Building in Public: The Pros and Cons After 2 Years

Sharing your journey — the wins, the failures, the decisions, the metrics — publicly as you build. On X, on your blog, on YouTube. Transparency as strategy.

I've been doing this via @MikeSmithShow for two years. Sharing what I'm building, what's working, what's not, and what I think about the market. Here's what I've learned about the strategy itself.

Accountability: when you share publicly, you can't quietly abandon things. Community: like-minded people find you and become users, collaborators, or friends. Distribution: every post is marketing. Credibility: showing your work builds trust faster than any ad campaign.

The biggest pro: building in public attracts people who want to root for you. This community becomes your early adopters, your beta testers, your word-of-mouth engine.

Competitive exposure: your competitors see exactly what you're building. Pressure: public commitments create anxiety around delivery. Noise: the audience interaction takes real time. Vulnerability: sharing failures publicly is emotionally taxing.

The biggest con: it's a time commitment that competes with actual building. Every hour spent crafting a tweet about building is an hour not spent building. The balance is critical.

I share: product updates, market analysis, strategic thinking, wins AND failures, general metrics. I don't share: specific revenue numbers (until ready), technical architecture details that provide competitive advantage, or personal struggles beyond professional context.

The filter: would sharing this help the audience while not materially hurting the business? If yes, share. If it would give competitors actionable intelligence with no audience benefit, don't.

If you're a first-time founder without a network: absolutely. Building in public is the fastest way to build an audience, find early users, and connect with other founders. The benefits far outweigh the costs at this stage.

If you're an established founder with a competitive market: be more selective. Share the story, not the playbook. Inspire without instructing your competitors.