Ever since Lawtrades took off, I’ve been sharing our deepest secrets.

That is, I’ve been tweeting the following four metrics on a monthly (sometimes quarterly) basis:

Total revenue
Gross profit
Supply-side earnings (how much we and our users earn through our platform)
Number of customers using our platform
As recently as a couple of years ago, tweeting like this would have seemed insane. The norm has long been to build quietly—fundraise, recruit, and establish a company in private.

But lately, a trend toward radical transparency has emerged, fueled by founders like Elon Musk. The Tesla CEO has a long track record of controversial tweets—tweets that other founders would never have dreamed of publishing. In the short term, Musk’s unorthodox approach hasn’t always worked in his favor. But over the long term, it has built him and his companies a dedicated global fanbase.

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Why? Because in the disinformation age, people are hungrier than ever for trust. Tweeting information that most companies hide builds trust, separating founders like Musk from the pack.

So I decided to do the same with Lawtrades. Two years ago, I began tweeting revenue, profit, platform earnings, and number of customers on a regular basis. Numerous new investors later, I couldn’t be happier that I did.

WHY TWEET SENSITIVE FINANCIAL INFORMATION?

1. It shows authenticity and vulnerability, two key ingredients of trust

People often portray fundraising, recruiting, and closing customers as three separate goals. I believe they’re all connected to the same kernel of value: trust.