Building in Public — The Debate
Sources: Indie Hackers community, Pieter Levels, Marc Lou, Arvid Kahl, Jon Yongfook, counter-takes from Nick Moore and Danny Lin URL: https://www.indiehackers.com/post/lifestyle/is-this-the-end-of-build-in-public-heres-why-top-indie-hackers-are-suddenly-disappearing-IhSJQBnXNuNwSuNTuz4t
Summary
“Building in public” — publicly sharing your startup journey, revenue numbers, wins, and failures — has been the dominant distribution tactic for indie hackers from 2019-2024. Champions like Pieter Levels, Marc Lou, and Arvid Kahl built audiences of hundreds of thousands of followers by sharing MRR updates and lessons learned. But in 2025-2026, a quiet shift has occurred: top indie hackers are going dark — deleting MRR updates, scrubbing product URLs, retreating to stealth mode. The reason: copycats. Once you flag product-market fit publicly, competitors clone your idea for free. This is the first source in the wiki that presents a genuine current-debate rather than settled wisdom.
The Case For Building in Public
- Organic audience growth — every update is content that attracts like-minded people
- Trust and authenticity — numbers, struggles, and lessons build empathy
- Community support — fellow indie hackers cheer you on, give feedback, buy
- Personal brand compounds — speaking, podcasts, opportunities flow from visibility
- Free distribution — content marketing without the content marketing team
- The “audience-first” playbook (Kahl) requires being in public
The Case Against (The 2025-2026 Shift)
- Copycats — sharing MRR is waving a “proven idea” flag for cheap cloners
- Attention tax — responding to Twitter takes hours that could build product
- Emotional volatility — public wins and losses amplify founder psychology strain
- Diminishing returns — the space is crowded; signal-to-noise has dropped
- Nick Moore (PopClip) and Danny Lin (OrbStack) — successful indie hackers who build quietly
The Resolution
Neither extreme is right. The nuanced take:
- Early stage: build in public works — you need the audience more than you need secrecy
- Post-product-market fit: selective transparency — share lessons and process, hide the specific metrics and product details that invite competitors
- The killer question: does your moat come from insight, execution, or network? If execution or network, stay public. If insight, protect it.
Key Claims
- Building in public drove huge success for Levels, Kahl, Marc Lou (2019-2024)
- Top indie hackers are now going dark due to copycat risk (2025-2026)
- 60% of indie hackers still support sharing revenue (per Yongfook poll)
- Not all successful bootstrappers build in public — Nick Moore and Danny Lin prove the counter
- The right strategy depends on your moat type: execution/network → stay public; insight → go dark
- Early stage favors public; mature favors selective transparency