Building in public has become one of the most powerful growth strategies for indie hackers and startup founders. But done wrong, it can actively hurt your credibility and drive away potential users.
The 7 Mistakes
1. Sharing Metrics Without Context
Posting "We hit $1k MRR!" is meaningless without context. How long did it take? What worked? What failed? Context is what makes metrics relatable and shareable.
2. Only Posting Wins
The vulnerability of sharing struggles is what builds genuine connection with your audience. If you only post wins, you come across as a brag account, not a builder people root for.
3. Inconsistent Posting
Building an audience requires consistency. Posting 3 times a day for a week then going silent for a month destroys momentum. Set a sustainable cadence — even once a week is better than sporadic bursts.
4. Ignoring Your Audience
Building in public is a conversation, not a broadcast. Respond to replies, ask questions, create polls. The founders who grow fastest treat every comment as a gift.
5. Too Much Process, Not Enough Product
Share your product, not just your journey. Show actual screenshots, demos, and user testimonials. People follow you because they're interested in what you're building, not just how you feel about building it.
6. Vague Goals
"Growing our user base" is not a goal. "Getting to 100 paying customers by April 1st" is. Specific, time-bound goals give your audience something to rally behind and hold you accountable to.
7. Not Linking to Your Product
Every build-in-public post should include an easy way to find your product — whether that's a link in bio or a direct URL. You're creating awareness; make sure it's easy to convert.
The Right Approach
The best build-in-public content is honest, specific, educational, and consistent. Share your MRR, your churn, your failed experiments, and your breakthrough moments. [List your product on POM6](/) and link to it from your posts — let the community discover it organically. POM6 gives your product a permanent home that you can link to from every post you write, across every platform you use.