buildinpublic.guide
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Independent handbook

Build in public.
Keep the work honest.

A practical guide to sharing unfinished work, learning from real feedback, and shipping consistently without turning your life into content.

Start the guide Try the 30-day practice
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Your learning path

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Continue with step 01

The learning path

From an idea to something real

Follow the path in order, or open only the question you need answered today.

01 What is Build in Public? A clear definition of the practice, what it is not, and the smallest useful way to begin. Understand 02 Why build in public? Understand what public work can improve, what it cannot guarantee, and how to choose a reason that survives quiet weeks. Reason 03 Is Build in Public for me? Understand the benefits, costs, and boundaries before choosing how public your work should be. Decide 04 Common Build in Public myths Separate the useful practice from the pressure to overshare, perform constant progress, or copy someone else's public strategy. Clarify 05 Choose a project worth continuing Pick a small project with a real question, visible progress, and enough meaning to survive quiet weeks. Choose 06 Create a public home Give the project one durable URL where a new reader can understand what exists and what happens next. Prepare 07 Write your first useful update Turn one work session into a short note with evidence, context, a lesson, and a focused next step. Share 08 Share with boundaries Protect users, collaborators, security, and your own attention while keeping the useful parts of the work open. Protect 09 Build a feedback loop Ask questions people can answer, separate signals from opinions, and show what feedback changed. Listen 10 Ship every week Create a sustainable rhythm that produces evidence without letting publishing replace the work. Continue 11 Launch something small Turn accumulated public evidence into a clear invitation to try, respond, contribute, or buy. Launch 12 Find your first 10 people Replace follower hunting with ten relevant conversations, readers, testers, or users who can recognize the problem. Connect 13 Grow without losing the work Build durable distribution from useful artifacts, recurring formats, and owned archives instead of chasing every channel. Grow

Practice, not performance

Thirty small reasons to ship

The challenge begins with introducing yourself, not announcing a company. Each day asks for one small, honest artifact.

Open the challenge
  1. DAY 01Say what you are beginning
  2. DAY 04Publish a useful README
  3. DAY 30Launch something small

Use the words, then make them yours

Copyable templates

First Build in Public Update A grounded first post that introduces the work without pretending you already know how the story ends. COPY / EDIT / PUBLISH Weekly Progress Update A repeatable weekly note for shipped work, changed assumptions, unfinished tasks, and the next outcome. COPY / EDIT / PUBLISH Build in Public README A durable project home that distinguishes the current product, the open question, and the public progress log. COPY / EDIT / PUBLISH Monthly Build Recap Connect four weeks of activity into decisions, evidence, unfinished work, and a direction for the next month. COPY / EDIT / PUBLISH Launch Post A clear launch announcement built from the problem, current product, evidence, limitations, and one invitation. COPY / EDIT / PUBLISH First Landing Page A one-page structure for explaining the current product and moving one relevant visitor to one useful action. COPY / EDIT / PUBLISH Lessons Learned Turn a mistake or experiment into a useful explanation without rewriting the past as an obvious success. COPY / EDIT / PUBLISH Ask for Useful Feedback A respectful request that gives context, limits the task, and connects the answer to a real decision. COPY / EDIT / PUBLISH Product Hunt Launch A factual launch kit for the tagline, maker comment, gallery story, first comment, and post-launch follow-up. COPY / EDIT / PUBLISH Project Announcement Introduce a new project without pretending the idea is finished, validated, or ready for everyone. COPY / EDIT / PUBLISH

The encyclopedia

Understand the words. Choose the tools.

The learning path tells you what to do next. The complete library explains a concept or helps you choose a practical resource without restarting the whole guide.

Frequently asked questionsDirect answers about privacy, platforms, feedback, metrics, and starting without an audience. GlossaryPlain definitions for the language used throughout the guide and independent building.

Case studies

Study the method, not the mythology

These are not success posters. Each case asks what was shared, what it changed, and what a beginner can realistically borrow.

Pieter Levels and Hoodmaps What a fully visible build can teach about evidence, accountability, distribution, and the real cost of public attention. Tony Dinh and the Product Portfolio How sharing products, experiments, and failures can document a portfolio without making attention the only business model. Arvid Kahl and the Feedback Cycle A quieter model of Build in Public where teaching, listening, and preserving the journey reinforce the product work. Marc Lou and the Speed Portfolio What repeated small launches teach about speed, public evidence, selection, and the danger of copying outcomes without context. Danny Postma and Headlime How public product development, customer proximity, and acquisition readiness intersected in the Headlime story.

Build in public is not a demand for total transparency.

You do not owe the internet your revenue, private messages, customer data, health, family, or every unfinished thought.

Share the part of the work that can teach, invite useful feedback, or preserve a decision. Keep everything else where it belongs.

Learn to share safely