What is a Build in Public?

TL;DR

Build in Public is when a company openly shares its progress, including successes and challenges, with its community and partners. This makes things transparent and builds trust. It helps partners understand what's happening and can lead to better products and stronger relationships within the partner ecosystem.

Key Insight

Openly sharing your journey, including the bumps and detours, humanizes your brand and builds an authentic connection with partners. This transparency transforms partners from mere distributors into invested collaborators, driving deeper engagement and more effective co-selling. It's about demonstrating, not just declaring, your commitment to mutual success.

1. Introduction

Build in Public represents a strategic philosophy where organizations openly share their developmental journey with external stakeholders. This sharing encompasses successes, challenges, setbacks, and works-in-progress. Opening the curtain on internal processes fosters shared ownership and collaboration within the wider community, especially within a partner ecosystem.

Moving beyond traditional, opaque development cycles, companies invite their audience, including channel partners and customers, to witness and even influence the creation process. This transparency cultivates deeper trust, provides valuable early feedback, and significantly enhances engagement across various touchpoints.

2. Context/Background

Historically, product development often remained a closely guarded secret, with companies revealing new innovations only upon official launch. This practice created a disconnect between creators and consumers. However, the rise of social media and interconnected digital platforms shifted expectations towards greater transparency and authenticity. Within business-to-business (B2B) relationships, particularly in complex partner ecosystems, this shift becomes even more pronounced. Partners are no longer mere distributors; often, they are co-innovators, implementers, and crucial feedback loops. Sharing the development journey equips partners with early insights, enabling them to better prepare for market changes and integrate new offerings into their own solutions.

3. Core Principles

• Transparency First: Openly share information about development, including challenges and learnings.
• Iterative Sharing: Provide regular updates, not just final announcements.
• Community Engagement: Actively solicit and incorporate feedback from partners and users.
• Authenticity: Be genuine about the process, acknowledging both triumphs and difficulties.

4. Implementation

Implementing a Build in Public strategy requires a structured approach. A six-step process guides this endeavor:

1. Define Scope: Identify what aspects of development will be shared, such as the product roadmap, design iterations, or beta testing.
2. Choose Platforms: Select appropriate channels for sharing, including blogs, social media, dedicated partner portals, and webinars.
3. Establish Cadence: Determine the frequency of updates to maintain consistent engagement.
4. Create Content: Develop clear, concise, and engaging content that explains progress and seeks feedback.
5. Engage and Respond: Actively monitor comments and questions, providing timely and thoughtful responses.
6. Measure Impact: Track engagement metrics and qualitative feedback to refine the strategy over time.

5. Best Practices vs Pitfalls

Best Practices: Share Learnings: Discuss what worked and what didn't. For an IT company, this means explaining why a certain feature design was abandoned. Empower Partners: Give channel partners early access to beta programs and solicit their input on product direction. Be Consistent: Regular updates build anticipation and trust. Use Visuals: Diagrams, screenshots, and short videos make updates more engaging.

Pitfalls: Over-sharing: Sharing too much detail can overwhelm or confuse. Focus on relevant updates. Lack of Follow-up: Soliciting feedback without acknowledging or acting on it erodes trust. Dishonesty: Hiding failures or sugarcoating challenges undermines the entire premise. Inconsistency: Sporadic updates can lead to disinterest.

6. Advanced Applications

For mature organizations, Build in Public can extend to several advanced applications:

1. Open Source Contributions: Actively contributing to and maintaining open-source projects relevant to their technology stack.
2. Shared Research & Development: Publishing research papers or findings that benefit the broader industry.
3. Supply Chain Transparency: In manufacturing, openly sharing details about ethical sourcing or sustainable production methods.
4. Co-creation Initiatives: Directly involving channel partners in design sprints or hackathons for new features.
5. Internal Process Documentation: Making select internal playbooks or best practices publicly available.
6. Financial Transparency (Appropriate Level): Sharing insights into business model evolution or investment strategies that impact the partner ecosystem.

7. Ecosystem Integration

Build in Public seamlessly integrates across the Partner Ecosystem Operating Model (POEM) lifecycle pillars:

• Strategize: Informs strategic direction by gathering early partner and market feedback.
• Recruit: Attracts new partners who value transparency and collaboration.
• Onboard: Provides new partners with a deeper understanding of the company's vision and development culture.
• Enable: Equips partners with early product knowledge and insights, enhancing partner enablement.
• Market: Generates buzz and authentic content that partners can use in their marketing efforts.
• Sell: Gives partners compelling narratives and early access to features for co-selling.
• Incentivize: Can be linked to partner recognition for valuable contributions to the public development process.
• Accelerate: Fosters innovation and rapid iteration based on continuous feedback.

8. Conclusion

Build in Public is more than just a trend; it represents a fundamental shift towards open collaboration and trust-building in the modern business landscape. By embracing transparency, organizations cultivate stronger relationships with their channel partners, gain invaluable insights, and create products and services that truly resonate with their market.

This approach transforms the traditional vendor-partner dynamic into a shared journey of creation and innovation. Organizations seeking to strengthen their partner ecosystem and foster genuine engagement will find that adopting a Build in Public philosophy offers a powerful path to sustainable growth and mutual success.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Build in Public?

Build in Public is a strategy where a company openly shares its development process, including successes and challenges, with its community and partners. This transparency helps build trust and involves partners and customers in the journey. It's about being open about what you're creating.

How does Build in Public benefit IT companies?

IT companies benefit by sharing beta software, product roadmaps, or development discussions. This invites feedback from channel partners, leading to better product refinement and stronger partner relationships. It can also generate early interest and excitement for new products.

Why should manufacturing companies use Build in Public?

Manufacturing companies can use it to share updates on new production methods, supply chain improvements, or sustainability efforts. This transparency helps partner relationship teams in co-selling and strengthens partner program engagement. It shows innovation and commitment.

When is the best time to start building in public?

The best time to start is early in your development process, even with initial ideas or challenges. This allows your community and partners to feel truly involved from the beginning. You don't need a perfect product to start sharing your journey.

Who typically participates in a Build in Public strategy?

Customers, potential customers, channel partners, and the broader industry community all participate. For IT, this might be beta testers; for manufacturing, it could be suppliers or distributors. It’s about engaging anyone interested in your progress.

Which types of information are best to share when building in public?

Share information about your development process, including new features, challenges you're facing, lessons learned, and even internal discussions (within reason). Roadmaps, prototypes, and user feedback sessions are also great to share.

How does Build in Public help with partner ecosystem engagement?

It deepens partner engagement by making them feel like insiders. When partners understand your development journey and challenges, they can better anticipate needs, provide valuable feedback, and more effectively co-sell your offerings. It fosters a shared sense of ownership.

What are the risks of building in public?

Risks include exposing vulnerabilities, potential competition seeing your plans, or receiving negative feedback. However, these risks are often outweighed by the benefits of transparency, trust, and early problem-solving with community input.

Can Build in Public be applied to services, not just products?

Yes, absolutely. Service-based businesses can build in public by sharing insights into their process improvements, new service offerings, client success stories (with permission), or how they're addressing common industry challenges. It's about showing how you deliver value.

How does Build in Public foster trust within a partner ecosystem?

It builds trust by demonstrating honesty and authenticity. When partners see both your successes and your struggles, they understand you're real and committed, which strengthens their confidence in aligning with your brand and offerings.

What tools can facilitate a Build in Public approach?

Tools include social media platforms (Twitter, LinkedIn), dedicated community forums, blogs, public roadmapping tools (like Canny or Productboard), and regular video updates. The key is consistent communication on accessible platforms.

How do you measure the success of a Build in Public strategy?

Success can be measured by increased community engagement, higher quality feedback, improved partner collaboration, faster product adoption, and positive brand sentiment. Look for metrics like comments, shares, partner-led sales, and direct feedback.