Building In Public

Why I Find This Topic Fascinating

  • Living in public feels like it's part of a multi-decade trend
  • It feels like multiple things combining:
    • Social Media. There are many platforms to share publicly now and over a billion people share something publicly everyday that shows up in a newsfeed or is searchable by Google.
    • Mobile Phones. Mobile phones make it easier for people to capture moments in real-time. This has led to the surfacing of the realities of police brutality.
    • Open Source Software. Open source has been growing for the past few decades. Most recently, it is the default approach in blockchain. So, as blockchain grows, so too will the paradigm.
    • Creative Commons Licenses. Launch in 2002 taking inspiration from GNU General Public Licensing.
    • Open State. With the blockchain, data is public by default. You can see people's wallets (if you have the address) along with that wallet's complete history.
  • Matching these technological shifts, there is a cultural shift toward people:
    • Sharing more
    • Authenticity
    • Transparency. People are wanting transparency into how large institutions operate.

Definitions

Benefits

  • Builds trust
  • Builds a narrative the audience can follow and get behind
  • Makes you more approachable
  • Builds your status as an expert in the field
  • Gives you fast feedback

Resources

Playbook

Gaby Goldberg

  • Share real quotes & screenshots of feedback from users
  • Propose interesting product ideas and ask the community for feedback
  • Articulate roadblocks the company is facing and how to overcome them
  • Give insight into largely unknown aspects of the company/product
  • Share “sneak peeks” and vague product updates for things to come
  • Post screenshots of internal Slack messages showcasing company culture
  • Tell emotional stories about your company to pull at followers’ heartstrings
  • Quote Tweet someone describing a problem and respond “We are fixing this at …”

Case Studies

People

  • Pat Flynn

Companies

  • Buffer (Joel Gascoigne)
  • Product Hunt (Ryan Hoover)
  • 37 Signals (Jason Fried & David)
  • Lambda School (Austen Allred)
  • Domm, Founder & CEO of Fast, and
  • Suhail, Founder & CEO of Mighty:

Sectors

  • Open Source
  • Open Data

Thought Leaders

Nadia Eghbal

Gaby Goldberg

Kevin Cheung

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