Build in Public
Openly sharing your creative process, progress, and challenges as you build products, businesses, or projects.
Also known as: Building in Public, Open Building, Transparent Building
Category: Writing & Content Creation
Tags: content-creation, entrepreneurship, transparency, audience-building, personal-branding
Explanation
Build in Public is a content and business strategy where creators share their journey openly—the wins, losses, metrics, decisions, and lessons learned—as they build something. Rather than launching in stealth and revealing a polished result, builders share the messy middle.
**Why Build in Public:**
- **Accountability:** Public commitment increases follow-through
- **Feedback:** Early input improves the final product
- **Audience building:** The journey attracts interested followers
- **Trust:** Transparency builds authentic connections
- **Content:** The process becomes the content
- **Network:** Attracts collaborators, customers, and opportunities
**What to Share:**
- Progress updates and milestones
- Revenue, user numbers, metrics (with context)
- Decisions and the reasoning behind them
- Failures, pivots, and lessons learned
- Behind-the-scenes of daily work
- Tools, processes, and workflows
**Platforms:**
- Twitter/X for quick updates
- Newsletters for deeper dives
- YouTube/podcasts for long-form
- Indie Hackers, Reddit for community feedback
**Cautions:**
- Don't share competitively sensitive information
- Balance transparency with privacy
- Avoid performative vulnerability
- Focus on value, not just updates
**The Mindset:**
Building in public requires comfort with imperfection and vulnerability. You're not showing a highlight reel—you're documenting reality. This authenticity is what makes it compelling.
**Related Movements:**
Connects to the indie hacker movement, creator economy, and the shift toward authentic personal brands over corporate polish.
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