Building in Public: A Founder’s Guide That Actually Brings Users

Building in public means sharing your work as you go: what you are building, why, what is working and what is not. Done well, it turns strangers into followers, followers into early users, and early users into people who tell others about you. Done badly, it becomes a second job of writing posts nobody reads.

This guide is about doing it well, in a few hours a week.

Why it works

People follow stories. A product announcement is an ad; a founder sharing the decision they are struggling with is a story. When people have followed your progress for weeks, they want to see you succeed, and they show up when you launch.

Building in public also gives you:

• Feedback before you build the wrong thing. Share a rough idea and people tell you what they would actually use.
• Accountability. Public goals are harder to quietly drop.
• A searchable record that keeps bringing people to you long after you posted.

What to share

The posts that work best are specific and honest:

• Decisions. "We almost added a free plan. Here is why we didn't."
• Numbers. Sign-ups, revenue, churn, conversion rates. Real numbers, including the bad weeks.
• Mistakes. What broke, what you got wrong, what you would do differently.
• Before and after. Screenshots of a redesign, a faster page, a simpler onboarding.
• Lessons from users. What a customer told you that changed your plan.
• Milestones. First user, first payment, first time someone found you without being told.

What to avoid: vague motivation, engagement bait, and posts that are only an announcement. Nobody follows a feed of ads.

Where to post

Go where your future users already are:

• X for tech, startup and developer audiences.
• LinkedIn for B2B products and professional audiences.
• Indie Hackers for long-form progress updates among founders.
• A newsletter or blog you own, so your audience does not depend on any platform.
• TikTok or YouTube Shorts if your product is visual: short screen recordings of what you built this week work well.

You do not need all of them. One main channel, done consistently, beats five done occasionally.

How often

A sustainable rhythm beats bursts. A simple plan:

• Two or three short posts a week on your main channel: one decision, one number, one lesson.
• One longer monthly update with your numbers, what you shipped and what is next.

Batch your writing. Keep a running note of decisions and lessons during the week and turn them into posts in one sitting.

Turning followers into users

Followers are not the goal; users are. Make the path obvious:

• Link to the product in your profile and in your longer updates.
• Invite people into the process. "Looking for five people to test the new import before Friday" turns readers into users.
• Launch to your audience. When you launch, on Cometday or elsewhere, your followers are your first wave.
• Share user stories. A post about one customer's result does more than ten feature announcements.

Common worries

• "Competitors will copy me." Ideas are rarely the hard part. Execution, focus and the relationship with your users are, and those cannot be copied from a post.
• "My numbers are too small." Small numbers are relatable. Many of the most followed founders started posting at zero.
• "I do not have time." Two short posts a week take less time than one cold email campaign, and they keep working.

Getting started this week

1. Pick one channel where your users spend time.
2. Write a short post introducing what you are building and why.
3. Share one real number and one decision this week.
4. Set a calendar reminder for your monthly update.

When you are ready to show the result, launch on Cometday and bring your followers with you. For more on what comes next, read how to grow a startup.