How to build in public

As a founder, there are two things that I hate:

1. When your investor emails you about a competitor.

2. Taxes.

Thankfully, Justworks created a tax checklist for founders and small businesses looking to save time and money (two things that I love).

The free checklist has:

• A list of key documents every business owner should understand.

• Key deadlines and filing requirements.

• Best practices regarding invoices, receipts, and payroll data.

I downloaded the guide last night, then did what any responsible CEO would do and forwarded it to my CFO.

Building a company is hard enough, make your life easier starting…now!

It still blows my mind that a little over three years ago beehiiv was just a side project my cofounders and I were tinkering with on the weekends.

Fast forward to today and some of the most notable people and brands in the world leverage this platform of ours to engage with their audience:

• Generational icons like Arnold Schwarzenegger

• Podcasters like Jay Shetty and Brett Cooper

• Health experts like Dr. Jen Ashton and Dr. Casey Means

• Journalists like Oliver Darcy and Catherine Herridge

• NBA superstars like Russell Westbrook and Kyle Kuzma

And just last week we announced that TIME (yeah, that TIME) recently became one of our newest customers.

What’s better — they landed in our pipeline because their CTO reads this very newsletter (what’s up Burhan). That’s right, my popular Spotify playlist (lame flex) that I parlayed into a newsletter is currently landing deals with some of the heaviest hitters in the industry.

While yes I’m being a bit facetious about the whole playlist to newsletter bit, there was obviously a ton of intentionality behind all of this. I’ve been a huge proponent of building in public from the jump.

It may not be for everyone, but if done well, it can be a real force multiplier for a startup.

• We raised our $12.5M Series A in just 6 days, and our $33M Series B in just 2 weeks.

• We generate dozens of organic enterprise leads each week. And qualified candidates. And interested investors.

• I can broadcast updates to tens of thousands of users (and potential users) for free.

• Our team has a personal relationship with hundreds of users online and we routinely receive real-time feedback.

None of those things would be possible if I chose to build beehiiv in stealth.

Instead, I do the complete opposite. I openly share everything we’re building and doing at the company in real-time with anyone who takes a second to follow me (Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram). This newsletter is just an extension of that and allows me to go even deeper.

Here’s why I think building in public can be a massive competitive advantage…

Why it works…

It’s human nature to follow stories and narratives. It’s the reason we watch movies and read books. People want to follow people (not brands).

I’ve dropped this post in a previous newsletter, but it’s so spot on.

Just like any other form of content, it’s all about finding an audience and providing value or entertainment (or both). For me personally…

• Audience: anyone interested in startups, entrepreneurship, tech, or newsletters

• Value: sharing real-time strategies, growth tactics, hiring practices, fundraising tips, and updates

Each week I receive a few dozen similar replies to the newsletter — it’s super validating and fulfilling. That in itself makes it worth it, but fortunately there’s tons of additional upside too.

Audience. Audience. Audience.

Once again: people >> brands.

• Kylie Cosmetics

• Feastables by MrBeast

• Skims by Kim Kardashian

• Prime by Logan Paul

I’m not saying I’m 0.0001% as notable or influential as Kim Kardashian, but I’m trying.

There’s a reason these brands are competing head to head with the incumbents — they have massive advantages with free distribution. It’s a superpower to be able to broadcast to millions of potential customers for free.

I don’t have plans to release a sex tape anytime soon, so my best bet is continuing to create content about startups that others find valuable.

Providing value → more engagement → more followers → more distribution.

Free alpha.

So many startups struggle to collect useful feedback from users.

Not us.

Every time I publish something, I receive dozens of replies from users who aren’t afraid to let me know where we missed the mark. And because our team is also chronically online, we have real relationships with tons of our most active (and critical) users.

Quicker feedback cycles lead to quicker product iterations which leads to happier users.

Opportunity.

I don’t want to attribute all of our success to building in public, but consider the alternative for just a moment…

Pretend this newsletter didn’t exist. Pretend I never once downloaded or used Twitter or LinkedIn or any social platform to share any of this. I genuinely don’t think beehiiv would be what it is today if we hadn’t cultivated this sort of community and company culture.

Simply writing and sharing my thoughts on the internet has been one of the highest ROI things I’ve ever done.

TIME is now one of our largest customers simply because their CTO reads this newsletter. There’s at least a few hundred additional beehiiv users I can attribute directly to this newsletter.

We closed two funding rounds totaling nearly $50M… in less than 3 weeks combined. There’s some nuance there, but being open and public about our progress made it a whole lot easier for these investors to feel comfortable moving forward on an accelerated timeline.

There’s a handful of current beehiiv employees who have come inbound from our content strategy. And a handful of others who referenced the podcasts, newsletters, and other content as to what motivated them to apply.

I’ve now hosted three mastermind events in Costa Rica with 18 other founders who all came inbound from reading this newsletter. I’ve even written a few angel checks into some of their companies.

I somehow landed on the cover of Inc.’s December magazine issue wearing my jeans in the ocean.

One of my favorite quotes is around “expanding your luck surface area.” By simply sharing your thoughts online, you increase the odds of others taking interest in what you’re doing… which leads to a whole lot of what I outlined in this section.

Ok, I’m convinced…

Great. Here’s some of the content that I typically share online that you can use for inspiration…

New features and updates.

Company milestones.

Customer success stories.

Product tutorials of me legitimately building in public.

Customers doing dope shit.

My vision and goals.

By the way — that goal was sorta weak. We’re gunning for $40M now 😈.

My current mindset.

The internet is awesome; take advantage of it.

If you enjoyed this post or know someone who may find it useful, please share it with them and encourage them to subscribe: mail.bigdeskenergy.com/p/how-to-build-in-public

In honor of Fat Tuesday, here’s the fattest desk setup in all of New Orleans. I’m still mentally recovering from Mardi Gras 2015.

Think you can generate a better office? Reply with your submissions 📨.

Turn on, tune in, drop out. Click on any of the tracks below to get in a groove — each selected from the full Big Desk Energy playlist.

Some of my favorite content I found on the internet this week…

• I joined Memelord Jason Levin IRL to record a pod and people have told me it’s great (YouTube)

• The CEO and founder of Granola joined Invest Like The Best to chat about the next frontier of AI (Colossus)

• Excellent writeup on Anthropic’s latest model and the state of AI chips and the geopolitical ramifications (Stratechery)

• New conversational AI just dropped and you can play with the demo for free (Sesame)

Share this newsletter with your friends, or use it as a pickup line.

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Until next Tuesday 🕺🏽

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