Building in public as a solo founder sounds simple until you actually do it.
You see the highlight reels. Launch posts. Big wins. The occasional vulnerable confession wrapped in a tidy lesson.
What you don't see is the rest. The daily decisions about what to share and what to keep close. The rhythm that actually works when you're building multiple products alone.
I'm Marvin. I run Marvanova, an AI agency and product studio based in Sevenoaks, Kent. I've built dunlin Scout, Lucuma, PostLift, SEN Letters UK, and a few others. All live. All solo.
Here's what building in public as a solo founder actually looks like for me.
What I Share (And Why)
I share product decisions in real time. Not every decision, but the ones that matter.
When I make a pricing or product decision that changes how a tool works, I post about it while it is still fresh.
This isn't for claps or validation. It's for feedback before I've gone too far down the wrong path.
Solo founders don't have a team to gut-check ideas. Building in public as a solo founder creates that feedback loop. You post an idea. Someone who actually works in that space tells you why it won't work. You adjust. You save weeks.
I also share what I'm learning as I build. Technical stuff. Marketing experiments. Things that failed.
Lately I've been writing about why niche, vertical positioning works better than broad outreach, because someone else might be facing the same decision right now.
What I Keep Private (And Why)
I don't share financials. Ever.
No revenue figures. No customer counts. No "we just hit X milestone" posts with numbers attached.
Why? Because those numbers become the story instead of the product. People start tracking you instead of using what you built. Investors and competitors get data they don't need.
Your business is not a reality show.
I also don't share everything about roadmaps. I'll talk about what I'm building next for a specific product. But I won't lay out a 12-month plan with dates and features.
Plans change. Priorities shift. A customer request comes in that makes more sense than what you had lined up. If you've broadcast a rigid roadmap, you either look flaky when you pivot or you build the wrong thing to save face.
I keep private the stuff that doesn't help anyone. Internal tools I barely use. Features I'm testing that might get cut. Revenue experiments that flopped but taught me nothing useful.
Building in public as a solo founder means being useful, not just visible.
The Actual Rhythm
Most people think building in public means posting every day. It doesn't.
I post when there's something worth sharing. Sometimes that's twice a week. Sometimes it's once every two weeks.
Here's what that usually looks like:
I'll share a product update when a feature ships or a new product goes live. Like when SEN Letters UK launched for UK parents navigating the special education system. That's news. It helps people who need it.
I'll share a behind-the-scenes decision when it's meaty enough to be useful. Why I chose a specific tech stack. How I price a new SaaS product. Why I killed a feature that seemed good on paper.
I'll share lessons when I hit something that surprised me. A marketing channel that worked better than expected. A customer segment I didn't see coming. A positioning tweak that changed conversion.
I don't share for the sake of content. I share when I have something that moves someone forward.
Where I Share
LinkedIn is where most of my building in public as a solo founder happens. It's where other founders are. Where people building vertical SaaS or AI tools can actually use what I post.
I keep it short. 150 to 250 words. One idea per post. No fluff.
I also write longer blog posts here when a topic needs more than a LinkedIn post can hold. These go deeper. More context. More actionable detail.
Instagram and Facebook get lighter stuff. Product launches. Visual updates. Less strategy, more story.
I don't spread myself thin trying to be everywhere. I pick the places where my audience actually is and where I can share something useful.
What Building in Public Isn't
It's not personal blogging. Your feelings about burnout or imposter syndrome aren't building in public unless they connect to a product decision or lesson someone can use.
It's not growth hacking. You're not gaming algorithms or trying to manufacture virality. You're sharing what you're doing because it helps people building similar things.
It's not therapy. Don't overshare struggles just to seem relatable. Share the stuff that has a point.
Building in public as a solo founder is about showing your work in a way that helps others do theirs.
Why It Works for Solo Founders
When you're building alone, building in public keeps you accountable. You said you'd ship that feature. People saw it. You ship it.
It also forces clarity. If you can't explain a product decision in a short post, you probably haven't thought it through.
It creates unexpected opportunities. Someone sees what you're building and introduces you to a perfect early customer. A journalist finds your work and writes about it. Another founder reaches out to collaborate.
But the biggest benefit? It makes you less alone.
Solo founder life is isolating. You make every decision. You fix every bug. You write every line of copy. Building in public creates a loose network of people who care what you're building, even if they're not customers.
That matters more than you think.
What I'd Tell Someone Starting
Start small. You don't need a content calendar or a posting strategy. Just share the next decision you're making and why.
Be specific. "I'm rethinking pricing" is not useful. "I'm switching from per-user to flat-rate pricing because my customers hate seat limits" is.
Stay consistent, not constant. Post when you have something real. Not every day just to stay visible.
Keep some things private. Your bank balance. Your exact user count. The parts of your business that don't help anyone by being public.
Building in public as a solo founder is a tool, not a performance. Use it to build better products and connect with people doing the same.
If you want to see how I actually do this across Marvanova's products, you can follow along or reach out at hello@marvanova.com. I'm always happy to chat with other solo founders figuring this out.