Build in Public 101

Why it matters

Building in public helps you:

• Validate ideas.
• Stay top-of-mind.
• Get fast feedback.
• Build connections with stakeholders.

Problem

You need to break through noise to share your story.

Solution

Make a habit of sharing struggles, wins, milestones, questions, and lessons.

Players

People building in public:

• Dru Riley: Trends.vc creator who shares progress and failures, both in public.
• Aaron Aalto: Designer and artist building Wagmi Table.
• Naya Moss: Building Frauvis, a newsletter, community, and job board.
• Zoe Chew: Shares projects on her personal site.
• Janel Loi: Building Newsletter OS, a framework to launch and run your newsletter.
• EK - Building Appbasics and RubyOnRemote.

Predictions

• Creators will use podcasts as a channel to build in public. KP interviews creators on The Build in Public Podcast. Startups for the Rest of Us is where Rob Walling shares his journey building MicroConf and TinySeed. Arvid Kahl opens up about the process of writing books, making courses, and building PermanentLink on The Bootstrapped Founder. Lunch Pail Daily is where Lola talks about no-code and growing a solo business. Software Social is where Colleen Schnettler and Michele Hansen jam on building Simple File Upload and Geocodio.

• More companies will be built around accountability challenges. Creative Companion Club is for creators. 100 Days of No-Code is for builders. Ship 30 for 30 is for writers.

Opportunities

• Find your tribe by engaging with sub-communities. #fintwit is for finance. #retwit is for real estate.
• Share more than revenue. There are other ways to build in public. You can share lessons (Cameron keeps a thread of mistakes), share goals (Pat Walls added his goal to his Twitter bio), reflect on progress (Noah Bragg shared his one year update on Potion.so), or offer help (Stripe offered to help developers building in public using their API).
• Join a challenge. Social accountability works. 12 startups in 12 months helps you launch a startup every month for 12 months. Ship 30 for 30 helps you get started writing online in 30 days.
• Repurpose content. Dru Riley wrote How I built a paid community to 1K+ members in 10 months as an essay before turning it into a Twitter thread and sharing the story on podcasts. Nathan Barry turned his iconic blog post into a Twitter thread.

Risks

• Person > Persona: Don't lose yourself while building in public. It's easy to become obsessed with crafting narratives. Building in public is performative, but find balance.
• Copycats: Sharing success and strategies will lead to copycats. Feature parity is possible in SaaS, while creators and communities are categories of one.
• Competitors: Oversharing can allow incumbents to front-run your roadmap. Buffer, one of the most open companies, throws caution to the wind and shares its full roadmap.

Key lessons

• Building in public has benefits beyond reaching customers. You can recruit team members, get fast feedback, meet new friends and mentors, find evangelists, and find investors.
• Early followers become invested in your journey when you involve them by asking for feedback and sharing struggles. See the Endowment Effect.
• Building in public works because transparency is scarce. We value authenticity and vulnerability.

Hot takes

• If building in public feels like a job to you, it won't last. Choose a strategy that you can maintain. Don't like Twitter? No problem. Podcast, or make videos.
• Building in public is performative. Embrace it. Be authentic. Tell honest stories and build connections.

Haters

"What if people judge me?"

This is your ego talking. The bad news is that no one cares about you. The good news is that no one cares about you. We care about ourselves and our problems. Focus on providing value and sharing stories. Fear-Setting can also help you overcome stage fright.

"I don't have any followers. No one's listening."

Don't try to boil the ocean. Join small communities and connect with people one-on-one. Highlight the work of others. Dickie Bush gained early followers by appreciating others.

"Building in Public? This sounds like Bragging in Public."

If you only share wins, this is bragging. And, it's inauthentic. Share both the ups and the downs.

Links

• Who should I talk to about building in public? The tweet behind this report.
• Origins of Building in Public: Twitter tries to figure out where building in public started.
• Building in Public: 20 Examples and a How-To Guide: A comprehensive guide including the types of content to share.

Related reports

• Open Startups: Open dashboards help you continuously share.
• Audience-First Products: Build trust before you build products.
• Personal Brands: Personal brands have higher affinity than business brands.