Building in public has become a popular trend among creators, entrepreneurs, and developers. It involves openly sharing your progress, challenges, and successes as you develop a product or build a business. By sharing your journey with the public, you can foster a sense of community, gain valuable feedback, and potentially attract early adopters and customers. In this article, we will explore why building in public can be beneficial, the pros and cons of using popular technologies versus the newest trendiest ones, and how to choose a sustainable and scalable tech stack to increase your chances of success.

Why build in public?

Building in public has numerous advantages that can significantly impact your project's growth and success. Firstly, it allows you to build a reputation as an expert in your field by sharing your knowledge and expertise openly. This helps you establish trust and credibility among your audience and potential customers.

Moreover, building in public allows you to engage with a community of like-minded individuals who are passionate about your industry or niche. By sharing your progress, challenges, and solutions, you can spark meaningful conversations and learn from others who may have faced similar obstacles.

Additionally, building in public can serve as a powerful marketing tool. It enables you to create anticipation and generate buzz around your product as people follow your journey from conception to launch. This can result in early adopters and a dedicated user base, even before your product is fully developed.

When you build in public, you open up the opportunity to receive valuable feedback from your audience. By sharing your ideas and prototypes, you can gather insights and suggestions that can help you refine and improve your product. This iterative process allows you to build something that truly meets the needs and desires of your target audience.

Furthermore, building in public can provide you with a sense of accountability. When you share your goals and progress publicly, you are more likely to stay committed and motivated to achieve them. The support and encouragement from your community can push you to overcome challenges and reach new heights.

Another advantage of building in public is the potential for collaboration. By sharing your work openly, you may attract individuals or organizations who are interested in partnering with you. This can lead to exciting collaborations, joint ventures, and access to additional resources or expertise that can accelerate your project's growth.

Moreover, building in public allows you to document your journey and create a valuable resource for others. By sharing your successes and failures, you can inspire and educate aspiring entrepreneurs or individuals interested in your industry. Your transparency can serve as a guide for others, helping them navigate their own entrepreneurial journeys.

Lastly, building in public can be a source of motivation and inspiration for yourself. As you share your progress and receive positive feedback from your audience, you are reminded of the impact and value of your work. This can fuel your passion and drive, pushing you to continue pushing boundaries and striving for excellence.

Using a popular technology vs using the newest, trendiest ones

Choosing the right technology stack is critical when building in public. It can impact your product's performance, scalability, and the ease with which you can iterate and add new features. When deciding between popular technologies and the newest, trendiest ones, it's essential to consider various factors.

Popular technologies, such as React or Python, have stood the test of time and have extensive community support. They often have well-documented resources, tutorials, and vast libraries of plugins or packages, making development more straightforward and efficient.

On the other hand, the newest, trendiest technologies may offer exciting features or performance improvements. However, they often lack mature documentation and community support, making it harder to find solutions or guidance when encountering issues. Additionally, using bleeding-edge technologies can come with potential risks, such as compatibility issues or limited available talent.

For instance, using a cutting-edge programming language like Rust, known for its memory safety and performance, can provide significant advantages. However, due to its novelty, the availability of resources, tutorials, and experienced developers might be limited, making it more difficult to troubleshoot issues or find support (and more difficult to hire strong engineers for).

Ultimately, the decision between popular technologies and the newest, trendiest ones depends on factors like project requirements, team expertise, timeline, and long-term sustainability. It's crucial to weigh the benefits and drawbacks of each option before making a final decision.

Considering the specific needs of your project, the availability of resources and support, and the potential risks involved, will help you make an informed choice. By carefully evaluating the pros and cons of popular technologies and the newest, trendiest ones, you can ensure that your technology stack aligns with your goals and sets you up for success in the long run.

What is a sustainable, scalable choice, assuming you want to succeed?

When aiming for success, it is essential to choose a sustainable and scalable tech stack for your project. Sustainability involves ensuring that your technology choices align with your long-term goals and allow for easy maintenance, updates, and future expansions.

A scalable tech stack should enable your product to handle increasing traffic, users, and data without sacrificing performance. It should also provide flexibility to add new features and adapt to changing market demands.

To make a sustainable and scalable choice, consider factors such as community support, availability of talent, future-proofing, and the ability to integrate with other systems or services. It may be beneficial to opt for technologies with a robust ecosystem, active developer communities, and a track record of continuous improvement.

When evaluating community support, look for technologies that have a strong online presence, including active forums, documentation, and a vibrant developer community. This ensures that you have access to a wealth of knowledge and resources, making it easier to troubleshoot issues and find solutions.

Availability of talent is another crucial factor to consider. Choosing technologies that have a large pool of skilled professionals can make it easier to find and hire developers who are experienced in working with your chosen tech stack. This can save you time and resources in the long run, as you won't have to spend excessive time and effort training new team members.

Future-proofing is also a key consideration. It is important to choose technologies that are not only relevant and widely adopted today but also have a clear roadmap for future development. This ensures that your tech stack will continue to evolve and remain up-to-date with emerging trends and technologies.

Integration capabilities are another aspect to keep in mind. Your chosen tech stack should have the ability to seamlessly integrate with other systems or services that your project may require. This can include APIs, third-party libraries, or even other software applications. Having a flexible and interoperable tech stack allows you to leverage existing tools and resources, saving you time and effort in building everything from scratch.

Moreover, prioritizing technologies with good documentation and clear upgrade paths can help future-proof your project and ease the transition as your product evolves. Clear and comprehensive documentation ensures that developers can easily understand and work with the technology, reducing the learning curve and potential roadblocks.

Regularly reassessing your tech stack and making necessary updates or optimizations is crucial to maintain a sustainable and scalable foundation. Technology is constantly evolving, and what may be considered cutting-edge today may become outdated tomorrow. By staying proactive and keeping up with the latest advancements, you can ensure that your project remains competitive and adaptable to changing market demands.

In conclusion, choosing a sustainable and scalable tech stack is vital for the long-term success of your project. By considering factors such as community support, availability of talent, future-proofing, and integration capabilities, you can make informed decisions that will enable your product to thrive and evolve in the ever-changing technological landscape.

Our recommendation

Based on our analysis, we recommend leveraging a combination of popular, proven technologies and selectively incorporating newer, promising ones. This approach allows you to benefit from the stability and community support of popular technologies while taking advantage of the innovations offered by newer ones.

For example, you might consider using a widely adopted framework like NodeJS (in JS) or Django (in Python) as the foundation of your backend, while utilizing modern front-end frameworks like React or Angular for a responsive user interface. This blend of established and emerging technologies can provide stability, performance, and opportunities for experimentation and innovation. We'd advise using Vercel.app for hosting, and mongodb.com for the database.

Remember, ultimately, the choice of tech stack should align with your project's specific needs, your team's expertise, and your long-term vision. Regularly evaluate and adapt your technology choices as your project evolves to ensure sustainability and scalability.

In conclusion, building in public can be a valuable strategy for creators and entrepreneurs. It fosters community, yields feedback, and drives early adoption. When choosing a tech stack, weighing the pros and cons of popular versus trendy technologies is essential. The optimal choice is one that is sustainable, scalable, and aligns with your long-term goals. By following these guidelines and considering our recommendations, you can set yourself up for success when building in public.