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What nobody tells you about building in public. Reaching 10k+ users taught me some lessons
r/SaaS
7/1/2025
SAAS TOOLS
| SaaS | URL | Category | Features/Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buildpad | https://buildpad.io | Unknown | Mentioned as the author's product, built in public |
| GojiberryAI | Not provided | Lead generation/Outreach automation | Automates competitor lead harvesting: identifies target audience from social media comments, enriches data, initiates outreach |
| Orbit | Not provided | Community analytics | Mentioned for tracking brand chatter |
| Ahrefs | Not provided | SEO/Marketing analytics | Mentioned for tracking brand chatter |
| Pulse for Reddit | Not provided | Social listening/Reddit monitoring | Alerts when specific topics are mentioned on Reddit (e.g., payroll tools in r/Accounting), used for lead generation |
USER NEEDS
Pain Points:
- Building in public can attract competitors who copy your product
- Sharing too much information publicly gives competitors an advantage
- Wasting time building in public when the audience isn't the target customer
- Difficulty reaching the actual target audience through generic "build in public" communities
- Marketing content saturation due to AI-generated noise
Problems to Solve:
- How to effectively reach target audiences without attracting copycats
- How to leverage building in public for early user acquisition without scaling issues
- How to protect sensitive business information while still benefiting from public engagement
- How to identify where target audiences actually spend time online
- How to efficiently repurpose content across multiple channels
Potential Solutions:
- Build in public only in communities where target audience is present (e.g., LinkedIn for professionals like lawyers)
- Share solved problems and customer stories instead of roadmaps to hide sensitive details
- Use social listening tools (e.g., Pulse for Reddit) to identify high-intent leads in niche communities
- Automate lead harvesting from competitor audiences using tools like GojiberryAI
- Batch content creation and repurpose across platforms (e.g., one detailed post sliced into tweets, demos, blogs)
- Focus on communities with high buyer intent rather than generic hashtags
GROWTH FACTORS
Effective Strategies:
- Building in public for early user acquisition and feedback
- Targeting competitor audiences for lead generation
- Content batching and repurposing across multiple channels
- Using social listening tools to identify high-intent prospects
- Guarding sensitive information (roadmaps, metrics) while sharing successes
Marketing & Acquisition:
- Posting in niche communities where target audience resides (e.g., Slack groups, LinkedIn)
- Leveraging competitor traction by harvesting their engaged followers as leads
- Automating lead identification and outreach (e.g., GojiberryAI)
- Turning social media monitoring into demo opportunities (e.g., Pulse for Reddit alerts)
- Using "build in public" content as scalable marketing material when audience alignment exists
Monetization & Product:
- Product-market fit emphasis: building where target audience is present
- Feature development driven by user feedback from early public building
- Pricing models not discussed, but implied need for sustainable acquisition
- Adaptation to marketing changes (e.g., countering AI-generated content saturation with authentic public building)
User Engagement:
- Engaging directly in communities where users are active
- Sharing customer success stories to build credibility
- Maintaining public presence to foster community trust (even at scale)
- Using alerts for real-time engagement opportunities (e.g., Reddit mentions)