Build in public
What is build in public?
Building in public is sharing the journey of building a product openly: what you are working on, metrics such as users or revenue, decisions, failures and lessons. Founders do it on X, LinkedIn, blogs, newsletters and communities like Indie Hackers.
The audience that follows along often becomes the first users and the first people to spread the word.
Why build in public matters
It turns development time into marketing, builds trust through transparency, and brings feedback early. It does take consistency, and some things (customer data, security details) should stay private.
Related marketing terms
Indie Hackers is an online community of founders building profitable, often self-funded internet businesses, sharing numbers and lessons openly.
Early adopters are the first customers to try a new product, accepting rough edges because the problem matters to them and they like new things.
Founder-led sales is when a startup’s founders sell the product themselves in the early days, before hiring a sales team.
Community marketing is taking part in, or building, communities where customers gather, and earning attention by being genuinely helpful.