You’ve probably heard the advice: build in public, share your journey, grow an audience. What they don’t tell you is how long it actually takes and what the real payoff looks like.
Pieter Levels spent 10 years building a Twitter audience of 600K followers while launching 40+ products. When he released Photo AI in February 2023, it generated $5.4K in the first week. By month 18, it hit $132K MRR.
Compare that to launching without an audience: most products make $500-2K in their first month. That’s a 3-10x advantage from day one.
Building in public works. But it’s a years-not-months strategy requiring daily posting, revenue transparency, and sustained consistency. If you don’t have 10 years to wait, there are alternatives. But if you’re serious about the solo founder model long game, here’s what the strategy actually looks like.
What is building in public and how does it create distribution advantages for solo founders?
Building in public means sharing your product development journey transparently. Revenue screenshots from Stripe. Feature demos as you ship them. The failures alongside the wins.
The distribution advantage is simple: when you launch a new product, you already have customers waiting. Levels’ 350K Twitter followers provided immediate distribution for Photo AI. That $5.4K first week happened because the audience was already there, already trusting, already interested.
The methodology combines daily posting, revenue transparency, product demos, and controversial opinions. Feature ships, revenue milestones, and challenges all get documented through speed creates shareable content for audience building.
Years of audience building generate launch advantages across multiple products. Levels’ portfolio of 40+ products all leverage the same distribution channel built over a decade. Customer acquisition cost drops to near-zero when your audience converts directly.
What to share: monthly revenue numbers with Stripe screenshots, behind-the-scenes development work, user testimonials, metrics updates through sharing revenue metrics transparently. What creates engagement: controversy, real data, screenshots showing numbers, honest discussions about failures.
Base44 proved this works beyond Twitter. They built their audience on LinkedIn, grew to 400,000 users without spending anything on marketing, and exited for $80M in 2024.
How long does it realistically take to build a significant audience through building in public?
Ten years. That’s the realistic timeline.
Levels started building in public in 2013. He launched Nomad List in 2014, generating $500/month initial revenue. By 2019 (6 years), he’d reached $1M+ ARR. When Photo AI launched in 2023 (10 years), he had 350K followers. By 2025, that grew to 600K followers and $3.1M total ARR.
The compound effects accelerate over time. Your first 1000 followers takes 6-12 months of daily posting and niche community engagement. Years 2-4 see growth to 10K-50K followers as your content starts hitting viral moments. Years 5-8 push you toward 100K+. Years 8-12 bring you to 350K-600K followers where new launches generate $10K+ MRR in week one.
This runs counter to the “get rich quick” narratives flooding social media. Most building in public success stories span 5-10 years minimum.
The time commitment while employed: minimum 30-60 minutes daily with part-time building while employed. Allocate 15-20 minutes for your primary content post. Another 15-20 minutes for community engagement. The final 10-20 minutes for platform-specific content. Batch content creation during weekends (2-3 hours) to prepare screenshots, demos, and threads for the week ahead.
As Courtland Allen from Indie Hackers says after interviewing hundreds of successful solo founders: “All you have to do is just not quit.” The timeline is long. The work is consistent. The payoff compounds.
Which platforms work best for building in public: Twitter/X vs WIP.co vs IndieHackers vs LinkedIn?
Platform selection depends on your existing audience size and where your market actually spends time.
Twitter/X offers maximum reach potential. Levels built 600K+ followers through consistent posting. Photo AI received over 50% of its traffic from Twitter. But Twitter requires multiple daily posts (2-5 minimum), controversial opinions to trigger viral growth, and tolerance for public scrutiny when things fail.
WIP.co and IndieHackers provide community-first alternatives if you’re starting from zero. These smaller but highly engaged audiences convert better than chasing viral growth on Twitter. WIP.co emphasises daily shipped work updates. IndieHackers focuses on detailed case studies with metrics.
Base44 hit $1M ARR just three weeks after launch and grew to 400,000 users through building in public on a platform most indie hackers ignore. LinkedIn requires different content style (longer professional insights, 3-5 posts weekly) but faces less saturation.
Platform-specific strategies matter. Twitter requires real-time updates and Stripe screenshots. LinkedIn favours longer professional insights. WIP.co emphasises shipped work. IndieHackers focuses on case studies with detailed metrics.
If you’re starting from zero, choose community-first platforms (WIP.co, IndieHackers) over Twitter initially. Once you have 500-1000 followers elsewhere, expand to Twitter for maximum reach. Multi-platform presence reduces risk and lets you repurpose content.
How do solo founders share revenue metrics publicly without hurting their business?
Revenue transparency requires strategic sharing. Levels posts Stripe dashboard screenshots with exact MRR numbers. Photo AI posted $61K MRR in July 2023, $100K MRR in September 2024, current $132-138K MRR shared openly. He updates MRR in his Twitter bio, posts revenue milestones immediately, shows the full Stripe dashboard with complete transparency.
His full portfolio gets shared too: Photo AI $132K/month, Interior AI $38-45K/month, Nomad List $38K/month, Remote OK $35-41K/month. Total around $250K+/month across all products.
What to share: monthly MRR numbers, Stripe screenshot images, profit margin percentages, growth rate trends. Levels even shares that Photo AI runs at 87%+ profit margin with GPU costs only around $13K/month.
What to protect: detailed customer acquisition tactics, specific customer identities, pricing experiment details, conversion rate optimisations. Share results but not proprietary methods.
Stripe screenshot best practices: redact customer email addresses, blur transaction details, show aggregate revenue graphs, highlight milestone moments.
Exact numbers generate more engagement and credibility than ranges. A Stripe screenshot showing $132,487 MRR performs better than “around $130K MRR” because specificity builds trust.
Timing strategy: share monthly updates consistently, celebrate milestones immediately, post screenshots when crossing revenue thresholds ($10K, $50K, $100K MRR). Delay real-time sharing by 30-90 days if you’re worried about competitors reacting too quickly.
As Levels’ strategy demonstrates: competitors can copy features but they can’t copy the personal brand and trust that transparency builds over years. Ship products in 2-4 weeks before competitors react. The transparency itself becomes a competitive advantage because most competitors won’t commit to the same vulnerability.
What content should solo founders post when building in public and how often?
Daily consistent posting is the foundation. Minimum one substantial post per day (Twitter thread, product demo, revenue update) with multiple lighter posts (replies, retweets with commentary, screenshots).
Content mix should balance 40% product updates and demos, 30% revenue and metrics, 20% personal journey and challenges, and 10% controversial opinions and hot takes.
Levels posts multiple times daily: every feature ship gets a tweet, every revenue milestone celebrated. His tech stack tweet generated 4.8M views when he posted: “PhotoAI.com is now almost 14,000 lines of raw PHP mixed with inline HTML, CSS in style tags and raw JS in script tags” alongside revenue numbers. That sparked massive debate, driving viral engagement.
Product content: feature launch announcements with screenshots, user testimonial quotes, before/after results, demo videos. Metrics content: monthly MRR update threads, Stripe dashboard screenshots at milestones, growth chart visualisations. Personal content: failure post-mortems, challenge documentation, decision-making processes. Viral controversy: polarising tech stack opinions, unconventional business approaches, challenging industry norms.
Posting frequency requirements vary by platform: Twitter (2-5 posts daily), LinkedIn (3-5 posts weekly), WIP.co (daily shipped work updates), IndieHackers (weekly detailed case studies).
Burnout prevention matters. Allow flexibility in posting frequency. Focus on authentic sharing, not forced content. Take breaks when needed but communicate them. The goal is sustained consistency over years, not perfect daily streaks that burn you out in months.
How can solo founders start building in public with zero existing audience?
Starting from zero requires platform selection optimisation. Choose community-first platforms (WIP.co, IndieHackers) over Twitter initially because smaller engaged audiences convert better than chasing viral growth.
The zero-to-first-1000 playbook: niche-down intensely. Target “solo developer building AI tools for accountants” not “entrepreneur building SaaS”. Be hyper-specific.
Engage genuinely in existing communities before self-promotion. Make 50+ helpful comments before posting your own work. Answer questions in niche subreddits. Contribute to GitHub discussions. Add value first, market second.
Documentation tactics: daily build logs with screenshots, weekly progress threads, monthly retrospectives with metrics. Celebrate tiny milestones. Share the journey from zero authentically. Document first dollar earned, first customer testimonial, first feature shipped as genuine milestones even if numbers seem small.
First 1000 followers timeline: realistic 6-12 months with daily engagement, accelerated to 3-6 months with niche focus and paid promotion.
Alternative strategies if patience for 12-month audience building doesn’t exist: allocate $2K-5K monthly for paid ads to bypass the audience requirement entirely. Or find unique distribution channels: niche Reddit communities (r/SideProject, r/Entrepreneur), Product Hunt coordinated launches, podcast guest appearances.
Partnership strategy: affiliate arrangements with existing audience-holders (20% commission standard), guest posting on established blogs, co-marketing with complementary products.
12-month intensive audience building option: dedicate first year entirely to audience growth before product launch. Document the journey as content. Launch with 5K-10K engaged followers generating stronger results ($10K+ week one likely) but delaying revenue entirely for a year.
What results can solo founders expect from building in public over different timeframes?
Results compound exponentially over years.
Year 1 expectations: 500-2000 followers, first $500-2K MRR from early product, learning distribution fundamentals. Most founders experience slow grind, build posting habits, develop content muscle. Nothing spectacular happens. You’re laying foundation.
Years 2-3 milestones: 5K-20K followers, $5K-20K MRR from refined product. Your posts start going viral. Community recognition grows. People start sharing your work unprompted. Inbound opportunities begin appearing.
Years 4-6 inflection point: 20K-100K followers, $50K-200K MRR from multiple products. Distribution advantage becomes measurable (new launches achieve $10K+ MRR week one). Media coverage increases. The compounding becomes visible.
Years 7-10 compounding: 100K-500K followers, $500K-3M+ ARR from portfolio approach as part of complete guide to solo founder success. New launches achieve $10K+ MRR week one. The distribution machine runs itself.
Photo AI trajectory demonstrates this: February 2023 launch with 350K existing audience, $5.4K MRR week one, $28K MRR month two, $132K MRR month 18, $1.6M ARR.
Nomad List trajectory shows the long game: 2014 launch with minimal audience, scaled to $38K/month by 2025 through 11 years of compounding.
Portfolio approach benefits: multiple products leverage same audience, diversified revenue reduces risk, 40+ products from single distribution channel. Photo AI’s $5.4K first week versus realistic $500-2K without audience demonstrates 3-10x launch acceleration.
FAQ Section
Can solo founders really make millions by building in public without VC funding?
Yes, with realistic 7-10 year timelines. Pieter Levels built a $3.1M ARR portfolio entirely bootstrapped as detailed in solo founder business fundamentals. Portfolio approach diversifies risk across 40+ products while sharing single audience development cost. 99%+ profit margins on digital products mean revenue converts almost entirely to personal income.
Is building in public still effective in 2025 or is it too saturated?
Building in public remains effective but requires differentiation. Saturation exists in generic entrepreneur spaces, but niche-specific building in public shows strong results. Base44’s LinkedIn building in public led to $80M exit in 2024, proving platform diversity and niche focus overcome saturation. Key: provide specific metrics and genuine transparency, not performative content.
How much time does building in public require daily for employed founders?
Minimum 30-60 minutes daily. Allocate 15-20 minutes for primary content post, 15-20 minutes for community engagement, 10-20 minutes for platform-specific content. Batch content creation during weekends (2-3 hours) to prepare screenshots, demos, and threads for the week ahead.
What if competitors copy my ideas when I build in public?
Building in public creates defensive moat through speed and audience trust. Competitors still need to build product, acquire customers, and establish credibility while you’ve already launched. Levels’ strategy: share results not detailed tactics, ship products in 2-4 weeks before competitors react, leverage audience trust that can’t be copied.
Do I need to share exact revenue numbers or can I share ranges?
Exact numbers generate more engagement and credibility. Stripe screenshot showing $132,487 MRR performs better than “around $130K MRR” because specificity builds trust. You can share exact MRR without revealing profit margins or customer counts if concerned about competitors. Minimum effective transparency: monthly MRR updates with growth percentage.
Should I build audience first for 12 months then launch product, or build both simultaneously?
Depends on financial runway and patience. Building audience first generates stronger launch results but delays revenue. Building simultaneously generates earlier revenue but smaller initial audience. Both approaches work—Levels built product and audience together initially, then leveraged established audience for later launches.
How do I measure if building in public is working before I see revenue results?
Track leading indicators: follower growth rate (aim for 10-20% monthly growth in first year), engagement rate (target 2-5% of follower count), community mentions (people sharing your work unprompted), inbound opportunities (podcast invitations, partnership inquiries), and email list growth. Strong indicators predict successful revenue outcomes.
What are the biggest mistakes solo founders make when building in public?
Inconsistent posting (going silent for weeks kills algorithmic reach), fake transparency (sharing only wins destroys authenticity), product-only content (no personal journey makes content boring), ignoring engagement (not replying to comments wastes community building), and expecting quick results (quitting before 12-24 month minimum commitment).
Can introverted founders succeed at building in public or is it only for extroverts?
Introverts can excel through asynchronous written content rather than video or podcasts. Focus on detailed written case studies, metrics-heavy threads, technical deep-dives, and thoughtful replies. IndieHackers and blog-based building in public suit introverted founders better than Twitter’s rapid-fire culture. Consistency and authenticity matter more than personality type.
How do I handle negative comments and criticism when building in public?
Respond to legitimate criticism publicly with humility (builds credibility), ignore obvious trolls (denies attention they seek), use controversial criticism as content fuel (Levels’ responses to critics generate viral engagement), and document how criticism improved your product. Public vulnerability combined with thoughtful responses builds trust.
Should I build in public on my personal brand or create separate company accounts?
Personal brand almost always outperforms company accounts for solo founders. Audiences connect with humans not logos. Levels posts from personal Twitter (@levelsio) not company accounts. Personal account allows mixing product updates, personal journey, and controversial opinions that company brands can’t express. Downside: harder to sell company later if brand is personal, but for solo founders keeping businesses long-term, personal brand maximises engagement.
What if I don’t have impressive metrics to share when starting out?
Share the journey from zero authentically. Document first dollar earned, first customer testimonial, first feature shipped, first 100 signups as genuine milestones even if numbers seem small. Small metrics shared consistently build narrative of growth that becomes compelling over time. Transparency about modest beginnings builds trust that pays off when sharing larger numbers years later.
