Building in public

Building in public comes up in roughly 40 episodes and is overwhelmingly endorsed, especially by indie SaaS and app makers. Guests describe three payoffs: free distribution (Magai, Outrank, HabitKit, a design subscription and Shipper say it drove early growth with no ad spend), a feedback loop that shapes the product before launch (John Rush says his failure rate fell from 90% to 10%, a self-reported figure), and credibility that makes launches work (Vanman’s tooth powder sold out in 20 minutes; AudioPen’s beta testers paid unprompted). The practical advice is consistent: post daily, even unpolished, expect two or three months of few views, show your face, and share lows as well as wins. Pat Walls makes ‘document and share what you’re doing’ his number-one advice for new builders — a host view. Dissent is real but limited: Sam Adeniyi calls Twitter-style build in public ‘rubbish’ and prefers building with users in a community, Angus Cheng found his users weren’t on Twitter, and Tibo says it stops being enough beyond about 20K a month. Several guests admit it feels cringe.

Key points

• Post progress consistently — daily if possible — even when it’s unpolished and only gets 10 likes; the first months are practice — 9 episodes. (Yasser Elsaid · Yasser Elsaid (Jul 2025) ▶ 03:38) (Ramsri Goutham · Ramsri Goutham (Jun 2025) ▶ 08:03) (Dustin Stout · Dustin Stout (Oct 2025) ▶ 04:45) +6 more
• Building in public builds the audience and credibility that make launches (and the next project) work — 6 episodes. (Jeremy · Jeremy (Mar 2024) ▶ 04:41) (Louis Pereira · Louis Pereira (Dec 2025) ▶ 07:06) (Marc Lou · Marc Lou (Aug 2024) ▶ 13:33) +3 more
• Its bigger value may be feedback: share prototypes and screenshots and let reactions steer the product — 6 episodes. (John Rush · John Rush (May 2025) ▶ 15:40) (Alex Finn · Alex Finn (Jun 2025) ▶ 03:40) (Sebastian Röhl · Sebastian Röhl (Jun 2025) ▶ 03:12) +3 more
• It can drive growth with zero ad spend — 6 episodes. (Dustin Stout · Dustin Stout (Oct 2025) ▶ 05:03) (Tibo · Tibo (Dec 2025) ▶ 13:57) (David · David (May 2026) ▶ 06:30) +3 more
• Share the lows and failures, not only wins; vulnerability builds trust — 3 episodes. (Jeremy Redman · Jeremy Redman (Apr 2026) ▶ 14:25) (Rob Hallam · Rob Hallam (Dec 2025) ▶ 05:01) (Aaron Spivak · Aaron Spivak (Sep 2023) ▶ 10:20)
• Side benefits: partners, co-founders, podcast spots and peer connections — 3 episodes. (John Rush · John Rush (May 2025) ▶ 06:08) (Sebastian Röhl · Sebastian Röhl (Jun 2025) ▶ 06:58) (Ramsri Goutham · Ramsri Goutham (Jun 2025) ▶ 07:45)
• Show your face and personal moments; few builders post video — 3 episodes. (Yasser Elsaid · Yasser Elsaid (Jul 2025) ▶ 03:56) (Rob Hallam · Rob Hallam (Dec 2025) ▶ 08:22) (Kyan · Kyan (Jun 2026) ▶ 07:21)
• Limits: it may not reach your users and stops being enough at scale — 3 episodes. (Tibo · Tibo (Dec 2025) ▶ 14:03) (Angus Cheng · Angus Cheng (Jul 2025) ▶ 04:30) (Sam Adeniyi · Sam Adeniyi (Jan 2026) ▶ 10:43)

Where guests agree

• Building in public is a free, early-stage channel that works best before and just after launch. (Tibo · Tibo (Dec 2025) ▶ 12:12) (Sebastian Röhl · Sebastian Röhl (Jun 2025) ▶ 06:45) (Brett · Brett (May 2023) ▶ 05:44)

Where guests disagree

Is Twitter-style building in public worth it? ⚠️

• Yes — it is the core early distribution and feedback channel (John Rush · John Rush (May 2025) ▶ 15:40) (Dustin Stout · Dustin Stout (Oct 2025) ▶ 05:03) (Rob Hallam · Rob Hallam (Dec 2025) ▶ 09:01)
• No / limited — build with users in a community instead; or your users simply aren’t on Twitter (Sam Adeniyi · Sam Adeniyi (Jan 2026) ▶ 10:43) (Angus Cheng · Angus Cheng (Jul 2025) ▶ 04:30)

Does building in public keep working as you grow? ⚠️

• It stops being enough past about 20K a month; SEO, ads and affiliates take over (Tibo · Tibo (Dec 2025) ▶ 14:03)
• It powered growth to 100K a month (with a long-built personal brand and affiliates) (Dustin Stout · Dustin Stout (Oct 2025) ▶ 04:39)

Frameworks

• Build-in-public playbook (seven steps) — Rob’s step-by-step process for building an audience on X from zero. (Rob Hallam · Rob Hallam (Dec 2025) ▶ 10:48)
  • Set your foundation: friendly real-face photo, one-sentence bio, pinned post with your goal/elevator pitch
  • Pick one goal and document progress daily
  • Run the content loop
  • Systematise what works using data from top posts in your niche
  • Double down on what works and kill what doesn’t, even if viral
  • Build real connections through intentional engagement
  • Leverage what the platform wants (currently video)
• Lean MVP loop: ship small, get feedback, iterate or move on — His start-over process for building and validating quickly. (Louis Pereira · Louis Pereira (Dec 2025) ▶ 07:46)
  • Build many small things for fun that can be shut down without harming users
  • Design before you build
  • Build in public; spin up a quick email list (even a Google form) if it resonates
  • Launch the simplest version; raise the price as you refine
• Build to sell (flip micro-SaaS and apps) — His process for launching, growing and selling micro-SaaS apps. (Domenico Gagliardi · Domenico Gagliardi (Oct 2025) ▶ 04:38)
  • Set goals: sell in 3, 6 or more months
  • Validate: landing page (yep.so), distribute on X, collect emails; ~15% conversion is good
  • Build with a feedback loop: one key feature, send to early emails, get feedback, improve, relaunch
  • Grow: building in public for organic growth
  • Sell: package as an asset someone else can run; optimise ARR, gross margin, ARPU, LTV, CAC, churn
• Zero-paid-channel launch sequence — Shipper’s growth path without paid ads. (David · David (May 2026) ▶ 06:35)
  • Product Hunt launch in week one
  • Reddit posts for initial traction
  • High-intent SEO on competitor keywords (‘alternatives to X’, ‘how much does X cost’)
  • Build in public on X; product link in the second tweet
• Three keys to growing Magai — What Dustin credits for growth from zero to 100,000 a month. (Dustin Stout · Dustin Stout (Oct 2025) ▶ 05:41)
  • A personal brand and built-in audience (10 years of blogging, 100,000+ email subscribers), building in public
  • A generous recurring-commission affiliate programme built in from the start
  • Relationships with marketer friends in the industry
• HabitKit growth mix — The three channels he credits for growth. (Sebastian Röhl · Sebastian Röhl (Jun 2025) ▶ 06:45)
  • Building in public across X, LinkedIn, Bluesky and Threads
  • Low-budget Apple Search Ads ($100/month) as a possible ranking boost
  • App Store Optimization: keyword in the app name, metadata, and review gathering

Tactics

• Build the product in public on Twitter — Document experiments (baking soda, eggshell powder) so followers ask to try it before launch. (Jeremy · Jeremy (Mar 2024) ▶ 04:38)
• Build in public on LinkedIn daily — Post every day about what you’re working on, even at 10 likes; it attracts users and even co-founders. (Ramsri Goutham · Ramsri Goutham (Jun 2025) ▶ 08:03)
• Run a short build-in-public challenge — Build an MVP in about 10 days in public, launch bare-bones and let feedback set direction. (Fernando Pessagno · Fernando Pessagno (Dec 2024) ▶ 06:23)
• Share incremental progress publicly — Post small progress, even unfinished features, on Twitter and LinkedIn to gather a community. (Marc · Marc & Iuliia (Aug 2025) ▶ 09:34)
• Announce a launch date and go live all day — He announced on 12 January that he would launch on 24 January, then talked about Creator Buddy on Spaces the entire launch day after months of building in public. (Alex Finn · Alex Finn (Jun 2025) ▶ 07:36)
• Post a personal moment alongside the launch post — At launch, besides a standard screen-recording launch post, he posted a selfie in front of his laptop; it drove more signups than the launch post itself. (Rob Hallam · Rob Hallam (Dec 2025) ▶ 08:22)
• Build in public so a failed app still leaves an audience — Share what you build publicly so that, if the app fails, you have a small following to launch the next project to. (Marc Lou · Marc Lou (Aug 2024) ▶ 13:33)
• Share development screenshots to test demand before launch — Post early screenshots on social media; positive reception signals to ship fast. (Sebastian Röhl · Sebastian Röhl (Jun 2025) ▶ 03:12)
• Keep momentum by posting consistently in public — Every post about the product builds recognition of your name and product in people’s feeds; pausing for weeks resets it. (Thomas Sanlis · Thomas Sanlis (Aug 2025) ▶ 03:29)
• Launch with a ‘how I built it’ Reddit thread — Share the technical specs of your build in a Reddit thread aimed at developers. (Julian Gargicevich · Julian Gargicevich (Nov 2025) ▶ 04:54)

Stories & examples

• Building in public flipped his failure rate: Before building in public 90% of his projects failed; afterwards only 10% fail, because feedback lets him adjust products before shipping. Lesson: Use a public audience as a feedback channel, not just free marketing. (John Rush · John Rush (May 2025) ▶ 15:40)
• Failure post leads to a dev agency: After five products that made nothing and a year without income, he posted about his failures; it got about 150,000 views, a comment suggested a development agency, and he got a $3,000 first client from that post, with further clients coming inbound via viral posts. Lesson: Sharing vulnerability and failures can build trust and attract opportunities. (Rob Hallam · Rob Hallam (Dec 2025) ▶ 05:01)
• Eggshells in tooth powder: An Arnold Schwarzenegger egg-shake video prompted tweets about eggshells for teeth; adding eggshell powder to his tooth powder led to a launch that sold a couple of hundred in the first hour. Lesson: Ideas can come from riffing publicly with an engaged audience. (Jeremy · Jeremy (Mar 2024) ▶ 02:23)
• Unrequested payments from beta testers: Before the 12 hours were up, early beta testers who already had full access started paying, triggering Stripe notifications he hadn’t asked for. Lesson: He attributes it to a real need, Twitter credibility, pre-launch hype and community support. (Louis Pereira · Louis Pereira (Dec 2025) ▶ 06:50)
• Outrank from 20K to 200K per month: Outrank grew from zero to 20K per month purely by building in public; beyond that they added ads, deeper SEO with a dedicated hire and an affiliate programme, which took it from 20K to 200K. Lesson: Building in public gets you started, but scaling needs sustainable channels like SEO, ads and affiliates. (Tibo · Tibo (Dec 2025) ▶ 13:57)
• Fired a day before his holiday: A few weeks after a very positive performance review, and a day before planned holidays, he was fired; burned out on the 9-to-5, he decided not to look for another job and launched a build-in-public challenge. Lesson: A setback can be the push to go all in. (Fernando Pessagno · Fernando Pessagno (Dec 2024) ▶ 05:39)

Numbers

• Product failure rate before vs after building in public: 90% to 10% percent of products failing (self-reported, approx.) (John Rush · John Rush (May 2025) ▶ 15:36)
• MRR gained in 1-2 weeks on X: 20000 currency unstated / month (self-reported, approx., currency unstated) (David · David (May 2026) ▶ 07:04)
• Day of building in public when X started working: 50 days (self-reported, approx.) (David · David (May 2026) ▶ 06:59)
• Traffic mix: SEO/LLMs, word of mouth, LinkedIn building in public: 30-40% / 30% / 20% % of visitors (self-reported, approx.) (Joseph · Joseph (Mar 2026) ▶ 09:42)

Caveats & warnings

• Build in public takes time: without luck, the first two or three months get few views. (Yasser Elsaid · Yasser Elsaid (Jul 2025) ▶ 03:45)
• Building in public stops being enough past about 20K per month. (Tibo · Tibo (Dec 2025) ▶ 14:03)
• Personal build-in-public posts can be a bit cringe, especially on LinkedIn. (Fernando Pessagno · Fernando Pessagno (Dec 2024) ▶ 08:11)
• Building in public is not for everyone; it means putting yourself out there and embracing the cringe. (presenter · Rob Hallam (Dec 2025) ▶ 09:07)
• Founders rarely share their low stretches, so others’ failures come as a surprise. (Jeremy Redman · Jeremy Redman (Apr 2026) ▶ 14:14)
• Yes: he created new accounts to get away from people he knew; the only cure is to do it and realise nobody really cares because people are focused on themselves. (Jack Friks · Jack Friks (Mar 2025) ▶ 12:39)

How much to trust this

• Evidence: 39 episodes, 39 independent speakers (repeat guests counted once; Pat and Gus counted as one voice).

Blueprints that use this

• Build in public / personal brand → product