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Level up and build in public or private?

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What are your thoughts on levelling up or building in private or in public?

I think it all really depends on the project, your professional or personal goals and risk factors. I used to be quite private in most of my 20s where there was a period of time that I completely disappeared - at least in the eyes of my friends and community while I was building a business along with my family and going back to school to transition into my tech career. At the time, I knew it was what I had to do - to hunker down, focus, eliminate any distractions and create the space to make all the mistakes and learn from them. In retrospect, maybe if I had been more connected to my friends and community, I might’ve had their support and encouragement during the tough and celebratory times.

Now having been in tech for 3 years, I’ve always felt like there is a sense of community and support for one another to build and level up in public. It’s as if the default mode is to always learn from each other, hold each accountable, and provide feedback and encourage collaboration. I believe there is an element of the builder’s culture in tech to be able to iterate quickly, be experimental, tighten those feedback loops and engage with your community and end users. Building in public may provide more opportunities for collaboration and networking and may help to connect you to the right people in the vertical you’re building in or how leveling up.

So what are your thoughts and whether you choose to build and level up in private or public, what do you think the advantages and disadvantages are in both of them? Let me know on Twitter or Instagram!