The Case for Building in Public

TL;DR: Building in public means sharing your product’s progress, milestones, and lessons as you go, not after you’ve cleaned it up. Done well, it can grow your audience and build trust, but it takes judgment about what’s safe to share, especially if your idea’s easy to copy or you’re not ready for public scrutiny.

Building in public has become a go-to way for founders to attract early users and build trust as they go. By sharing your process openly, you invite others into the journey and build a community around your work.

At Bubble, we’ve embraced this approach. We regularly share how we build and what we’re learning along the way. It’s all in service of keeping our community of builders in the loop on where we’re headed next.

But building in public isn’t for every situation, and it isn’t always easy. In this piece, we’ll make the case for building in public and show you how to do it well. Then you can decide for yourself whether it’s the right move for you.

What it means to build in public

Building in public means sharing how you’re building your product or service in real time, not after you’ve polished it. That might look like posting revenue numbers, a product update, or a decision you’re still wrestling with. It’s as much a mindset as a habit, and done well, it turns your startup journey into a story people actually want to follow.

Benefits of building in public

Building in public works especially well for early-stage founders trying to build momentum and prove their idea before they can afford to do it any other way. Stick with it, and the payoff (a bigger audience, more trust, more opportunities) tends to grow over time.

Growing your audience and building your brand

Your everyday work can double as content people actually want to follow. A product update or a small milestone is often enough to keep someone checking back, and showing up regularly helps people remember your name.

Going public with your work also helps your ideas travel further than you’d expect. A good post might spark a conversation or land you a new collaborator. Every so often, it even gets picked up by press. The more visible you are, the more people end up seeing what you’re building.

Building community and loyalty

When people are invited into your process, they start to feel like they’re part of it, and that turns passive followers into a community that actually wants to see you win. It works both ways: Sharing your goals out loud keeps you honest, and a little encouragement from others can carry you further than going it alone.

Building trust and validating your product

Being upfront about both your struggles and your wins comes across as honest. People get to see the real effort behind your product, and the real people behind your company. That kind of openness builds trust, especially while your product is still taking shape.

It also helps you learn faster. Share an early idea and ask for feedback, and you’ll often catch blind spots or bad assumptions before they turn into expensive mistakes. Instead of guessing what people want, you find out by including them from the start.

Attracting investors and teammates

Talking openly about your process gives people a window into how you think and work. That kind of openness tends to attract people who are already on your wavelength, whether that’s a future co-founder, a hire, or an investor keeping an eye on your progress.

Showing up consistently also builds a track record. People don’t just hear what you say you’ll do, they watch you actually do it, and that follow-through is what earns you credibility down the line.

What building in public actually looks like

A few common formats make it easier to picture how building in public could fit into your own workflow. Many builders lean on these to share progress without letting content creation take over their schedule.

The milestone update

A milestone update captures a specific moment worth celebrating, like hitting a user count or shipping a big feature. Instead of just announcing it, give people the story behind it: what led up to that moment and what it took to get there.

The process thread

Process threads break down a complex challenge or a specific build across a series of posts. Say you spend a weekend redesigning your database or wiring up a new API. A thread like that can walk through what went wrong and how you eventually fixed it, giving other builders something useful and showing off what you know.

The monthly round-up

For founders who’d rather batch updates than post daily, a monthly round-up gives a fuller picture of progress. These updates typically cover what shipped, what stalled, and where you’re headed next. A monthly round-up works well in a newsletter or changelog, giving your biggest fans a real look at where things stand without needing daily posts.

Examples of building in public

Here's what a few builders and founders had to say about the advantages of building in public:

• Adam Goodyer, Bubble Developer at Football Edge: "We could launch quickly and iterate based on user feedback rather than spending months in development."
• Emmanuel Straschnov, Bubble co-founder: "In the early days, getting high-quality feedback is critical and you have to put your product in front of people to get it."
• Paul Stamou, VP Eng, EZRA: "We can't spend a lot of time building out a two-year roadmap for development. Bubble's giving us an edge in delivering features quickly, testing out an area of the market, seeing where it has value, and then supporting that across our business"

What to share when building in public

Building in public doesn’t mean sharing everything. Stick to updates that show where you’re headed and why, in a way that earns trust and invites real feedback.

Product updates and roadmaps

Regular updates on your product’s progress — new features, bug fixes, general improvements — keep your audience informed and can boost engagement. Public roadmaps invite feedback and show what you’re prioritizing.

It’s usually smarter to talk about where you’re headed than to promise a hard deadline, especially while things are still shifting. And if your plans change, just say so.

Behind-the-scenes culture and process

Giving people a look into how your team works, or how you work as a solo founder, helps humanize your brand. Sharing what happens behind the scenes, like a tricky debate, a workflow you’re testing, or how you structure your day, makes your process feel real and relatable.

None of this has to be polished. A quick note about how you resolved a tricky decision or a screenshot of a messy whiteboard sketch can make your process feel accessible. Other builders pick up something useful from your experience, and that’s often enough to keep them coming back.

Revenue milestones

Posting your revenue growth can serve as a credibility signal, especially in the early stages. Simple updates like “$1K MRR → $5K MRR in 6 months” can suggest traction and indicate that customers are willing to pay.

That said, it’s usually better to share trends and milestones than exact numbers. Rounded figures or growth percentages give people a sense of momentum without oversharing, and that matters more the bigger you get.

Responses to customer feedback

This is also a great place to show how feedback actually changes your product. A feature request, a bug report, or an offhand comment can all turn into something real, so show people what you did about it.

These don’t have to be major updates. A quick post about fixing onboarding after a support ticket, or tweaking a layout because someone mentioned it in your DMs, makes people feel heard. Do this enough, and your audience stops feeling like an audience: They start acting like collaborators.

Founder perspective

Opening up about your personal experience as a founder can be one of the most compelling parts of building in public. Offering a glimpse into your perspective makes your brand feel like a person, not a companyA representation of core brand elements including icons, color palette, and typeface. It also helps people connect with how you think.

A post about a hard decision or a mistake you caught late usually gets more engagement than a highlight reel. People remember founders who show their work, not just their wins.

When not to build in public

Building in public is something we’re genuinely committed to at Bubble. Sharing our progress and what we’re learning helps us stay close to our users and move faster. But it isn’t always the right move. Here are a few situations where it’s worth holding back.

When you’re working on something easily replicable

If your product could be cloned in a weekend, be careful about sharing too much too soon. That’s especially true if your edge comes from a clever integration, a growth trick, or an angle on positioning nobody else has spotted yet. Being first doesn’t help much if a competitor can copy your approach before you’ve built any real traction.

That doesn’t mean you can’t build in public at all. Focus on storytelling, progress, and lessons learned while keeping the sensitive mechanics behind the curtain.

When you’re scaling or attracting more competition

As your product gets traction, the openness that helped early on can start to work against you. Metrics and decisions that once built trust and momentum might now hand competitors exactly what they need to catch up.

Your early fans might also lose interest once you’re past the scrappy-startup stage. That doesn’t mean you stop sharing. It just means it’s time to rethink what you’re sharing and why, so you’re reaching the audience that actually cares about where you are now.

When you’re not ready for the pressure

Sharing your process publicly can attract attention and create expectations you’ll need to manage. When things slow down or change direction, you may feel pressure to explain yourself, even while you’re still figuring it out. It also eats into time, yours or a teammate’s, that could go toward the roadmap instead.

If that sounds more like a burden than a motivator, it’s fine to keep things private for now. You don’t owe anyone a running commentary on your work.

When public visibility could backfire

Some moments just aren’t meant for an audience. If your team is navigating a sensitive transition, morale is shaky, or the product is in a rough patch, public updates may invite scrutiny before you’re ready to address it. Even well-meaning feedback can feel like pressure when confidence is low.

In times like these, it’s OK to protect your focus and your bandwidth. You can always share later, once the story is clearer and the lessons are easier to articulate.

When your product or market favors discretion

Some products just don’t lend themselves to full transparency. If you’re in a regulated industry, working with clients under strict confidentiality, or building something where security is everything, you’ll need to be more careful about what you post.

That doesn’t mean going fully dark. It just means thinking harder about what you share, so you don’t accidentally leak something you shouldn’t.

Best practices for building in public

How you go about building in public matters. Here’s how to get the most out of it, for you and for the people following along.

Define your goals up front

Before you start posting updates, clarify what you’re trying to achieve. Your goals will shape what you share, how often you share it, and where you focus your energy. Without that clarity, it’s easy to share for the sake of sharing rather than for a purpose.

Choose the right platforms for your audience

Where you share matters just as much as what you share. The key is meeting your audience where they already are, not where you’re most comfortable.

• X (formerly Twitter): Best for real-time updates, milestone announcements, and community-building with other founders and builders.
• LinkedIn: Better suited for longer reflections and B2B visibility, especially if your target users are in professional roles.
• Reddit: Communities like r/indiehackers and r/SideProject reward honest, numbers-first updates and can drive real traction for a startup that’s still finding its audience.
• Newsletters and changelogs: Ideal for your most invested followers who want a transparent look at your trajectory without requiring daily posts.

Start small and stay consistent

Skip the full transparency dashboard and the daily documentation for now. Start with something manageable, find a rhythm, and build a strategy you can maintain.

Be strategic in what you share

Transparency builds trust, but that doesn’t mean sharing everything. The most effective builders in public are selective: open about progress, process, and lessons learned, but careful with sensitive information.

Engage with your community

Building in public means building relationships. When people respond to your posts, offer feedback, or ask questions, make the effort to reply.

How to get started building in public

Start small: pick one platform, pick one habit, like a weekly update, and stick with it. You don’t need a big audience or a finished product to get going.

Do this for a while, and you’ll likely pick up a few early supporters and fellow founders who want to see where you end up. Their feedback can shape your product, and knowing people are watching can help you keep showing up.

If you’re ready to turn your idea into something real, Bubble can help you build it, no coding required. Use Bubble AI to generate a working foundation, then jump into the visual editor to shape every design, workflow, and database detail exactly the way you want it, and you can start building real apps for free today.

Frequently asked questions about building in public

What does “building in public” mean?

Building in public is the practice of transparently sharing your process — revenue, product decisions, lessons, and setbacks — with an audience as you build, rather than waiting for a polished launch.

Is building in public a good idea for early-stage founders?

Yes. It helps generate audience and interest before the product is finished, creates a feedback loop with potential users, and often attracts early adopters who feel invested in the outcome.

What’s the difference between building in public and just posting on social media?

Standard social media focuses on polished marketing messages and final outcomes; building in public prioritizes the raw, unfiltered process of creation, including both wins and failures, and explicitly invites engagement and feedback.

How often should you share updates when building in public?

Share at whatever cadence you can maintain without it distracting from building — consistency matters more than frequency, whether that’s a daily post, a weekly thread, or a monthly newsletter.

Can you build in public if you’re pre-launch?

The pre-launch phase is actually one of the best times to start: Sharing idea validation, wireframes, and early hurdles helps you build a waitlist so you have an engaged audience ready on launch day.