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98 Comments

How are you building in public?

For those building in public, how and where are you choosing to do it?

What do you find works best?

Are there any specific stories that you feel work best?

🐦 There's a Tweet version of this post too.

  1. 1

    I'm using a subreddit to test and iterate on my website - a free fire and retire calculator for the UK. Blackandwhitefire.com

  2. 1

    I just started documenting my journey to build Data Square, an integration service for SaaS-Companies on Threads: threads_net/@yvolution (Can't post links yet)

  3. 9

    I am building in public on twitter. I am trying to post regular updates, but it's hard. Some days I don't have much to share.

    I think posting every small win and failure matter, that way you can look back see all the silly incidents that made you almost quit.

    1. 1

      Hi, I was feeling exactly the same as you some weeks ago and thinking about how to grow my twitter account so I decided to create a tool for that.
      The idea was leveraging on GPT3 for getting inspired about some topics and to be able to post scheduled tweets/threads automatically, would you find that interesting?

      I'm also trying to build in public this :), I'd appreciate your comments about this also if you want to follow me on Twitter it's @nomad_ok

      1. 1

        Would like to participate in the trials of this tool.

        What was your process behind building your own twitter account?
        Are you currently purely focused on building this or are you open to participating in other projects?

        Are there any other dev communities that you're aware of?

    2. 1

      I find it challenging to post regularly too, especially when working on stuff outside of regular client work.

      I do feel like it gets easier over time though. I'm gradually having more thoughts worth sharing as I'm working on things. Tweets of the nature "I learned this" or "I'm proud of this thing I did."

      1. 2

        Hi Mike

        It's been seven months since you posted about your efforts regarding twitter posts.
        Can you share how your journey has been?
        Any new insight for how one builds out twitter

        1. 2

          Sure!

          My following has grown past 1000 since then (so maybe 30%). I haven't focused exclusively on Twitter, but have been doing it casually. Not a 10x increase, but not insignificant either.

          A few things that I've noticed to be effective:

          1. @-mentioning popular accounts when there's something they might find interesting. For example, if I tweet about something I did with Chakra-UI that came out great, they'll probably retweet it if I mention them.
          2. Following popular accounts in your space, and commenting on their posts. If you post anything valuable, others will like it and sometimes follow you.
          3. Post insightful notes about good blog articles, and @-mention the author. They'll likely retweet it.
          4. Promoting your account from outside Twitter. I have my handle on my website, and my linktree account. When I speak at conferences, my Twitter handle is on my slides too.
          5. Recently I've been joining in Twitter spaces when I can, that seems to get a few new followers as well.

          Hope that helps!

          1. 2

            Great advice, I just shared a link to a good article and its author - I got a like from him! 🤓👍

          2. 1

            Thanks a lot

            I will run these experiments and see where this leads.

            Shall revert back should i require further guidance on this.

            Besides giving others in the startup community advice about how to grow their twitter following, what are you currently working on these days?

            Anything worth mentioning?
            Or are you now simply looking to lend a hand to those who are building products that matter in the startup community?

            1. 1

              Glad to help!

              I'm still adding chapters to my book, https://www.cutintothejamstack.com/ and aiming to have it done before the holidays. I have one publisher I'll be submitting it to for a possible distribution deal.

              Over the summer I was giving some conference talks, and have been participating in Twitter spaces, Discord spaces and am jumping on my first Twitch stream tomorrow—basically experimenting with all different ways of helping the community and building an audience gradually.

              After shipping the book, we'll see—I plan to write more free content and give more talks, but I'll start building a SaaS when I find the right problem to solve.

              In the meantime, glad to share whatever knowledge I can!

    3. 1

      Just followed you. Nice product. I just read this post. How has it been going the last 3 months?

      1. 1

        Hi david,

        Are you currently building out any products at this time?

  4. 1

    I'm building in public on Twitter + LinkedIn (much more on Twitter).

  5. 6

    I'm trying to take building in public to the extreme for my latest project (invoice.build) by open sourcing everything, the code, roadmap and analytics. To communicate that I'm just posting anything worth posting about progress on my personal Twitter.

    So far I don't have any specific insights but will hopefully see how it changes the dynamic of building over the next few weeks.

    1. 1

      Incredible. Just read your comment from 10 months ago. Would love to know how your project is going, and what are the benefits/drawbacks of open-sourcing your project's codebase?

      1. 1

        haha I had forgotten about this comment! So the result was that I ended up getting a job with one of the big DeFi protocols and not really having any time to work on this project anymore... 🤷‍♂️

  6. 5

    this is how i've done it:

    https://www.indiehackers.com/post/building-in-the-open-buildintheopen-51b3ae613b

    practically, this means sharing every week here on IH as a discipline.

  7. 4

    To add to Rosie's post i'm curious as to those who build in public - do you find that it holds you more accountable and therefore you are more productive?

    1. 1

      Hm... I was just posted about it today. I find that enthusiasm goes out the door quickly. Discipline and accountability is the only thing that can keep you going.

    2. 2

      This comment was deleted 3 years ago.

  8. 4

    Hey Rosie,

    I gave an interview talking about how I build in public. Check this out: https://www.buildinpublic.xyz/interviews/how-sharath-went-from-being-a-prolific-maker-to-a-startup-operator-by-building-in-public

    TLDR: Experiment a lot, learn from them and share the insights openly.

  9. 1

    I have around 500 followers on my twitter. Good enough audience to start something I havnt started yet. Bu i have no idea what to post so gotta search on that

  10. 1

    Read through your post as well as Kevon's Build in Public Definitive Guide. Gained more confidence in how to do it now. Start the journey here https://twitter.com/sharqwy

  11. 3

    I start a few weeks ago.
    I am building a content website. I start my Twitter account in order to grow my audience, I think that is the best social media for bloggers.
    You can try different things to generate engagement and add value, this will grow your community and you can start to sell your products or have more trafic for the blog.

  12. 3

    Hey!

    I am starting to share my thought process on Medium while building Get Directo. It's more of reflections on what I am doing generally and not so much a day-by-day of things I try.

    I just started honestly, so still working out what are the best and most helpful things to share.

    If you want to check it out, you can do so here: https://medium.com/@guastavino.m/advice-to-my-older-self-part-2-8e2d7afe2277

    1. 1

      I'm in the same spot as you. I'm building a tool and medium feels natural for me to explain my thought process on why and how. I'm planning to start using Twitter as well.

    2. 1

      Medium is great! I've been using it recently too it's amazing!

  13. 3

    I'm currently using Twitter to post all my updates. But find it hard to gain traction. I've heard good things about LinkedIn though so may give that a go too.

  14. 3

    I build gettheaudience.com in public, for founders and indie hackers.

    I tweet daily about the progress and about the stats like "users on the early access list" and "visitors on the website" (yes, vanity metrics, but let's see what happens after launch).

    On a public board, I show a roadmap of the features that I am currently working on, as well as the plan for the future. You can find the roadmap here

    You are all invited to join the Kanban board, request your own features that you need, and vote for existing items, there. This will be fun because I create the app for founders and indie hackers like you!

  15. 3

    I'm building in public on Twitter. I post my updates every day. So far it has been effective for me.

    I also have a post about me building in public here

    If you would like to checkout my tweets, my handle is mj_makes

  16. 2

    I just recently started building a blog and i guess im building in public? idrk im new to the indie hacker stuff but its interesting to me and i want to further this. I am promoting on twitter through community engagement and trying to gain a grass roots following to help naturally grow the blog.

  17. 2

    I using the simplest approach possible, just spam everywhere with my updates, talk about "things" and engage with the community as much as I can (which is not that much). I am also building my OS and talking about it, nothing crazy just trying to use my limited time as best as I can, but with not too much pressure https://fpsd.codes/opening-wave-2022-06-16.html

    1. 1

      The question is, does it work? It does not seem to work for me hahaha

  18. 2

    I am starting my journey of building an audience before a product. I use Twitter since February this year and have started sharing my journey on PH, IH and Reddit in the last 10 days. I also launched two Substacks now at 100 subscribers. My aim is to scale this to 2,000 subscribers.

  19. 2

    I recently decided to take on a personal #buildinpublic challenge where I set out to build and launch a SaaS product in just 10 days

    My goal is to hold myself accountable and so far, it is working. I am recording one video per day. Currently at day #7!

    https://twitter.com/Fer_MOMENTO

  20. 2

    I am two week in, started a new website to collect progresses and I am "spamming" almost everywhere, or at least where I think I can find the right audience. It is an exciting process and I am slowly learning what works or not.
    I have no audience basically and I am slowly building it starting from my professional network, so Linkedin is giving the best results so far, second is Twitter followed byDevTo and fediverse. I still have to find the right niche in Reddit, I think that will give a nice boost to my posts.

  21. 2

    I actually am more comfortable with long form content but didn't want a blog, ; created a newsletter on substack, about 3 people see my post in a week but it keeps me on track.

    Ill mostly start summarising that in twitter too eventually

  22. 2

    I am considering the whole build in public approach right now. Like @aidarousheikh, I am going to post on here and on Twitter. I am still in the frame of mind that who is actually going to care what I'm sharing but I think its a hurdle I have to get over.

    1. 3

      @thunk funny enough there will be people out there who will actually care what you post so long there is value-added. Give it a shot and try out different strategies and if you come across any good ones share them with us :)

  23. 2

    Building in public honestly sounds scary, especially because of Imposter Syndrome.

    But I've decided to gulp it down, and build it publically using LinkedIn and Twitter.

    Whenever I read a book or learn something new and apply into my startup, I try to make a status or tweet about how I implemented it.

    It's better to share how you used a particular info rather than simpy posting XYZ fact. This helps someone else gain new knowledge as well as some interest in your product.

    I've been doing this only recently, so yet to know how effective it is!

    Good luck for your building!

    1. 1

      Would love to know how things are going for you so far, @JassilJamal
      Have you carried on with your Twitter & LinkedIn strategy?
      Which platform do you like more so far?

  24. 2

    Hey Rosie,

    Saw your post on the daily digest. I posted something similiar earlier today: https://www.indiehackers.com/post/what-are-some-good-ways-to-start-out-building-in-public-3507c6732b

    A couple users left some interesting feedback & stories, feel free to check them out:)

  25. 1

    Please, how can I create a post in the Building in Public group?

      1. 1

        Not sure these days, maybe you need more points/time in the community.

        Ask @csallen

        1. 1

          Thank you for your reply. @csallen please help me out.

  26. 1

    I left Twitter last December so have been building in public using a combination of Mastodon, Reddit and Instagram.

    No real secrets to any of those platforms, but my biggest change with my current product (KarteDrop) is better understanding my audience segments and aligning my postings to them.

    I separated my social profiles into personal profiles (as me, the creator of my product) and branded product profiles (direct product advertisement).

    My personal profiles focus on the BiP and technical aspects of my journey. I use these profiles to post to BiP/Bootstrapping audiences/subreddits, along with audiences of the components of my tech stack (Ruby on Rails/Tailwind/Shoelace), hosting, etc.

    My branded profiles focus on the "outcomes" of my behind the scenes work.

    So, my branded profiles will post about a new product feature, then my personal profiles will link to the branded posts and talk about the decision making or technical aspects/challenges of implementing the feature.

    For example, I just finished implementing Microsoft SSO (in additional to the existing Google and Facebook) and it was a HUGE pain compared to the others. I'm queuing up some branded posts announcing the feature, which will be followed by some personal posts walking through the technical challenges of getting Microsoft to play nice with RoR/Devise/Omniauth and how to navigate Microsoft's signup and registration process. I'm actually looking at turning this one into a Medium how-to article since what made it a pain is that most of the available info is outdated.

    Cheers!

  27. 1

    I'm building my newsletter in public on Twitter, I do it in the form of challenges.

    I.e a 30 day challenge to get X number of subs, etc.

    It's been working well so far, I do daily updates and posts with major milestones!

  28. 1

    I've created a proof of concept in december, and rolled out a small MVP including payment system etc for www.linqmeup.com two weeks ago. I tweet all my findings and steps as a builder on a granular level up to 5 times a week.

    It's a side-project so not on this full-time. I use my product and there is one competitor that doesn't integrate AI (my product converts SQL into LINQ code for .Net solutions).

    So sharing everything like how I tweak stuff, struggles finding people and converting, etc.

    As a memo to myself and to show others what's it like. Not everything needs to be survivor biased so if this doesn't work out I'm happy to share this, too.

    Just posted some stuff on forums etc, so back to work on marketing ;)

    1. 2

      how is this going? do you have any customers yet?

      1. 1

        Hey, No paying users yet. I've implemented custom referral functionality that I'll release somewhere in the next day or two, hoping to incentivize people to spread the word about my tool and get extra users (and paying ones amongst that).

        I see a slight increase in people finding my tool but conversion is still zero.

  29. 1

    I wonder what percentage of those who have written here about their project are still working?

  30. 1

    During the creation of Pagger: upcoming Figma plugin, I've shared on the progress on Twitter using #pagger and tagging Figma: All tweets filtered by the tag

    Looking back, it would have been better, probably, to keep all the progress into a thread.

    Also, a shared in a high level way what I learned from this side project: Reddit post

  31. 1

    We're just getting started with Unimind but we intend to share extensively on Twitter, here, and on LinkedIn. Fingers crossed.

  32. 1

    So for me I'm relatively new but bootstrapping my process by simply posting about it on twitter. I also blog about my progress on my website and try to be as consistent as possible. I'm looking to attempt to start a podcast so that it's an easier way for me to share everything I'm doing in a conversational style format but we'll see within the next few weeks what transpires!

  33. 1

    As a builder in the crypto space, and as Head of Growth & Community, building in public is the core of my daily job! I maintain a Twitter presence, but also established and nurture a community both on Discord and on Telegram. On top of that, I have a blog where I post regular update articles about the project.

    Another very important aspect are the weekly community AMAs we hold on Discord, with live chat, cameras on. That helps a lot in making our community members feel close to the project and relate to us as humans.

  34. 1

    Talk on Vibehut.io and screenshare what I'm working on

  35. 1

    I'm posting weekly videos on YouTube. I'm also sharing on Twitter, but honestly YouTube is where I feel more comfortable and the format suits my style better.

    I wanted to find a way to balance building in public with actually working on it. Doing one intense YouTube video each week struck the right balance for me. It takes me 3-5 hours to produce my weekly video (and I try to go very in-depth).

    1. 1

      can you share your channel's link?

      1. 1

        Sure thing! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfd0HmKdTvx-f45XYSX6WfQ

        And since I wrote my original comment here I started on TikTok and I have to say that so far I am loving it. Here's my link: https://www.tiktok.com/@colinmakessoftware

  36. 1

    I am just starting off this whole public building thing - hopefully will be using Twitter and IH to share my journey as I feel they are the best platforms to start with.

  37. 1

    We have been building in public at https://vadelabs.com/ on Twitter and IH for past 12 weeks. We have been sharing our weekly progress updates as "Weekly Review". Also, we share about the features added and also our emotional journey as well.

  38. 1

    I'm still trying to figure that out. Posting on twitter. Posting on Indiehackers. Just being open about everything I'm doing.

  39. 1

    Hi Rosie.

    I feel, Twitter is a great place for building in public. We have been actively sharing all our updates on Twitter for the last two months. It was amazing to have received huge support from the community.

    We have started documenting here on our Fueler Wiki https://www.notion.so/fueler/Fueler-Wiki-5b9b8f2c05a44279b8fb96411f2b1fe9

    I think, Twitter is the best place if you are into startups, because you will find early adopters there. And in your initial days, it's the early believer who invests their time and efforts to help you grow.

  40. 1

    I'm setting weekly or bi-weekly goals for myself, and use my Twitter audience to hold me accountable. Here's my latest report and plan for the next week or two - https://adrukh.medium.com/2-weeks-after-the-public-launch-bb62a1586760

    I like the cadence it puts me in!

  41. 1

    I'll build in public on Indie Hackers for now. But, I'll start for Twitter. And also, we have a user portal changelog with producter.co

    We do this because it allows you to create an audience that truly follows you, not just followers.

  42. 1

    I tried building in public about 5 years ago. I had a YouTube channel and blog that I posted to on a regular basis. I even got some upgrades for my video equipment. The problem was, I did nothing much in terms of content promotion or optimization for SEO. So it turned out nothing much happened.

  43. 1

    We're trying to be everywhere - is that wrong?

    Twitter, FB, Insta, here... we even built a ProductHunt lander...

    Weirdly we get good engagement and conversion from LinkedIn!?... maybe that says something about or audience?

    The most compelling relationships though, happen through the Intercom & support on our platform & apps - those folk who see their feedback taken into account on future iterations... that's where the Build-in-Public gold is, imo. 💛

    1. 1

      We love LinkedIn too. It has good organic reach, compared to Twitter and other platforms you've mentioned.

  44. 1

    I am building in public here on IH and twitter - (inspired by Kevon Cheung's guide) regular updates as milestones, posts and discussions and comments on a pinned tweet.

    I would also like to comment on @zakclayton's great question - building in public makes me personally more accountable and also more productive, because I plan in more detail than usual.
    I am still a bit confused, since there is so much to do and to read (besides writing the software in my case), but I think with time every piece of the puzzle will come in its place. I just need to stay on it. 🙂

  45. 1

    Just like many others here, I'm building in public via Twitter.
    Example:
    #buildinpublic: [Comment on what I'm doing and my thoughts on it] JustFitness.io

    I follow the 2 blue rule when posting on Twitter.

    1 relevant hashtag
    1 link which is typically my URL.

    Each day I simply reply to my own post.

  46. 1

    I'm BIP-ing by sending out a weekly newsletter.
    But I'm thinking I should also be posting a version of that in this BIP IH group since this is where all my kindred spirits are hanging haha

  47. 1

    Yesterday, I decided to go public with alpha-testing, too. The software that I wrote still looks quite "early-stage" (embarrassing...) but I'd like to get feedback on it as early as possible: Does it give value to founders and indie hackers, or not?

    So, I am planning to do a live video stream with the alpha test. People can give me "tasks", and I will execute them with the software. You will be able to see it crash or see it work!

    I started to make that public, using this Twitter thread, here: https://twitter.com/GetTheAudience/status/1323767396763639809

  48. 1

    I'm building calmcode.io but and although I'm building it somewhat publicly I prefer to do it in a calm manner.

    I've got a github repo where folks can submit issues. Once in a while I'll tweet when there's new content and I've got a mailing list with a few hundred folks on it that grows steadily. I've always hated it when folks that I follow become a constant spam of marketing so I limit my tweets to once a week on what I'm building there.

  49. 1

    I shared a story last week of a recently failed project. It didn't get any engagement, but I'm not worried. It felt nice to write it out. here's the story: https://www.indiehackers.com/post/customer-support-matters-778bde55a1

    I'm working on a new project now and will be journaling here in in this IH group.

  50. 1

    Last week I started posting daily updates to the Makerlog. So far it's only some texts, but I plan to share screenshots and videos too, the best ones will be copied to the new app's account in Twitter (inactive right now).

  51. 1

    I recently re-positioned Mugshot Bot and invited folks to watch as I live-updated a Google doc. I then "open sourced" the template for the positioning document so others can use it to do their own positioing.

  52. 1

    Posting daily (hourly? 😂) updates on the one hour saas youtube channel.

    Just a quick 5-10 min video on what I did that day.

    For me the 1 hour and daily update has been great, I always struggled with finding things to blog/post about, and now I have something I do almost automatically each day now.

  53. 1

    I've recently started live streaming on twitch and then uploading the recordings to YouTube. I'm fairly new to it so haven't really had much in the way of viewers/followers as yet.

    I also post updates on Twitter and blog posts

    1. 1

      What's your livestream setup? I've been thinking about this a bit and doing some videos. Haven't fully made it to live streaming yet though.

      1. 2

        Its a pretty basic setup. Haven't got any special lights or cam, just using a bog standard logitech c920 web cam. The only thing I upgraded was the mic about 60 pounds as the webcam mic wasn't very good.

        I wanted to have a bit of background music in the stream/recording so it wasn't just me randomly talking so did that using software and virtual audio cables instead of buying expensive hardware. I did a blog post on that if you are interested at https://blog.boardiesitsolutions.com/fixing-audio-for-live-streaming-without-special-hardware/

        I'm hoping to get a new GPU as mines quite old and slightly struggled with larger videos and then that way I can use Nvidia broadcast in the streams that will remove background to avoid needing to buy a greenscreen as not a lot of space.

        1. 1

          Yeah I picked up the c920 too - didn't know it had a mic in it!

          What about your software setup?

          1. 1

            I'm pretty sure mines a c920 anyway lol.

            I use OBS (https://obsproject.com/) to capture the webcam and screen and sound etc.

            I created my own starting/be right back and finished slides to show at intervals during the stream so not bought any twitch overlays or anything like that.

            1. 1

              Just checked out your profile, looks like we're in similar situations (IT freelancers wanting to build products!)

              1. 1

                I'm not a freelancer, I'm employed full time, I'm just trying to build a side project and hope to sell it, with possibly the aim of being to do it full time. :)

            2. 1

              Nice man, what's your stream link? I'll check it out next time you're live. I've also been playing around with OBS. I've made a few scenes and have recorded for offline.. but haven't configured any livestreaming yet.

              1. 1

                Its twitch.tv/boardy89 and I upload the recordings of the stream to YouTube, not sure if anyone else does that but seemed like a good idea but not sure any one views it lol but you can find that at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxtIhVdhxM7aQRPsIQuwgQVrYTiplR2cj

  54. 1

    We're just starting our build in public journey for Pixie Brix, a browser extension/platform for extending web apps with low-/no-code

    One major part of our approach is that we've open-sourced our browser extension on Github: https://github.com/pixiebrix/pixiebrix-extension. We expect that it will foster community, enable contributions, and help hold us accountable

  55. 1

    I'm pretty early in my process but my strategy is basically to build out a newsletter and a youtube channel.

    My audience is developers that are interested in productivity and self-improvement at work.

    I started a newsletter where I update what's happening with the app building and marketing process. I wrote about how I got my first newsletter subscribers here on indiehackers. (I leveraged my background as a developer without a degree to get featured on a fellow IH's website).

    Also just commenting on indie hackers and HN seem to be doing alright. I put my newsletter in my bio on HN and just participate in the platform. Sometimes random people will go to my newsletter page from a comment I left :)

  56. 0

    Hey, Community I would like to share product hunt launch of - Echo ( https://www.producthunt.com/posts/echo-78ebfee0-82df-4cac-be61-c6c020f27972 )

    I believe you all understand the value of innovation and efficient communication.

    Echo is a powerful browser extension that lets you leave voice comments directly into platforms like Google Docs,Slides,Sheets Notion, and Figma & more.

    Imagine giving feedback, explaining complex ideas, or collaborating on projects & designs using the simplicity and nuance of your voice.

    As an early adopter, your insights and feedback will be invaluable in shaping this tool to better suit your needs.

    PH - https://www.producthunt.com/posts/echo-78ebfee0-82df-4cac-be61-c6c020f27972

    Best, Amogh Tiwari

  57. 0

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  58. 1

    This comment was deleted 4 months ago.

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    This comment was deleted 9 months ago.

    1. 1

      IH needs a "Report AI" button

  60. 1

    This comment was deleted 3 years ago.

  61. 1

    This comment was deleted 2 years ago.

    1. 1

      Hi Bos,
      yes, it definitely makes sense to publish the videos on your blog. It keeps your readers interested!
      Cheers
      Matthias

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