Here’s a question I keep getting asked quite frequently: (h/t Paul)
“Who are some interesting people to follow in the #buildinpublic community? I really want to improve my feed. I’ve had a Twitter account for a long time, but have only really got started.”
So I looked at my Twitter lists and bookmarks to uncover 10 names of founders — apart from me — who are living breathing examples of the building in public philosophy whose work has impacted me so much that I recommend you’d study them carefully.
Here we go:
#1. Pieter Levels
Founder of Nomad List, Remote OK, Rebase and many other projects for remote workers and nomads.
One of my favorite recent examples of his ‘build in public’ moves is when he openly tweeted that he’d pay his friend Marc $10k if he didn’t ship a project he’s been procrastinating.
And then on Feb 11, 2023, he shipped his latest project PhotoAI.io.
Before this, he also built avatarai.me, a commercial photorealistic AI avatar product, within a week - all in public!
#2. Arvid Kahl
Co-founded, bootstrapped, and sold FeedbackPanda.com for life-changing $ in 2019, now sharing his journey & empowering founders.
His second book ‘The Embedded Entrepreneur’ was built in public from the beginning, with constant feedback from future readers.
This is one of my favorite videos on this topic by Arvid.
Bonus: Listen to my interview with Arvid on the Build In Public Podcast!
#3. Marie Martens
https://twitter.com/MarieMartens
Co-founder of Tally.so, the simplest way to create online forms for free.
Bootstrapped her startup all the way in public to $10K MRR in 19 months
#4. Tony Dinh
Indie Hacker who has built various internet products including Xnapper.com and BlackMagic.so in public
Believes in sharing ideas, screenshots/videos of in-progress work; the best way to build both an audience and product at the same time!
#5. Kevon Cheung
Founder who teaches how to effectively build in public; a product builder, instructor, and writer, running the course and cohort "Build in Public Mastery" which was built in public
His actionable newsletter Public Lab goes into detail about how to win raving friends and fans in less than 5 mins per week
#6. Michelle Marcelline
https://twitter.com/michwirantono
Co-Founder of Typedream, a YC backed startup is becoming the go-to website builder for founders, digital creators, and web3 frens.
Is a firm believer that the most important factor for building in public is consistency, and that engaging via social media should be a daily activity.
I love her tweets about the various scrappy experiments they ran
#7. Marie Ng
https://twitter.com/threehourcoffee
Founder of Llama Life, a task manager helping you finish work on time. Built various tools in public.
Building in public is how Llama life caught the attention of Jason Calacanis, who later went on to invest in the startup
#8. Dickie Bush
https://twitter.com/dickiebush
Co-creator of one of the fastest growing cohort-based writing communities, Ship 30 for 30. Built his entire Twitter growth journey and now the content/community business in public
His threads on digital writing are so value dense and compelling
#9. Sharath Kuruganty
Head of Community at Threado. Ran community programs previously at Product Hunt and On Deck. Co-founder of Shoutout.
Shoutout’s two year journey, from incorporation to improving the product to figuring out pricing to finally being sold - was done in public in view of a supportive public audience.
#10. Katt Risen
Creator of various no-code tools such as nocode-guru.co and indiekids.io/v2.
She has been building No-code Exits in public and totally crushing it.
I love how boldly discusses her project’s roadmap, invites customers and fans to chime in and handles feedback like a champion.
Note: This is just a brief list, there are many more incredible founders and creators building in public.
Originally published on KP's Column · Feb 15, 2023