Introduction
Building in public—sharing your progress, metrics, and lessons openly—has become a powerful growth tactic for indie hackers. Rather than launching in stealth mode, you invite your audience into the journey, creating accountability, gathering feedback in real-time, and building a community of supporters before you even have a finished product.
This guide covers where to share, what to share, and how to structure updates for maximum impact. Whether you’re pre-launch or scaling, these principles apply.
Why Build in Public?
Attract Early Users and Fans
By documenting your progress, you naturally attract people interested in your problem space. Early followers often become your first paying customers. They’ve watched your journey and feel invested in your success.
Example: When Loom (a video recording tool) built in public, they attracted creators and developers who became power users and advocates.
Get Feedback and Product Ideas
Public updates invite critique, suggestions, and real-world use cases from your audience. This is far more valuable than building in isolation. You can validate ideas before investing weeks of development.
Build Trust and Transparency
Sharing failures, metrics, and raw learnings builds credibility. People respect honesty more than polished marketing. When you’re transparent about struggles, your wins feel earned.
Document Your Progress and Learnings
You create a searchable archive of your journey—a resource for future indie hackers and a portfolio of your decision-making and growth strategy.
Platforms & Tools
Twitter/X
Best for: Daily updates, viral growth, quick feedback loops, and reaching a tech-savvy audience.
- Post types: Quick wins, metrics updates, learnings, threads (5-10 tweets), memes, and questions
- Frequency: Daily or 3-5x per week for visibility
- Example accounts: Pieter Levels, Sahil Lavingia
- Tools: TweetDeck (free scheduling), Buffer, Later
Indie Hackers
Best for: Long-form narratives, Show and Tell threads, and an audience specifically interested in building products.
- Post types: Launch announcements, monthly updates, AMAs (Ask Me Anything), post-mortems, case studies
- Frequency: Weekly or bi-weekly detailed posts
- Engagement: High-quality feedback from experienced founders
- Link: Indie Hackers
Best for: B2B products, professional storytelling, and reaching non-technical decision-makers.
- Post types: Case studies, lessons learned, industry insights, behind-the-scenes
- Audience: More formal, less meme-heavy than Twitter
- Frequency: 2-3x per week
Threads
Best for: Casual conversations and community building with a smaller but engaged audience.
- Post types: Quick thoughts, responses to trending topics, personal updates
- Growth stage: Still building, but useful as a secondary platform
Personal Blog or Newsletter
Best for: Deeper dives, case studies, and building an owned audience.
- Tools: Substack, Beehiiv, Ghost, or Hugo (like your site!)
- Repurpose: Convert Twitter threads into blog posts for evergreen SEO traffic
- Frequency: Weekly or monthly, depending on your capacity
YouTube / Loom
Best for: Visual updates, demos, and founder storytelling.
- Post types: Weekly vlogs, product demos, code walkthroughs, transparent metrics reviews
- Example: Levels.fyi creator shares monthly vlogs with audience
What to Share (Content Ideas)
Daily or Weekly Metrics
Share specific, honest numbers. Be consistent (always weekly at 9 AM, for example).
Examples:
- “Week 3: 142 signups, $340 MRR, 8% churn”
- “Day 15: 2 hours spent on onboarding UX, 3 user interviews completed”
- “Lost 12 users this week but discovered why—bad email templates. Fixing now.”
Mini-Postmortems & Failures
Share what didn’t work and what you learned. These posts often get the most engagement.
Examples:
- “Tried a $500/month ad campaign → 0 conversions. Why? Wrong audience entirely. Pivoting to X instead.”
- “Spent 2 weeks on feature nobody asked for. Lesson: talk to users before building.”
Screenshots & Demos
A picture is worth a thousand words. Show product progress, designs, or interface updates.
- Use tools like Figma or Framer for polished mockups
- Record short demos with Loom (30 seconds)
- Show before/after UI improvements
Behind-the-Scenes
Your process is fascinating to your audience.
Examples:
- “How I built landing page copy: 3 days of research, 5 iterations, tested with 20 users”
- “Tech stack breakdown: Why I chose [X] over [Y]”
- “A day in my life: morning routine → coding → user calls → metrics review”
User Stories and Testimonials
Real quotes from happy customers build social proof and attract similar users.
Example:
“I’ve been using [Product] for 2 weeks and it saved me 5 hours this week. Game-changer.” — Sarah, Product Manager
Launches and Milestones
Mark moments in your journey—launch, 1000 users, $1K MRR, new feature releases.
Example:
“🚀 Just hit 1K monthly active users! Started 4 months ago with 0. Here’s the breakdown of what worked…”
How to Structure Updates
The Problem → Action → Result Format
Problem: Explain the challenge you faced.
Action: What you did to fix it.
Result: What changed or what you learned.
Example:
Problem: Onboarding took 8 minutes, and 40% of users dropped. Action: Simplified to 4 screens, added a video walkthrough. Result: Drop-off fell to 12%. Next: A/B test the video.
Keep It Short & Consistent
- Twitter posts: 280 characters (or thread format)
- Indie Hackers: 3-5 paragraphs
- Blog posts: 800-1200 words
Focus on Lessons & Actionable Insights
Don’t just report metrics—explain what you’ll do differently next week.
Good: “Spent $200 on ads, got 8 signups. Cost per signup: $25. Too high. Next week, testing organic channels instead.”
Less effective: “Tried ads today.”
Use Visuals for Storytelling
- Charts showing growth trends
- Before/after UI screenshots
- User testimonials in quote cards
- Emoji and formatting for readability
Building Consistency & Momentum
Choose Your Schedule
- Daily: Requires discipline but builds momentum (e.g., a quick win + screenshot)
- 3x/week: Sustainable for most indie hackers (short updates + 1 longer post)
- Weekly: Minimum to stay visible; focus on quality
Automate Without Being Robotic
- Schedule posts 2-3 weeks ahead using Buffer or Later
- Keep a swipe file of good templates and ideas
- Leave room for real-time engagement (replies, comments, new developments)
Engage Authentically
Reply to comments within 24 hours. Ask clarifying questions. Share others’ wins.
Example:
Someone: “How did you get your first 100 users?”
You: “Great question! DM me, I’ll share the playbook.”
This turns followers into a community.
Repurpose Content
- Twitter thread → Medium/blog post
- Blog post → Indie Hackers update
- Monthly metrics → newsletter edition
- YouTube video → Twitter clips
Use tools like Typeshare to turn long-form writing into threads.
Examples & Case Studies
Pieter Levels (Nomad List, Remote OK)
- Strategy: Extreme transparency with monthly revenue and cost breakdowns
- Impact: Built a trusted audience of 100K+ who follow his launches
- Lesson: Honesty about numbers (even low ones) builds credibility
- Link: Pieter’s Twitter
Anne-Laure Le Cunff (Ness Labs)
- Strategy: Educational threads and essay-style updates on learning, psychology, and productivity
- Impact: Grew to 100K+ followers; converted audience into a paid community
- Lesson: Share expertise, not just metrics
- Link: Ness Labs
Indie Hackers Community
- Strategy: Monthly show-and-tell threads where founders share launches and revenue
- Impact: Thousands of indie hackers inspired to launch their own products
- Lesson: Community feedback accelerates iteration
Loom (Video Recording Tool)
- Strategy: Founder shares weekly vlogs of product progress and user feedback
- Impact: Strong organic growth and community advocacy
- Lesson: Founders with personality attract followers
Mistakes to Avoid
Oversharing Sensitive Information
Don’t share:
- NDA-protected client details
- Unreleased features (unless you want competition)
- Personal financial data (tax details, exact bank balances)
- Anything that could violate contracts
Safe alternative: “Signed a major B2B contract that will 2x our revenue next quarter” (specific, non-sensitive).
Sharing Inconsistent or Confusing Numbers
If you say “50 signups” one week and “45” the next without explanation, you look disorganized.
- Always define metrics clearly (“MRR = Monthly Recurring Revenue, excluding one-time purchases”)
- Note when you change how you measure something
- Use the same time periods (weekly, monthly, not random intervals)
Being Too Promotional
Share 80% value/lessons and 20% promotion. If every post is “Buy my product,” people unfollow.
Examples of value:
- Lessons from failures
- Industry insights
- Free resources or templates
- Honest advice on competitors
Posting Inconsistently
1 post per month won’t build momentum. Commit to a schedule and stick with it for at least 3 months.
Ignoring Your Audience
If nobody comments, replies, or asks questions, you might be talking to yourself. Engage back. Ask for feedback.
Getting Started: A 4-Week Action Plan
Week 1: Choose & Set Up
- Pick your primary platform (Twitter/X or Indie Hackers)
- Create an account (if needed) and write a compelling bio
- Set up a scheduling tool (Buffer or Later)
- Follow 20-30 indie hackers in your niche for inspiration
Week 2: Define Your Angle
- What problem are you solving?
- What’s your unique perspective or story?
- What metrics will you share? (users, revenue, hours spent, feedback, etc.)
- Write 5 example posts and get feedback from a friend
Week 3: Start Posting
- Post your first 5 updates (space them out: 1-2 per day)
- Share 1 metric, 1 lesson, 1 behind-the-scenes, 1 question, 1 visual
- Reply to comments within 24 hours
- Engage with 10 other founders’ posts
Week 4: Build the Habit
- Set a recurring calendar reminder (e.g., “Update my audience Tuesday & Friday at 9 AM”)
- Schedule next week’s posts in your tool
- Analyze which posts got the most engagement
- Commit to 8 weeks minimum before evaluating if it’s working
Tools & Resources
Scheduling & Publishing
- Buffer: Free scheduling for Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram
- Later: Visual calendar, best for multi-platform
- Substack: Email newsletter, free to start
- Beehiiv: Newsletter with referral monetization
Content Creation
- Loom: Record product demos and vlogs
- Figma: Design and mockups
- Typeshare: Convert long-form writing into threads
- Descript: Edit videos and create clips
Analytics & Insights
- Twitter Analytics: Built-in engagement metrics
- Indie Hackers Maker Metrics: Track products you’re following
- Substack Stats: Email open rates and subscriber growth
Communities to Join
Next Steps
- Choose your platform: Twitter/X for speed and reach, Indie Hackers for in-depth feedback
- Create a weekly cadence: Commit to 3-5 updates per week for the next 8 weeks
- Use templates: Save the problem → action → result format
- Engage authentically: Spend 10 minutes daily replying to comments and supporting others
- Repurpose: Turn your best tweets into a blog post or newsletter essay
Final Thought
Building in public is a long-game growth and branding strategy. It takes 4-8 weeks to see traction, but if you stick with it and share honestly, you’ll build a meaningful audience that can help amplify your product and provide early customers.
The best part? You’ll never feel alone. Hundreds of other indie hackers are on the same journey, and your transparency will inspire and educate them—and they’ll return the favor.
Action This Week:
- Publish one update today: a small win and what you learned from it.
- Reply to someone else’s building-in-public post with genuine encouragement or a question.
- Follow 5 founders in your space and turn on notifications.
Then repeat next week. Momentum builds over time.
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