TL;DR: Building in public means openly sharing your process, decisions, and results as you work, turning transparency into visibility, trust, and real-time feedback. The payoff is a “serendipity engine” that attracts clients, collaborators, sponsors, and ideas—while giving free distribution and fast validation. Learn what to post (milestones, experiments, wins and failures, behind-the-scenes, resources), how to choose platforms (LinkedIn, TikTok/Instagram, YouTube, newsletter), the two workable paths (experienced builder vs. learner in public), mindset shifts to beat cringe and perfectionism, and a concrete 7-step plan to start today and compound consistent momentum.

I wouldn’t have half the opportunities I do today if I hadn’t started to build in public.

I’m not some founder with a billion-dollar exit; I’m a solo Creator figuring it out as I go. But sharing my process has brought me clients, collaborations, and speaking invites I never would’ve landed by cold pitching.

I see the same thing across the Creator economy: coaches filling course cohorts, podcasters landing sponsors, indie founders hitting six-figure ARR. The thread tying it all together is visibility. Sharing what you’re building creates a trail people can follow—what I call your serendipity engine.

That’s what this piece is about: why building in public works, what to actually share, and how you can start today.

What Is Building in Public?

You’ve probably seen it without realizing that’s what it was.

A founder sharing their revenue chart on X.
A coach posting screenshots of their course prep on Instagram.
A Creator breaking down an experiment in real time on TikTok.

That’s building in public.

At its core, it’s simple:

• Share your process, not just the polished end result.
• Let people learn with you instead of only from you.
• Document the decisions as you make them.

I’ve been building in public ever since I started freelancing. Back then, I’d share little updates about what I was learning from clients, how I was pivoting my services, or the unique ways I approached content. 

Now, I post milestones for my newsletter and the experiments I’m running as I build more of a Creator business. What I’ve noticed is that every update brings more people into the journey.

It’s like the audience gets invested alongside me, and that momentum compounds over time.

And you can see it happening across the Creator economy:

• John Hu (Stan): John Hu, founder and CEO of Stan, has become one of the most visible examples of building in public. He documents nearly everything—from product updates and fundraising to his own learnings as a Creator-founder. “The entirety of my success was due to building an audience online,” he says of the early days.

• Jennifer Chou (Vegan Tech Nomad): Jennifer has built her following by being radically transparent. She shares how she runs her newsletter, course business, and now coaching community, posting everything from time-tracking breakdowns to specific launch results. Her updates feel like a playbook you get to watch unfold in real time.

• Milly Tamati (Generalist World): Milly is creating a mini-movement of generalists. She shares the behind-the-scenes of building her community and newsletter—including what’s working, what’s not, and how she’s shaping the future of her business. That honesty inspires others to start building their own thing, too.

The pattern is always the same: building in public isn’t about saying “look at me.” It’s more like saying “come with me.”

Why It Matters Now

No matter what space you’re in—coaching, consulting, running a community, launching digital products—chances are you’re not the only one. Competition is everywhere. Someone else is offering a similar program, a similar product, maybe even a similar message.

So how do you stand out? By showing up exactly as yourself. By sharing your stories, your decisions, and the perspective only you can bring. Your personal story, the decisions you’re making, the lessons you’re learning, the actual experiments you’re running, can’t be copied and pasted by anyone else.

I love how Milly’s posts, for example, sound like they can only come from her. 

For me, every time I’ve shared an update, something unexpected has come back.

A new client.
A podcast invite.
A speaking opportunity.

None of those happened because I chased them down—they happened because I was already leaving a trail of what I was working on. That’s the power of what I call a serendipity engine.

Here are the four big reasons building in public matters right now:

1. It’s a serendipity engine. The clearer you are about your mission, the more you attract the people who want to build alongside you. That could look like sponsors, speaking gigs, new clients, or even new jobs. There’s hardly any risk to doing it, and yet the potential rewards are enormous.
   
   “Building in public has led to so many surprising opportunities,” Jennifer Chou told me. “I got invited to Stan Store’s Collab Fest in Toronto, met Creators I admired for years, started a podcast, landed contracts, and even made new friends traveling. I’ve been recognized at random places—even playing badminton in Melbourne. None of that would’ve happened if I hadn’t put myself out there.”
   
2. It builds trust at scale. What I love most about Creators who build in public is that I feel like I know them at a deeper level. They’re sharing their wins and losses. They’re transparent about what they’re learning. It feels different than being sold to all the time. You become invested in the person behind the content. 
   
3. It gives you free distribution. Jennifer told me when one of her TikToks went viral, she already had her funnel in place. “When my videos blew up, I got a thousand subscribers overnight. Some went straight to purchase. I’d wake up with emails saying ‘new purchase on your Stan Store.” That only happened because she’d been documenting consistently.

4. It validates your ideas in real time. You can test new products before they even exist. Michael Kauffman of Catskill Crew never launches anything without running it past his community first. They’ve told him what games they wanted (which led to a custom Catskill Monopoly board) and even pushed him to create chapter leads and publish a book. His audience plays an active role in shaping new products, and it works.

Common Fears and Mindset Shifts

The biggest thing holding most people back from building in public is fear. I’ve felt it too. Fear of being cringe. Fear of old coworkers watching. Fear of putting something out that isn’t “ready.”

Every Creator I know has had to push through these. 

“When I hear ‘build in public,’ the first thing I think of is how intimidating it feels for beginners. People worry about being embarrassing or having their ideas stolen. But it’s not about the idea—it’s about the execution and your energy. That’s hard to steal or replicate,” Jennifer Chou told me. 

Fear of Cringe

Your first posts won’t be your best posts. Tess Barclay calls cringe a side effect of future success, and I love that framing. Ish Verduzco’s post echoes the same advice: the way to go from an idea to seeing results is crossing the ‘cringe gap.’

Barclay says: “Every time you think about doing something and you’re like, I don’t know, it’s so cringe, I don’t want to do it…do it. It’s a sign it’s something you actually want and something that feels scary—which is exactly what you want as a Creator.”

Even Ali Adbaal, one of the most popular YouTubers, said his first videos were cringe. That should give you permission to start anyway. 

Worried About Judgment

I used to imagine my old coworkers scrolling my posts and thinking, “Who does she think she is?”

The truth: most of the people you’re afraid of impressing aren’t paying attention. 

And the audience that is paying attention—the people who show up later to read your newsletter, buy your product, or invite you on their podcast—is way bigger than your current circle.

Abdaal references the spotlight effect when coaching new Creators. “We all go through life as if we have a spotlight trained on us, with other people watching and judging. But in reality, they’re all thinking the exact same thing,” he explains. 

Another Creator tip I’ve learned along the way: sometimes you’re not creating for your peers, family, or friends—and that’s okay too. I’d argue that’s even more of a case for building in public because you will naturally find “your people” or whatever niche group you want to attract (hello, serendipity engine!).

Perfection vs. Consistency

When I look at a Creator like Tess Barclay, it’s easy to think she’s always had this polished YouTube brand with great graphics and an engaged audience. But the reality is she’s been showing up for years. Her first posts definitely didn’t look like what she’s doing now.

I realize that I still feel that same pressure—wanting my content to look polished, to feel like I’d “made it” before I started sharing my story. The unfortunate truth is that progress comes from the doing; there is no shortcut! 

What’s worked for me is focusing less on “is this perfect?” and more on “did I show up today?” 

Abdaal has some solid advice here too: with every rep, focus on getting 1% better. Maybe that’s a better hook, or a better headline, or better lighting, etc. Each time you can learn something valuable to improve on. 

“If consistency is present, you’re still moving forward. You’re still building a life that you love,” Adbaal writes.

Treat It Like an Experiment

The Creators I respect most treat content like one big experiment. Try different formats. Share ideas before they’re fully formed. Use your audience’s reactions as feedback. 

On Instagram, Katie Steckly shares a transparent update on how she’s taking a summer break from her YouTube to take on more creative side projects. She says this is a great way for Creators to experiment, learn, and gain new inspiration without the pressure of audience growth or monetization. 

Meanwhile, Jennifer Chou, the ultimate ‘Experimenter-in-Public’, told me that documenting started as a way to make up for her “bad memory.” 

She laughed about pulling up her own posts at networking events as proof of what she’d been working on. It became her living archive—and eventually her business. That’s the upside of experimenting: nothing’s wasted, because it all becomes part of your record.

Two Main Paths to Building in Public

One of the best ways I’ve heard this framed comes from entrepreneur and Creator, Codie Sanchez. She says there are really two approaches: building as the experienced builder or as the learner in public.

Both work, but the sweet spot is usually somewhere in the middle.

The Experienced Builder

This is when you share from experience—the playbooks, the systems, the things you’ve already figured out. Maybe you’ve grown a newsletter to 10K subscribers, built a coaching business that pays the bills, or figured out how to consistently land brand sponsorships. You break down how you did it, what worked, and what you’d do differently.

This video from Monica Razak is a great example:

These kinds of posts build authority quickly. They tell your audience, “I’ve been where you are, and here’s what helped me.”

For example:

• “I grew my email list to 10K. Here are the three levers that mattered most.”
• “One mistake I made early in my coaching business (and what I do differently now).”
• “Here’s the workflow I use to repurpose a podcast into five content formats.”

The Learner in Public

This is the path that feels most relatable to most Creators. You’re not positioning yourself as the expert—you’re documenting the journey as you go. That might be trying to land your first brand deal, testing a new digital product idea, or pivoting into a new niche.

These posts are fun because people root for you. They feel like they’re in it with you.

An update might look like:

• “I’m trying to get my first 100 newsletter subscribers. Here’s what I’m testing this week.”
• “Launched my first group program today. No idea how it’ll go, but here’s what I included.”
• “Made my first $250 from a sponsored post! Here’s exactly how it happened.”

I’ve leaned into this side a lot—sharing newsletter milestones, experiments with new offers, or how I’m shifting parts of my business. What surprised me is how invested people get in the journey itself, not just the end result.

The strongest Creators usually mix both. They share what they already know and the things they’re figuring out in real time. That combination makes you trustworthy and relatable at the same time.

Choosing Your Platforms & Formats

The question I get the most about building in public is: where should I post?

John Hu, Stan’s Founder & CEO, has some great advice here: “You should start with the platform that resonates with you the most. We all have our artistic medium, whether it’s text and writing on LinkedIn or Twitter, or video and photography on Instagram, TikTok, or YouTube. I would urge someone to pick whatever they feel most passionate about and called toward when they’re first starting.”

For me, that’s been LinkedIn and my newsletter. I’m a writer, so words are my natural medium, and most of my network lives in B2B and professional spaces. It was the lowest-friction way to start. Later, I’ll expand into more video, but I planted my flag where I knew I could be consistent.

That said, you also want to consider where your audience is already hanging out and how the platform shapes the tone of your content.

Here’s how I think about it:

• LinkedIn – Best for coaches, consultants, B2B Creators. It signals authority because you’re posting in front of your professional network. It’s also where the people with budgets hang out—potential clients, partners, and event organizers.
  
• Instagram & TikTok – Great for showing personality and building relationships. Both have discovery engines that reward raw, authentic content. Think behind-the-scenes clips, experiments, day-in-the-life posts. These are your “show up as a human” platforms.
  
• YouTube – Best for long-form and evergreen content. Tutorials, interviews, or documenting a full build journey. If you want to establish authority and create a library that compounds, this is a strong home base.
  
• Newsletter / Blog – The place you own. Algorithms can change, but your email list stays yours. It’s where you can go deeper, keep your audience close, and build a direct line for future launches.

The format shifts depending on the platform. On TikTok, that might be casual day-in-the-life clips or quick answers to audience questions. On LinkedIn, it might be a milestone breakdown, a reflection on lessons learned, or a behind-the-scenes of how you’re building something. Both work—they just wear different clothes.

As John explains, “The hardest thing for an early entrepreneur to do is maniacally focus on one thing. Just do that one thing exceptionally well, niche down, and then slowly, methodically expand over time.”

What to Share

The biggest hangup most people have with building in public is figuring out what to post. I get it—staring at a blank page can make this feel overwhelming. But the truth is you don’t need a hundred ideas. You just need a repeatable format you can follow.

Here’s the simple loop I use: Progress update → Decision & why → Lesson learned. Repeat.

Some of the most effective types of posts I’ve seen (and used myself) are:

Milestones & Progress Updates

Share the numbers, big or small. When I hit certain newsletter milestones, I shared what I learned at each stage—and those updates pulled in new readers who wanted to follow along. Again, Jennifer Chou’s content is a great example of this: 

“I only really shared in public when I had something I was excited to build. That’s what made it natural,” Chou explained.

Wins & Failures

Talk about what didn’t work just as much as what did. I’ve written about flopped experiments before, and those posts often get more traction than the shiny success stories.

Example: “5 TikToks in a row with zero traction. Here’s what I’m changing for the next batch.”

Behind-the-Scenes Process

Show people how you actually work. Screenshots of your workflow, prep checklists, even a messy Notion board. People love seeing how the sausage gets made. (This is probably my favorite type of Build in Public content!)

Example: “Here’s the Notion system I use to manage my coaching business (with a template you can steal).”

Tools & Resources

Share what’s helping you right now. Posts like this build credibility and are easy for your audience to act on.

Example: “3 AI tools I use to cut my writing time in half.”

Experiments & Results

Run short tests and report back. Even if the results are small, people love the transparency. 

“The updates that get the most engagement are wins and accomplishments,” Chou said, adding that framing matters. “People see a transformation and think, ‘How did you do that?’ But if I post something niche, like a tutorial, people scroll past. It’s only when I frame it as a transformation—‘Here’s how I went from 14K to 600K views’—that they pay attention.”

Example: “I posted on LinkedIn daily for 30 days. Here’s what happened in week one.”

Audience Engagement

Ask your people to weigh in. Polls, open-ended questions, “what would you do?” posts. These not only give you feedback but also make your audience feel like they’re building with you.

Example: “I’m creating a new solopreneur community. What’s one thing that would make it most valuable for you?”

If you want a resource you can save and reference when you’re hunting for ideas, I’ve created a simple chart for each of these types of post ideas. 

One rule I try to follow is what I call the Rule of Thirds:

• 1/3 wins (celebrate progress)
• 1/3 struggles (be transparent about challenges)
• 1/3 resources (tools, advice, lessons)

How to Start Building in Public Step-by-Step

Getting started doesn’t need to be complicated. The goal isn’t to have a polished content plan on day one — it’s to build momentum and prove to yourself you can keep showing up. Here’s how I’d start if I were doing it from scratch again:

Step 1: Pick your primary platform.

Start where you already spend the most time. For me, that was LinkedIn. I was already using it daily for client work, so posting updates felt natural. If you’re on TikTok every day, start there. The “best” platform is the one you’ll actually use.

Step 2: Choose your path.

Decide whether you want to lean into the experienced builder lane, the learner in public lane, or a mix of both. Naming it for yourself helps keep your content focused.

Step 3: Define 3–5 core topics.

Pick a handful of themes you can keep coming back to. For me, that’s content strategy, Creator business models, and newsletter building. Think of these like your content pillars—they’ll save you from staring at a blank page.

Step 4: Commit to a 30-day low-stakes challenge.

For one month, share something small almost every day. Doesn’t need to be long or polished. The point is to build the habit and get past the fear of “what if no one cares?”

Step 5: Document daily, even if you don’t post daily.

I dump every thought, lesson, or milestone into a Notion board. Later I move ideas from “note” → “draft” → “publish.” Having a system like this makes the whole thing sustainable.

Step 6: Engage with every comment.

Posting gets attention, but the real magic is in the replies and DMs. If someone takes the time to respond, respond back. That’s how you turn posts into relationships.

Step 7: Review monthly.

At the end of 30 days, look at what resonated, what flopped, and what felt fun to create. Double down on that mix for the next round.

What’s wild is that the posts you think are too small or too obvious often become the ones people connect with most. Every year I do a reflection post—“Year 1 freelancing,” “Year 2,” “Year 3.” Without fail, those end up driving new leads, reconnecting me with old colleagues, and reminding people I’m out here doing the work.

That’s the whole point. Building in public works because it’s relatable. And people root for you when they see you putting in the reps.

Your Serendipity Engine Starts Today

Every time you share what you’re building, you’re leaving a trail for opportunities to follow. That’s your serendipity engine. It’s how new clients find you, how collaborators reach out, how you validate your next idea before it even exists.

I’ve seen it work in my own business—from landing freelance projects to growing my newsletter—and I’ve seen it work for Creators across every niche. Whether you’re building a coaching program, a community, or a product, the pattern is always the same: the more you share, the more doors open.

You don’t need a perfect content calendar or a polished brand to start. You just need one post. Share a milestone, a lesson, or a behind-the-scenes moment today. That single update might be the spark that brings in your next opportunity.

The engine starts running the moment you hit publish. The only question is: what’s your first post going to say?

Join The Conversation

What’s one build-in-public post that opened a door for you?
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