Startups Building in Public: Is It Right for You?

I recently had a great conversation about the #BuildInPublic path that I am taking in my own side hustle. This way of going about entrepreneurship can be an awesome way to grow your startup, launch to a following, and validate your ideas as you go. Of course, it also has some drawbacks that are worth considering before you peruse this path.

In this writeup, we’ll cover what #BuildingInPublic is, why startup founders do it, and why I’ve chosen it for my side hustle, Qurbie.

What is Building in Public?

The history of this movement goes back a long way. One of the first examples of this that I can remember is from David Heinemeier Hansson (DHH), creator of Ruby on Rails and co-founder of Basecamp. As he built out his company, he did something unique. He shared everything about his ideas, successes, and failures out in the open. This created quite the following and is now famous for his writeups, tweets, and interviews where he is very transparent about his company’s progress.

Courtland Allen of IndieHackers.com took this idea one step farther. He built an online community of indie hackers which are most commonly defined as solopreneurs that are building indie software as a service (SaaS) products. In this community, it is very common for people to list their products, share their revenue, and open post about how things are going. In this mindset, the good, the bad, and the ugly are put out in the open for anyone to read.

Why Would Anyone Do This?

If this concept is new to you, then you might be wondering why anyone would ever do this?

“Wont someone steal your idea?”

“What if investors look you up and see that you made mistakes?”

“What if things aren’t going well and you look bad?”

Of course, that’s the whole point.

So many startups tend to build in stealth mode, then launch to the world. The strategy is to stay hidden to protect what you are working on and then release it to the world in as big of a fashion as you can to get as much press, following, and support as you can. When you launch, you are starting from square one. Hopefully, during your time in stealth mode, you were able to launch your idea before someone else comes up with it.

Building in Public is a completely different mindset. It’s about putting your ideas out there, being open to criticism, and validating your ideas as you go. Most importantly, you are building a following as you build your solution. Those that are interested in your product become followers, an audience to launch to, and they are way more likely to become customers. Sometimes, they are even pre-order if you are truly selling a solution to an important problem.

This strategy is also about accountability. For so many entrepreneurs out there, building in public is motivating and the real-time feedback keeps them building their company. When they get stuck, the post problems for the community to help solve. This creates an initial culture around your company before your product is even finished.

The Bad Side of Building in Public

One of the first responses that come up when I talk about this strategy tends to be:

“Wont someone steal your idea?”

Yes, this can be a risk of building in public. However, this is going to happen anyway. As soon as you are successful, others will try and take a shortcut to copy your company. A famous example of this happening and why it rarely works is the story of Airbnb’s clone: Wimdu. As Airbnb rose to success, Wimdu tried to take over the European market. They raised a ton of money, and it looked like a clone of Airbnb was sure to compete with them. But, they quickly failed and went out of existence. You can learn more about this story at:

“Wimdu: Imitation Simply Wasn’t Good Enough”

For much smaller products, such as the niche AI solutions that are currently running wild, you see tons of copying. If you are operating at this micro-SaaS level, you should expect to be copied and moving fast is your only advantage. And let’s be honest, you are most likely copying others too! In these cases, building in public might not be the best strategy for you.

The bottom line is that yes, people can, and likely will, copy your ideas no matter what strategy you choose. As you achieve success, new competition will begin to appear. The perceived advantage of building in stealth mode is that you can get out ahead of your competition. However, you risk building a solution without a validated need. The #BuildInPublic strategy helps you build a following to launch your product while validating the idea as you go.

So, Should You #BuildInPublic or Stealth Mode?

In the end, this all comes down to personal preference, your specific situation and who is on your team.

To truly succeed at building in public, you must be willing to authentically put yourself out there. It is way too easy to spot falsehoods and if you lose credibility, the entire strategy fails. You also must be able to own your own mistakes and handle the criticism that comes with this approach. If you can’t handle it, this strategy will hurt your success. (I’d also argue if you can’t handle it, go get a job and don’t start a company!)

If you do go all in on this strategy, the outcome is that you will end up with a following that you can launch your company into. You will have supporters, followers, and a community around your product that will share their perspectives, validate your ideas, and answer questions as they come up. Instead of wondering what your future customers want, you just ask them.

Stealth mode can also be successful. In this approach, you’ll keep your cards to yourself and only announce when you are ready to launch to the market. You will need to spend quite a bit of time talking to customers, doing private beta tests, and planning your marketing. Without careful planning, this strategy can result in a product being launched to the sound of crickets and silence. I’m not a fan of large launch events or parties. But it can be extremely difficult to spend months on a product and seeing no traction at your launch.

Stealth mode is typically successful when careful connections are made during the development of the product, press and other contacts are brought in early, and a significant focus is on the launch during product development.

When it comes to making this decision as a founder, don’t forget about the rest of your team. This may affect them too and they need to understand the strategy behind what you are doing. Otherwise, you might risk seeming like an egotistical social media junky wanting attention when your lead developer just wants to write some code!

Investors may also not agree with this philosophy, and this needs to be discussed early on. I have found the investor world, especially if they are an early-stage angel investor in your business, likes to keep all details of a company secret. Potential investors also may be scared off if you are sharing multiple challenges without solutions as you work your way through the natural challenges of a startup.

Stealth mode can also be less work. As your following grows, so does the demand for content and engagement. Updates, social posts, and other messages from the founders are important to keep the information flowing and the following connected to your company. Stealth mode can allow for more focus and less pressure to launch your company.

In the end, you must choose the strategy that works best for you and your team. If you are a solopreneur, there are some strong advantages to building a following as you build your products. If you are a team, discuss it first and plan out how it will work.

Who is Building in Public

So, who is building in public? Let’s look at a couple of modern examples.

Dave Crosby of Wyze?— might be one of my favorite people building in public. I love the company, their cameras, and their smart home products. Their team’s marketing is awesome but the real success of Wyze came from Dave’s ability to market the heck out of their company from Day 1. They also created one of the?best pitch videos I’ve ever seen. But, one of their best #buildinpublic moments was when Dave had a prototype camera stolen out of his car in his driveway and?turned it into his own version of CSI: Seattle?that combines his family, his company, and even the local police. Truly, incredible marketing!

Peter Levels?— Peter has built his own empire by being completely upfront in everything he is doing. As the founder of Nomad list, he’s earned some criticism for empowering remote workers to travel and live in amazing places around the world. Sure, we can debate the impact this might have on local cultures but there are some things we can’t debate. But Peter ships code?every single day. He also shares almost everything he does in full transparency.

You can follow him on Twitter to see his revenue numbers, what experiments are working, and to learn about what went right or wrong in his latest venture. Recently, Peter was on the cutting edge of the Avatar AI image tool creation. He shared why he felt he lost the race (no app, server costs, etc.) in a helpful Twitter thread that sheds light into this mindset.

Josh Pigford?— As the Founder of Baremetrics, Josh has helped inspire countless startups to build in public. One of my favorite blog posts, among a gold mine of amazing content, is his post, “I Sold Baremetrics.” Josh goes into why he sold it, what he sold it for, how his investors helped him personally succeed in the sale, and the outcome of the event. Josh also launched the @TheOpenStartups movement to highlight others doing the same (@ConvertKit, Hyperping, etc.).

Why I Chose to #BuildInPublic with Qurbie.com

It is one thing to talk about how great a concept can be. It’s another to jump in and do it yourself. In my past 5 companies, I always operated in stealth mode. I focused on a solid launch plan with steady growth built in and did my best to validate in private as much as possible. This worked and most of my launches went well. So why would I change my strategy?

I am a firm believer that all startup ecosystem builders should have strong experience in building at least one product-based business. Too many of these individuals come from government, private industry, real estate, and economic development backgrounds. It’s important for startup ecosystems to be built by experienced founders.

I also believe it is important for these individuals to be open books and share their knowledge. The problem is that the lessons we share too often become theory to the aspiring entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurship is not a noun. It’s a verb. Theory will never teach someone to build a successful startup. Action must be taken to learn the concepts, and I believe through the #BuildingInPublic strategy, there is an opportunity to share our knowledge in a practical way.

I’m also the type of person that will always have a side hustle. It is who I am.

Dan Martell said it best:

“If you are an entrepreneur, you wouldn’t last long sitting on a beach. You’d sit your butt in the sand for a whole few days before getting antsy. After staring at the umbrella for too long, you’d probably invent a better one, start a new company, and hire the pool boy as your first employee.” — Dan Martell

When I decided to jump into my next side hustle, I found this to be a perfect opportunity to share what I know and especially what I learn during this journey. Qurbie is a platform that helps you pay 1099 workers easily and without a subscription. With Qurbie, you can pay, onboard, and track everything so you can file your 1099 forms at the end of the year automatically.

As I have this product built, market it, and release it to the world, I’ll be sharing every decision I make. I’ll also share my revenue, growth, and other statistics. When I make obvious and stupid mistakes, I’ll be writing about it. When I figure out creative solutions to stagnation, I’ll share it. And if it fails or succeeds, you can join me along for the ride.

I constantly share that I don’t teach entrepreneurship. Not even at ETSU where I am faculty! That would be impossible. I simply teach others to discover success in their own ventures and now we can watch a live example evolve together.

I hope as you build your own products, you consider being open and transparent about your company. Sure, there are challenges with this approach. But building in public has been an amazing way to stay accountable, connected with your customers, and motivated to continue in your company.

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David Nelson is Director of FoundersForge, a 501c3 non-profit that is dedicated to the underdog Entrepreneurs in the Appalachian Highlands of Northeast Tennessee. David is a serial Entrepreneur that loves giving back to the startup community and is always looking for the next person to tell him, “It can’t be done.” Learn more at?FoundersForge.