What Is Building in Public?,
A Complete Guide for Startup Founders (2026)
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Introduction
Building in public has become one of the fastest-growing movements in the startup ecosystem.
Instead of developing products privately and revealing them only at launch, founders now share their progress openly online while they build their companies. This includes revenue numbers, product updates, mistakes, experiments, and growth milestones.
The strategy has gained massive traction across platforms like:
For modern startups, building in public is no longer just a transparency trend—it has become a powerful growth strategy for attracting users, investors, and early supporters.
What Does “Building in Public” Mean?
Building in public is the practice of openly documenting the process of building a startup while it is happening.
Instead of hiding development behind closed doors, founders share their journey publicly with an online audience.
Typical content shared includes:
- Product updates
- Revenue milestones
- User growth
- Product roadmaps
- Mistakes and failures
- Lessons learned
- Experiments and pivots
This transforms startup building into a real-time narrative that people can follow.
Why Building in Public Is Growing So Fast ?
Several structural shifts in the startup ecosystem explain why the movement is accelerating.
1. Distribution Is Now More Valuable Than Secrecy
Historically, startups kept ideas private to avoid competition.
Today, distribution and attention matter far more than secrecy.
Building in public allows founders to grow an audience before their product is even finished. When the product launches, the community already exists.
2. Audiences Prefer Authentic Founder Stories
People connect with founders who share their real journey.
Watching a startup grow from idea to traction creates a compelling narrative.
Audiences follow along because they see:
- the struggles
- the experimentation
- the progress
- the wins
The startup journey becomes content itself.
3. The Internet Becomes a Feedback Engine
When founders share progress publicly, they gain access to continuous feedback.
Benefits include:
- early product feedback
- feature suggestions
- potential customers
- hiring opportunities
- investor attention
The public essentially becomes a distributed advisory board.
Famous Founders Who Build in Public
Several entrepreneurs helped popularize the concept.
Roy Lee
One of the most visible modern examples of building in public is Roy Lee, he is the Co-Founder & CEO of Cluely, known for documenting startup experiments and growth strategies openly online, Lee gained significant attention by sharing real-time startup experiments, distribution tactics, and growth metrics with a large audience on X. Instead of waiting until products were polished, he publicly showed:
- rapid product launches
- growth experiments
- monetization strategies
- failures and pivots
This style resonated strongly with founders because it demonstrated speed and transparency in startup execution.
His approach helped reinforce a key principle of the building-in-public movement:
The journey of building a company can be as valuable as the final product.
By openly documenting experiments and outcomes, Lee helped normalize the idea that founders can build startups and audiences simultaneously—turning startup building itself into content.
Pieter Levels
Pieter Levels is widely known for openly sharing revenue numbers and product experiments while building companies like:
His transparency attracted a large audience and helped validate the model.
Nathan Barry
Nathan Barry is the founder of:
He famously shared revenue milestones publicly as the company scaled.
His openness helped build trust with both customers and the creator community.
Arvid Kahl
Arvid Kahl documented his SaaS journey before writing the book:
The book details the lessons learned from building and selling a startup.
Benefits of Building in Public
1. Build an Audience Before Launch
Most startups launch with zero visibility.
Founders who build in public often launch with:
- thousands of followers
- early adopters
- product advocates
This dramatically increases the chances of early traction.
2. Attract Investors Organically
Investors increasingly monitor founder activity online.
By sharing progress publicly, founders provide real signals about:
- execution speed
- product traction
- founder thinking
- market demand
Many investors now discover startups through content rather than traditional pitch outreach.
3. Increased Credibility Through Transparency
Sharing numbers and progress openly signals confidence.
Transparency can create stronger trust than polished pitch decks.
4. Faster Product Validation
Building in public allows founders to test ideas quickly.
Instead of building in isolation, they receive constant real-world feedback.
Potential Downsides of Building in Public
Despite the benefits, there are risks founders should understand.
Competitors Can Observe Your Strategy
Sharing updates may expose product ideas or strategy.
However, most experienced founders argue that execution speed matters more than secrecy.
Public Failure
If a product fails, the journey is visible.
This level of transparency requires psychological resilience.
Time Commitment
Consistently posting updates requires time and effort.
Founders effectively become content creators alongside builders.
How Building in Public Is Changing Startup Investing
The rise of transparent startup building is influencing how investors discover opportunities.
Instead of relying solely on introductions or pitch decks, investors increasingly observe:
- founder execution over time
- traction signals
- community engagement
Communities like:
have helped normalize this transparent approach to building companies.
Platforms like FishTank extend this idea by allowing founders to show their journey publicly while investors discover startups in real time.
Instead of static pitch decks, investors can evaluate ongoing progress and authentic founder signals.
Building in Public: The Future of Startup Growth
The startup ecosystem is moving toward a model where founders simultaneously build:
- a product
- an audience
- a community
In this environment, building in public becomes a strategic advantage rather than a marketing tactic.
Founders who openly share their journey can attract users, investors, and supporters long before their product reaches maturity.
Conclusion
Building in public is redefining how startups grow.
By documenting the journey openly, founders gain:
- audience growth
- faster feedback loops
- increased investor visibility
- stronger community engagement
As internet-native entrepreneurship continues to evolve, transparency may become the default operating model for the next generation of startups.
