Founder MindsetEmerging Pattern

Build in public to create direct user feedback channel that prevents failures

Building in public is not just marketing—it creates a direct channel with your audience that helps you build better products. By sharing your building process publicly, you get feedback before shipping that lets you adjust products early. This transforms your success rate by catching product-market fit issues before launch.

When to use

From day one of ideation through launch and beyond, especially when targeting an audience active on social platforms

Don't do this

Building in private and only sharing at launch, missing opportunities to course-correct based on audience feedback during development

2 Founders Who Did This

1
Portfolio of 26 startupsby John Rush

Started building in public after switching to bootstrapping. Shares progress on X, LinkedIn, Substack, Facebook throughout the building process

Result:Failure rate flipped from 90% (before building in public) to 10% (after) because he adjusts products before shipping based on feedback from the direct channel with users
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2
Portfolio of 26+ startupsby John Rush

Started building in public after switching to bootstrapping. Shares progress on X, LinkedIn, Substack, Facebook throughout the building process as a feedback channel, not just marketing

Result:Failure rate flipped from 90% to 10% because he adjusts products before shipping based on direct user feedback