I’m Terrible at Building in Public — How Do You Do It Without It Becoming a Second Job?
I keep hearing that “building in public” is one of the best ways to grow.
And I believe it.
But in practice… I’m awful at it.
Most days I’m just:
• Coding
• Fixing bugs
• Talking to users
• Doing marketing
• Trying to ship
By the time I’m done, the last thing I want to do is:
Film a video
Write a thread
Post screenshots
Explain what I built
Not because I don’t want to share — but because it feels like a second full-time job.
I see founders who:
• Post daily updates
• Film Looms and TikToks
• Share metrics and graphs
• Turn every feature into content
And I honestly don’t know how they have the energy.
Right now my “building in public” looks like:
Silence…
Then one random post every few weeks.
Which probably defeats the whole point.
So I’m curious:
If you’re a solo founder or small team…
How do you actually build in public in a sustainable way?
Do you batch content?
Post only milestones?
Ignore video completely?
Automate parts of it?
I’d love to hear what’s worked for you — or what you stopped doing because it wasn’t worth the time.
Atticus, as a fellow strategist with a background in UK marketing and CRO, I suspect your struggle isn’t a lack of discipline, it’s a System Architecture mismatch.
You are likely building from the bottom of the pyramid (Execution/Grind) instead of letting your work radiate from the top (Vision/Identity). At Darkness Owl, we teach that Building in Public should be like 'Sunlight'—free, abundant, and a natural by product of your core work, not a separate energy-drain.
To move from 'forcing' to 'flowing,' I’d suggest a 3S System Audit:
Stack: Don't 'make content' at the end of the day when your energy is bankrupt. Capture one screenshot of a bug fix or a user insight during your peak deep-work hours.
Sync: You’re a Growth Expert—sync your content with your Natural Energy Type. If you’re a Consultant/Strategist type, stop trying to be a 'TikTok Creator.' High-level system teardowns on IH or LinkedIn will move the needle faster than Looms ever will.
Simplify: Use a Legacy Triangle (Vision → Ritual → System). If your vision is to help people reach $100K roles, your ritual should be sharing one 'insider behavioural loop' you found while coding. That's your system.
When the content is a by product of the work, the friction disappears. You’re not building a second job; you’re just opening the blinds to let the light out.
Curious—given your CRO background, have you tried A/B testing a 'minimalist sharing' week vs. a 'silent' week to see which actually fuels your user-growth loops?
🦉 E. Zenith | Darkness Owl
Totally relate to this. Building in public often feels like running two businesses — the product and the content engine.
What's worked for me:
1. Lower the bar drastically. I stopped trying to make "content." Now I just share what I actually did that day — one bullet, one screenshot, done. No threads, no scripts.
2. Make it part of the workflow, not after. I keep a running note during dev. When I fix something interesting, I jot down one line. At the end of the week, I have 3-5 things ready to share without "content creation mode."
3. Skip video entirely (for now). Text + screenshots is enough. Video has 10x the friction for maybe 2x the reach. Not worth it at early stage.
4. Batching helps, but "good enough" frequency matters more. One honest post per week beats daily silence followed by burnout. Consistency > intensity.
The founders posting daily are either: (a) treating content as their main growth lever, or (b) have systems/help you don't see. Don't compare your behind-the-scenes to their highlight reel.
What's your current product? Curious if there's a natural "build in public" angle in what you're shipping.