Why I Started Building in Public (And Immediately Regretted It)

The fear of judgment was nothing compared to what I discovered underneath.

Hey there, Solo Dev 🧱

I thought building in public would be empowering. Instead, it felt like getting in line to have an egg thrown at my face.

You know the drill: share your progress, get feedback, build an audience, grow your product. It sounds inspiring, so I decided to try it.

Big mistake. (Well, not actually, but that's how it felt at first!)

The Reality is that you WILL get an egg in your face.

Here's what nobody tells you about building in public: every single update feels like putting a target on your forehead, and watching someone step up to test their pitch, egg in hand.

Wait, what’s that in his hand?! Photo by Bill Stephan on Unsplash.

I've always been someone who works in the background. I like my ideas fully formed before I share them. The spotlight has never been my friend.

But building in public? It's the opposite of what feels natural to me.

Every screenshot I shared felt like evidence that could be used against me. Every progress update opened the door for someone to point out what I was doing wrong.

And the worst part?

It wasn't getting easier. Everyone talks about how building in public becomes natural over time, but each post felt harder than the last. The dread was growing, not shrinking.

The real fear isn’t judgment, though.

As I sat there, cursor hovering over the "delete post" button, I realized something uncomfortable: This wasn't really about fear of product criticism.

Sure, I was worried someone might say my UI was ugly (fair enough, frontend was never my favorite 🥸) or that the product does nothing useful. But the deeper fear was much more personal.

Who am I to help other solopreneurs?

Why should I build something for people who might be more experienced than me?

What if they find out I'm just figuring this out as I go?

The imposter syndrome was crushing. Every public update felt like I was claiming expertise I didn't have, offering solutions I wasn't sure would work.

I was afraid of being exposed as a fraud. Not a technical fraud, just one who thought he could make a difference.

But something stronger will emerge.

I kept thinking about the conversations I'd had with other developers who were trying to make the leap to solo work.

The isolation they felt trying to figure it all out alone. Their insistence that they don’t have all the answers.

It’s just us, alone in our rooms. Photo by Kaur Kristjan on Unsplash.

And something new started to emerge

I wasn't building Solopreneur Liftoff and this newsletter for ego or attention. I was building because I believed I could help people like myself, people who wanted independence but didn't know where to start.

The motivation isn’t about proving I’m an expert. It’s about connection, and building something that can make a difference, even if I am still figuring things out myself.

I don’t need to have all the answers to help people find some of them.

This realization has changed everything.

Instead of thinking "What will people think of me?"I started thinking "How can I make this actually useful for someone?"

The fear didn't disappear (it probably never does). But after this realization I don’t mind doing what I’ve been avoiding for weeks: asking for feedback.

Not because building in public demands it, but because I genuinely want to make my products better for the people they serve.

The responses weren't what I expected. People weren't slinging eggs. They were sharing their own struggles, offering genuine insights, connecting over shared challenges.

I had been so focused on avoiding judgment that I'd almost missed the entire point: building something worth judging.

The truth about building in public?

Your why doesn't need validation before you act on it.

I thought I needed to help hundreds of people before I deserved to ask for help improving my product. I thought I needed proof of impact before I could claim I wanted to make an impact.

But that's backwards. The desire to help others is what gives you permission to put your work out there. The hope that you can make a difference is enough reason to try.

Building in public isn't about having the answers. It's about venturing out of your comfort zone and caring enough to find them.

Photo by Cristofer Maximilian on Unsplash.

What are you really afraid of?

I still haven't helped as many people as I hope to. Solopreneur Liftoff is still a work in progress. My expertise is still evolving.

But I'm not waiting for permission anymore. The world doesn't need another expert. It just needs more people who care enough to try.

If you've been holding back because you don't feel ready, ask yourself this: What if that fear is actually covering up something worth sharing?

Remember: putting yourself out there means there’s no avoiding the egg.

But you shouldn’t want to.

See you next Saturday!

Rasmus