Is building in public still worth it for creator-founders or has the meta shifted?

Genuine question — I've seen arguments both ways recently and curious what this community thinks.

The case for building in public: it's free audience-building, it creates accountability, it attracts early adopters who are invested in seeing you succeed, and it surfaces product feedback earlier than most founders get it otherwise.

The case against: the signal-to-noise from public feedback is low (encouragement doesn't equal willingness to pay), it telegraphs your roadmap to competitors, and for creator-founders specifically it can blur the line between content creation and product development in ways that slow both down.

For creators specifically, there's a third angle: building in public through your existing content channels turns your audience into early adopters before launch, which changes the economics of the whole thing. But it requires discipline about what you share and how.

What's the community's actual experience? Does building in public still drive meaningful outcomes for product launches — or is it now mostly signal for other builders rather than customers?

We work with creators and founders on this transition — relevant context at foundersbar.com/for-creators if useful.