A Founder’s Retrospective from the Vortex IQ Journey

“Build in public” isn’t just a trend.
 It’s a mindset — of openness, accountability, and momentum.
 But like any strategy, it’s not without trade-offs.

At Vortex IQ, we embraced building in public early.
 From announcing our first AI agent to live-sharing hackathon wins, feature launches, and even failures — we let our journey be visible.

Here’s an honest look at what worked, what didn’t, and what we’d do differently next time

What Worked

1. Trust Before Traction

Sharing weekly progress, no matter how small, created trust with early believers — even before we had metrics to show.

Lesson: People invest in teams they trust. Building in public accelerates that trust curve.

2. Momentum Becomes Marketing

We didn’t need to “hype” features.
 A steady stream of “we shipped this”, “this broke, here’s the fix”, or “this customer just activated” organically drove reach.

Lesson: Consistency > virality. Real builders attract real attention.

3. Investor Visibility Without Cold Outreach

Several VCs told us:

“We’ve been following your journey for months. Let’s talk.”

Our LinkedIn and Medium posts acted as long-running investor pitch decks — in public.

Lesson: Public building is passive fundraising. If you’re solving a real problem, the right people will notice.

4. Customer Advocacy Started Early

We had early users cheering for us, resharing posts, tagging others, and giving feedback — all because they felt part of the journey.

Lesson: When customers feel like insiders, they become advocates.

5. Hiring Was Easier

When we posted our “10 AI Agents in 10 Days” experiment, engineers applied not because of job ads — but because they wanted to be part of something bold.

Lesson: Your build log is your culture deck. Show, don’t tell.

What Didn’t Work

1. Oversharing move forward. Criticism is part of being visible.

4. Too Much Transparency Too Soon

We once posted early mockups of our AI Agent Builder.
Competitors lifted the idea and built clones.

Fix: We n Half-Baked Ideas

In the early days, we posted ideas before validating them.
 Some never shipped. Others confused the audience.

Fix: We now validate ideas quietly, and only share once there’s something to learn or launch.

2. Inconsistent Posting = Lost Momentum

When we stopped posting for 3–4 weeks (during intense dev cycles), our reach tanked.

Fix: We created a “Build in Public” calendar and now schedule low-effort updates, even during sprints.

3. Negative Comments Do Hurt

We had one post that was misunderstood. A few critics called it “AI theatre.”
 It slowed us down mentally more than we’d like to admit.

Fix: We learned to engage calmly, andow balance visibility with strategic opaqueness. Show the value, not the blueprint.

4. Too Much Transparency Too Soon

We once posted early mockups of our AI Agent Builder.
 Competitors lifted the idea and built clones.

 Fix: We now balance visibility with strategic opaqueness. Show the value, not the blueprint.

Final Reflection

Would we still build in public?

Absolutely — but with nuance.

  • Share progress, lessons, wins
  • Don’t share roadmaps, IP, or sensitive experiments
  • Use it to attract users, talent, and capital
  • Don’t treat it as your main growth lever — it’s a layer, not a strategy

Build in public works when you treat it like a story — not just a status update.

Categories

Popular Post