Building in Public: Lessons from 6 Months

Six months ago, I started sharing my development journey publicly. Here's what I learned about transparency, community, and sustainable building.

Why Build in Public?

The benefits are real:

**Accountability**: Public commitment drives consistency

**Feedback**: Early users provide invaluable insights

**Network**: Connections lead to opportunities

**Learning**: Teaching forces deeper understanding

But it's not for everyone, and that's okay.

What to Share

I share:

Progress updates (weekly)

Technical decisions and trade-offs

Metrics (revenue, users, engagement)

Failures and pivots

I don't share:

Sensitive user data

Competitive advantages

Personal struggles (keep it professional)

Everything (quality over quantity)

The Unexpected Benefits

Beyond the obvious, I found:

**Clarity**: Explaining decisions publicly forces clear thinking

**Motivation**: Community support during tough times

**Opportunities**: Consulting, partnerships, collaborations

**Personal brand**: Credibility that opens doors

The Challenges

It's not all positive:

**Time**: Creating content takes time away from building

**Pressure**: Public failures feel worse

**Comparison**: Easy to compare your chapter 1 to someone's chapter 20

**Trolls**: Not everyone will be supportive

Making It Sustainable

Keys to consistency:

**Batch content**: Write multiple posts at once

**Repurpose**: Turn tweets into blog posts, posts into threads

**Set boundaries**: Don't share everything, protect your energy

**Focus on value**: Share what helps others, not just self-promotion

The ROI

After 6 months:

2,000+ followers across platforms

5 consulting clients from the community

Countless valuable connections

Better thinking through public writing

Worth it? Absolutely. But it's a long game.

Advice for Starting

**Start small**: One platform, one post per week

**Be authentic**: Share your real journey, not a highlight reel

**Provide value**: Help others, don't just promote

**Stay consistent**: Show up regularly, even when it's hard

**Ignore metrics**: Focus on connections, not follower counts

Building in public isn't about going viral. It's about building relationships, one post at a time.