from pre-seed to post-exit.
Every coaching engagement taught me something: growth comes from clarity, focus, and knowing when to push versus when to protect yourself.
My mission: help you scale faster and smarter than I did, without the burnout that almost broke me.