The "Public" Framework

Building in Public is exactly what it sounds like. It means building a company, a product, or anything and sharing a lot of the transparent "behind the scenes" with its public audience.

Going back a decade, entrepreneurs loved working in stealth mode, treating everything from the idea to an operating procedure, to how much money they were making as trade secrets. None of us wanted to show our vulnerability and let other people judge us.

We also didn't want other people to copy our innovative ideas, and we were careful in sharing to protect ourselves. That was fair back in the day.

But the evolution of the Internet has changed the whole game.

Ideas are now everywhere. Starting a business or building anything has become a lot easier. You can literally create a website in less than a day and declare you're in business.

Easier to start, however, doesn't mean easier to stay. Competition is over the roof, and it is much harder to differentiate purely by ideas. A lot more focus is now placed on execution and things that aren't easy to copy, such as culture, brand, community, and of course, personality.

With Building in Public, entrepreneurs share their entrepreneurial journey publicly via their favorite channels. This includes learnings, struggles, anecdotes, and even key business metrics, to showcase authenticity and build trust with their audience.

But actually, that’s not it.

A lot of entrepreneurs misinterpret the cause and effect as "share your journey and they'll come." When I first started building in public, I was thinking the same.

Through teaching and coaching hundreds of entrepreneurs closely, I discovered the parts that make Building in Public so much more powerful than just sharing your ups and downs. This is the part that most people don’t know.

• You show your work to create conversations and touch points with your audience
• You involve your audience in the building process
• You value and respect the inputs from your audience
• You build a growing, close-knit community that supports what you do next

When you do it right, you'll find two groups of audiences. One group is supportive friends and people who share a similar journey and vision. Another group is users and customers who find your product relevant.

Many entrepreneurs make the mistake of being laser-focused on potential customers and skip over the fact that community and network are also important to drive your modern business forward.

You cannot underestimate the power of having a beloved audience these days.