Build in Public Is Dead. Here's What Replaced It.

I need to say something that might make me unpopular: build in public is dead.

Not "dead" dead - Pieter Levels is still tweeting revenue screenshots and making millions. But as a strategy for the average indie hacker? It's done. The window closed somewhere in 2024 and most people haven't noticed.

Let me explain why, and more importantly, what actually works now.

Why build in public stopped working

The feed got crowded. In 2020-2021, tweeting "Day 1 of building my SaaS" was novel. You'd get replies, followers, encouragement. There were maybe a few hundred people doing it. By 2024, there were tens of thousands of people posting daily standups about their indie projects. The novelty wore off. The audience got fatigued.

The audience isn't your customer. This is the core problem nobody wants to admit. The people who follow "build in public" accounts are other builders. Developers. Indie hackers. They're not the dentist who needs scheduling software or the property manager who needs tenant communication tools.

You end up building an audience of people who will never buy your product. They'll like your tweets, repost your revenue screenshots, and never give you a dollar.

Revenue screenshots became meaningless. When everyone started sharing revenue, it stopped being impressive. "$500 MRR" used to get engagement. Now it gets scrolled past. The bar for interesting numbers went from $1K MRR to $10K MRR to $100K MRR. Unless you're doing genuinely massive numbers, nobody cares.

It attracts copycats. Building in public means showing your hand. Your idea, your tech stack, your pricing, your growth channels - all public. And in 2026, someone can clone your product with AI tools in a weekend. The transparency that used to build trust now builds competition.

What replaced it

The smartest founders I follow have shifted to what I call "build in private, launch in public." Here's what that looks like:

1. Audience-first, product-second

Instead of building a product and hoping your "build in public" audience buys it, successful founders are building audiences around a TOPIC first.

They write about the problem space, not their product. They become the go-to person for "freelancer invoicing tips" or "restaurant marketing strategies" or "small landlord advice."

Then, when they launch a product for that audience, they have actual potential customers - not just fellow builders watching from the sidelines.

2. Content marketing over daily standups

Nobody cares about your auth implementation. They care about solving their problems.

The founders winning in 2026 are:

• Writing blog posts targeting specific search queries their customers use
• Creating YouTube tutorials solving industry-specific problems
• Publishing newsletters with actionable advice for their niche
• Building SEO-optimized comparison pages and free tools

This content attracts CUSTOMERS, not spectators. It also compounds over time - a blog post that ranks #3 for "best invoicing software for freelancers" will bring you customers for years. A tweet about your MRR disappears in 48 hours.

3. Community building over personal branding

The founders doing $10K+ MRR aren't trying to become Twitter celebrities. They're embedded in the communities where their customers hang out.

They answer questions in niche subreddits. They provide genuine help in industry Facebook groups. They contribute to Slack communities. And when someone asks for a tool recommendation, their product comes up - not because of self-promotion, but because of reputation.

This is slower than tweeting "just hit $5K MRR!" but it produces actual customers who stick around.

4. Case studies over metrics

Instead of sharing raw numbers (which invite comparison and copycats), smart founders share stories.

"Here's how [customer] used our tool to save 10 hours per week" is more powerful than "$8K MRR this month." The case study:

• Demonstrates value to potential customers
• Doesn't reveal competitive information
• Is harder to replicate than a revenue screenshot
• Builds trust through specificity

The exception: when build in public still works

I'm not saying BIP is dead for everyone. It still works if:

You already have a large audience. If you're Pieter Levels with 400K followers, tweeting your revenue will always work because YOU are the distribution. But you didn't build that audience through BIP - you built it through a decade of shipping products.

Your product IS for builders. If you sell a developer tool, boilerplate, or indie hacker resource, your BIP audience IS your customer base. ShipFast, Supabase, Railway - these benefit from building in public because their users are watching.

You're genuinely entertaining. Some people are just good content creators. Their build-in-public journey is engaging regardless of the product. But this is a personality trait, not a strategy you can copy.

For everyone else? Your time is better spent on channels that reach actual customers.

The new playbook

Here's what I'd do if I were starting from zero today:

1. Pick a niche. Specific industry, specific role, specific problem.
2. Become the expert. Write 10 blog posts about the problems in that niche. Create one free tool or resource. Join 3 communities where these people hang out.
3. Build quietly. Don't announce it. Don't tweet about it. Build the product, test it with 5 people from your niche, iterate based on their feedback.
4. Launch loudly. When the product is ready and you have early testimonials, THEN make noise. Product Hunt, community posts, email blasts, partner launches - all at once.
5. Sustain with content. Keep writing about the problem space. Keep helping in communities. Let the product grow through search traffic and word of mouth.

The founders making real money in 2026 aren't the ones with the best Twitter engagement. They're the ones with the best Google rankings, the most loyal niche communities, and the products that customers can't live without.

Build in private. Market in public. Sell in private.

That's the new playbook.