Building in public brought me opportunities I no longer needed

On September 21, I shared that thought on X.

Metrics as stored in ClimbX on September 26, 2026. They show the response to the post, not a count of the opportunities it brought.

The 143 bookmarks surprised me more than the likes. People saved it, which tells me the feeling was familiar to a lot of builders. There is more behind that last line, and this is the longer version.

When the offers started

The offers did not arrive with my first followers. They arrived after months of posting about the same work every day. Here is the follower curve for the period, with the point where the messages started.

This is the post from that first wave, on August 4:

The follower count mattered less than the pattern. By August, people had watched me share the same project for four months. They knew what I was building and how I made decisions. That is what they reached out about.

People can see your work before they ever talk to you

A private project gives you something to work on. Sharing it gives other people something to remember you for. They can see the problem you are trying to solve, the decisions you make and how you explain what you have learned.

That is why I think building in public can lead to opportunities that a polished profile alone cannot. Someone has a reason to think of you when a project or collaboration comes up. Your work gives them a starting point for the conversation.

You do not have to turn every day into a success story. An explanation of a difficult decision can tell someone more about how you work than a launch announcement. The useful part is giving people something concrete to understand.

The timing is the strange part

When you want an opportunity, it is easy to imagine that getting it will settle everything. A job offer. A project someone trusts you to take on. An invitation to work together.

But your priorities can change while you are doing the work that makes you visible. You build something of your own. You get clearer about what deserves your time. An offer that would once have felt like the obvious next step becomes a choice you need to think through.

More opportunities can feel overwhelming

Job offers, project offers and collaboration offers are different kinds of decisions. Each asks for attention before it asks for a commitment. You have to understand what someone wants, whether it fits and what saying yes would mean for the work already in front of you.

I am glad building in public has opened those doors. I also meant it when I wrote that it has been a bit overwhelming. Being grateful for an offer does not make the decision automatic. These are the two questions I run every offer through.

The first question separates the pleasure of being asked from the reality of doing the work. The second makes the trade visible, because every yes takes time from something that already exists.

Give people something specific to remember

If you are building something and wondering what to share, start with a piece of the work you can explain honestly. It does not need to sound like a lesson for everyone. A specific observation from your own project is enough.

For example, you could show a change you made and explain the problem behind it. You could describe a decision where both options had drawbacks. Or share something you expected users to do, then explain what surprised you.

These posts give a reader context. Over time, that context helps them understand what you care about and where your skills might fit. There is no promise that a particular post will bring an offer, and the engagement on my post does not explain which earlier work led to the offers.

You still get to choose what comes next

The attention is encouraging. But the part that stays with me is having options I did not expect. Building in public has brought people and possibilities into view that I would otherwise have missed.

An opportunity does not become an obligation because you once wished for it. You can appreciate the offer and still protect the thing you are building now. That is the decision behind the post, and the part I am thinking about most.

Common questions