The ‘Mind If I Add You?’ LinkedIn DM
The Story
Nathan got CEOs of Industry Dive, Morning Brew, and beehiiv into his private newsletter using one LinkedIn DM template (Source 3).
The script he used on Sean Griffey, co-founder of Industry Dive:
“Hey, evening Sean. I run a private newsletter for newsletter operators who are doing 7, 8, 9-figures. It’s generally for CEOs and their heads of growth. A couple of people like X and Y and Z read it” — where X, Y, and Z were “mutual connections or competitors” of the recipient. “Would you mind if I add you?” (Source 1).
“I would LinkedIn message people, and I have a bunch of screenshots of this… a lot of times I’ll do competitors of the person that I’m messaging. So it’s like, oh, they see their peers are reading this newsletter” (Source 4).
“Now I’ve elevated the status of the newsletter. They see their peers are reading this newsletter” (Source 1).
The recipient is not being asked to sign up for a random newsletter. They’re being asked permission to enter a club their peers and competitors are already in (Source 1).
Brad Wolverton, who got the DM and wrote it up: “I almost never say no to another newsletter subscription (how else do you think I write these things?), so I agreed to join his list” (Source 2).
Nathan personally vets and adds each subscriber by hand (Source 3).
Lesson for Creators
Three psychological mechanics power this DM. First, exclusivity inverts the favor — the sender is granting access, not asking for attention. Second, social proof via 2-3 specific named peers (not “leaders in your space”) makes refusal feel like missing what others already have. Third, the “private” framing is honest because it’s true: there’s no signup form, just personal selection. The template only works when the rest of the system backs it up — manual approval, heavy-hitter peers actually present, and content that earns the status the DM claims. Copying the words without the rest produces spam.
Related
- The 600 Decision-Makers Map — The list of named humans this DM was sent to
- The Welcome Section That Builds Status — How the inside of the newsletter reinforces what the DM promises
- Three Weeks From Idea to Full-Time Founder — Milly Tamati: another founder who used direct DMs to land high-value clients fast
- Two Years to Land Notion - The Sponsorship Patience Play — Patient targeted outreach to a named list, complementary slow-burn version