In February 2023, on AFFiNE's launch day, we did something that felt slightly terrifying at the time: we shared everything — the star count climbing in real time, the bugs we were scrambling to fix, the Hacker News thread going sideways. (My co-founders thought I was crazy to post the messy parts.)
Two years later, AFFiNE had 60,000+ GitHub stars — and a huge share of that growth traced back to one habit: building in public. Not the polished, after-the-fact case-study version. The live, in-the-open version.
This is the playbook — what to share, where, how often, and the mistakes that make it backfire.
Key Stats: Why Building in Public Works
| Lever | What it compounds |
|---|---|
| Public metrics (even small) | Trust — concrete numbers beat adjectives |
| Sharing failures, not just wins | Credibility — vulnerability converts faster |
| Consistent cadence | Audience — each update grows the base |
| Work-in-progress demos | Feedback — fixes before you ship the wrong thing |
| Momentum visible in public | Social proof — lowers buyer risk |
| Time horizon | Months-long flywheel, not a launch tactic |
What "Build in Public" Actually Means
Building in public is sharing the real, ongoing process of building your product — while you're building it, not after. The point isn't vanity metrics; it's distribution and trust. You turn strangers into an audience that roots for you, gives feedback, and becomes your first users.
It's the organic-trust half of a go-to-market strategy — and for open-source, it's most of the strategy.
What to Share (the 5 Buckets)
- Metrics — MRR, signups, stars, traffic. Small numbers are fine; concrete beats vague.
- Decisions — why you chose X over Y. People learn from your reasoning and trust your judgment.
- Failures — the launch that flopped, the feature nobody used. (Our worst Product Hunt attempt taught my audience more than our best one.)
- Milestones — first paying customer, 100 stars, a redesign.
- Behind-the-scenes — WIP demos, screenshots, a Loom of you debugging.
What not to share: anything that compromises users, unannounced security issues, or internal conflict.
Where to Build in Public
Pick channels by where your users actually are — and start with one you'll sustain, not all five:
- X/Twitter — indie/startup audiences; threads + short daily updates.
- GitHub — for developers, a strong README and active issues are building in public. (See how to get more GitHub stars.)
- Reddit — niche communities (r/SaaS, r/selfhosted, r/indiehackers); 90% value, 10% promotion. (Reddit marketing without getting banned.)
- Your blog — the durable, SEO-friendly home base for the journey.
- Zenn / Qiita — if you're reaching Japanese developers.
Cadence Beats Intensity
The flywheel dies when you go quiet. A sustainable rhythm beats a heroic week:
- Daily-ish: one small update (a metric, a screenshot, a lesson) on X.
- Weekly: a longer post — what shipped, what you learned.
- Per-milestone: a thread or blog post + a Product Hunt launch when there's real new value.
The Mistakes That Make It Backfire
- Only sharing wins — reads as bragging, builds zero trust. Share the mess.
- Going quiet — a silent month kills the flywheel. Cadence > intensity.
- Vanity metrics with no story — "1,000 visitors!" means nothing without the decision behind it. It's storytelling with real numbers, not a metrics dump.
FAQ
What does build in public mean? Sharing the real, ongoing build process (metrics, decisions, failures, milestones) openly while you build — for distribution and trust, not vanity.
What should I share? Metrics, decisions, failures, milestones, behind-the-scenes. Not user-compromising info or internal conflict.
Where? Where your users are — X, GitHub, Reddit, your blog (Zenn/Qiita for Japan). Start with one.
Does it drive growth? Yes, consistently done — it compounds audience, social proof, and feedback over months.
Biggest mistakes? Only sharing wins, going quiet, and vanity metrics with no story.
Related Reading
- How to Get More GitHub Stars (33K Case Study)
- Open-Source Marketing: The Complete Guide
- Product Hunt Launch Playbook
- Reddit Marketing Without Getting Banned
- Go-to-Market Strategy 2026
Written by Iris Wei — co-founder of AFFiNE (60,000+ GitHub stars), 30x Product Hunt #1 winner, currently bootstrapping Analook. June 2026.
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