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At the end of every Wealth Potion newsletter, I include a Build in Public Update, where I:

• Share my growth metrics transparently

• Talk openly about my current goals and priorities

• Highlight my wins, losses, and struggles in the business

I’m building my company while sharing the journey with you.

This approach, known as Building in Public is still relatively new, but I believe it’s a game-changer for business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs.

Today, we’re breaking down:

1. What Building in Public is and where the movement came from.

2. Why it’s so valuable, specifically:

   1. As Sales and Marketing

   2. For Increasing Luck

   3. As a Personal Board of Directors

   4. For Giving Back

Let’s dive in.

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What is “Building in Public”?

Building in Public is exactly what it sounds like — entrepreneurs, creators, and indie hackers sharing their journey transparently.

Rather than only sharing polished success stories, they share their wins, losses, and lessons learned in real time.

Entrepreneurs like Pieter Levels, Arvid Kahl, and Jack Butcher have taken a different approach - they’re providing their followers with a transparent look into their business.

Where Building in Public Came From

Social media has given everyone a voice, but it’s also created the “highlight reel” effect, where people only share their best moments. In other words:

You only see people’s “highlight reel” on social media.

• Instagram: Perfectly curated photos

• YouTube: Highly edited and scripted videos

• X / Twitter: A compilation of someone’s most refined thoughts.

Building in Public flips the script on this “highlight reel” effect.

Because running a business is hard. Really freakin’ hard. And entrepreneurs are now deciding to talk about it.

At its core, Building in Public is about:

• Authenticity: Sharing real insights, not just polished highlights.

• Community: Involving the audience and potential customers in your thinking.

• Accountability: Publicly stating your goals to encourage follow-through.

I believe the Building in Public movement is just getting started. As AI automates more of the economy, authenticity and humanity will become the ultimate differentiator.

Why Build in Public is Revolutionary

1. Building in Public as Sales and Marketing

After nearly a decade in B2B tech sales, I’ve seen firsthand how founders underestimate the importance of sales.

The biggest mistake? Believing “Build it and they will come”.

They won’t.

Building in Public is early-stage sales!

By sharing your journey, you naturally attract potential customers. This is especially useful for young founders who feel uncomfortable with “sales”. Reframing it as “sharing” or “journaling” makes the sales process feel more natural.

2. Building in Public for Increasing Luck

Naval Ravikant once tweeted about the four kinds of luck:

1. Blind luck (random good fortune)

2. Luck from hustling (creating more opportunities)

3. Luck from preparation (recognizing opportunities)

4. Luck from reputation (opportunities find you)

Building in Public increases both #2 and #4.

• By putting yourself out there, you increase the surface area for luck to find you.

• By honing and sharing your skills, people associate you with those skills—making it more likely they’ll bring you relevant opportunities.

3. Building in Public as a Personal Board of Directors

At a certain scale, companies assemble a Board of Directors—a group of advisors that provides oversight and accountability.

Every quarter, executives prepare board decks. These slide decks often consist of 100+ slides outlining key metrics, wins, and challenges.

It’s a ton of work for many people across the company to prepare these slide decks.

Here’s the thing:

The vast majority of these slides will never be presented.

So why spend so much time and resources on preparing the slides?

Because the value is in the preparation. It forces executives across the business to understand their department well enough to be able to present them.

In other words, the board deck is an accountability exercise.

Building in Public serves the same purpose:

• It forces self-reflection — tracking your progress, setting goals, and identifying blind spots.

• It invites outside feedback — your audience becomes an informal, personal advisory board.

Even if no one reads your posts, the habit of sharing creates accountability and clarity.

4. Building in Public for Giving Back

I listen to a lot of podcasts.

And one of the best insights I heard in 2024 came from Mike Beckham (CEO, Simple Modern) on the MoneyWise Podcast.

He talked about “giving as a muscle”, and a muscle that you have to start building early. (starts at 20:40)

Beckham donates a significant portion of his income to charity, but more importantly, he started when he had much less to give. He believes that if you don’t build the habit early, it’s easy to make excuses later.

Building in Public works the same way.

By sharing your wins, struggles, and thought process early on, you create a habit of giving back — to your community, your early supporters, and the next wave of builders.

Because once you’ve “made it,” you can’t go back and share your journey in real time.

Final Thoughts

I Build in Public because I’ve seen firsthand how powerful transparency can be.

My wife quit her B2B tech job, built a content business, and replaced her salary in under a year, and I had an inside look most people don’t get. I saw the wins, the struggles, and the tough decisions she had to make — all of which gave me the confidence to start Wealth Potion.

Now, I’m sharing my journey so you can learn from it too.

What’s something you’re working on that you’d be open to sharing more of? Hit reply—I’d love to hear about it.

And so, without further ado…

Build in Public Update

I’m feeling back in my groove.

I took a long hiatus due to my cancer surgery over the holidays, and so I felt it was important for me to get my momentum going again.

I still have some more thinking to do around my goals for 2025, but in the interest of transparency, I’ll think aloud with you:

• 2025 is the year I monetize. Specifically, I’ll be launching a digital product. Part of me wants to continue building my audience before monetizing. But realistically, I can’t directly control the speed of my audience growth, and there is a risk that I fall into a trap of never feeling like my audience is big enough. I’m going with a small product launch, and will scale it from there.

• YouTube is the tried-and-true platform, whereas X could be the dark horse. Most Creators I know see YouTube as ol’ faithful”. It’s been around for a long time, and it isn’t going anywhere. But X presents some interesting opportunities. Elon seems very adamant on turning it into the “everything app”, including a Smart TV app and a video tab, suggesting further investment into long-form video. I definitely don’t want to miss that wave.

• I’m still hesitant about community platforms. Skool, Discord, Slack, Circle, and so on. These platforms seem interesting, especially for Creators like me who see value in building a community. But it seems like building a community comes with a lot of risks. For every successful community, I’ve seen 5-10 Creators who shut down their community because it just didn’t work.

These are my rough, unrefined thoughts… in true Build in Public fashion. And I’d love to hear from you.

If you’re subscribed to Wealth Potion and — more importantly — you’ve read all the way to here, then that means you’re part of the community. And your feedback means the world to me.

I read and respond to every reply. So don’t be a stranger :)

What would you like to see from Wealth Potion this year?

To your prosperity,

Brandon