In the world of entrepreneurship, there's been a growing trend towards building in public - the concept of sharing the journey of creating a product or a business with a public audience. I'm a big fan of this approach to building something meaningful in front of those to whom it matters the most. But it … Continue reading The Flip Side: When Not to Build in Public
Category: Building in Public
Realistic Building in Public for Introverted Founders
As an introverted entrepreneur or creator, sharing your work and process in public can be challenging. Many of us tend to hunker down and focus on our products or projects, often to the exclusion of building an audience or engaging with potential customers or clients. But sharing your work and process in public has many … Continue reading Realistic Building in Public for Introverted Founders
Consulting in Public
Building in public is becoming a popular way to build a business. But how about consulting in public? Can entrepreneurs go beyond talking about their business? Can they conduct their business out in the open? Rand Fishkin recently asked Patrick Campbell —who just sold ProfitWell for $200 million— to help him with their pricing. Immediately, … Continue reading Consulting in Public
Founder Stories are Powerful Assets
Your founder story is much more valuable than being reduced to a slide in a pitch deck. Your story is a unique and unclonable asset that can turn from a mere list of accomplishments into an opportunity generator through the power of compounding and public expertise-building. When you share your story not only after the … Continue reading Founder Stories are Powerful Assets
Building in Public and Legacy
Philip Larkin, the renowned British poet, famously decreed on his death bed that all his diaries should be destroyed. During his life, he even wrote five full-length novels and burned every single one of them right after completion. Larkin allowed for nothing but perfection. Meanwhile, I regularly share the crudest drafts of my work on … Continue reading Building in Public and Legacy
Choose Your Own Adventure: Creator, Curator, Commentator, or Connector
People love to put other people in boxes. Metaphorically, of course. We do love our categories and classifications. On social media, we can leverage one of four major roles: we can be creators, curators, commentators, and connectors. Focusing on one of these roles will provide a clear path toward building an equally focused audience. Let’s … Continue reading Choose Your Own Adventure: Creator, Curator, Commentator, or Connector
You Don’t Need to be an Extrovert to Build in Public — an Introvert’s Perspective
One of the major reasons people don’t start building in public is that they don’t want to stand in the proverbial spotlight. They don’t want to be exposed. Building in public is by definition a public act, and if you’re anything like me, you prefer keeping a low profile. At least, I usually do. But … Continue reading You Don’t Need to be an Extrovert to Build in Public — an Introvert’s Perspective
The Power of the Narrative when Building in Public
The show "Friends" was on TV for ten years. Over 230 episodes were created, starring the same characters having the same problems day in, day out — and people kept tuning in. Viewers were hooked. For a decade. If you want to understand what gets people invested in a journey, you should investigate what makes … Continue reading The Power of the Narrative when Building in Public
Building in Public and Negativity
I was invited to a Twitter space about audience-building this week, and we talked about the not-so-fun side of building in public: dealing with negativity. That's something a lot of people are scared of. When we talk about negativity on Twitter, we often think about flamewars and shitstorms. That's the external kind of negative thinking; … Continue reading Building in Public and Negativity
Purchasing Power Parity Pricing
Let's talk about burgers and why they matter for how much you can sell as a digital creator. A Big Mac in the United States costs around $5. You'd have to pay ¥20 for the same burger in China. But the exchange rate between the Dollar and the Yuen is not 1 to 4; it's … Continue reading Purchasing Power Parity Pricing
