SaaS Founders & Startups: The Ultimate "Build in Public" Guide (Ditch Stealth Mode)

Published June 27, 2026 by David

I’ve spent 10 years in tech. In 2018, I launched a SaaS with my co-founder. We made the classic mistake: locked ourselves in an office, signed NDAs left and right, and waited for TechCrunch to discover us. Result? 18 months of radio silence. Raised €0. Nearly went bankrupt.

Then we flipped everything. We switched to Build in Public. Not just by sharing our numbers, but by telling our struggles, doubts, and solutions. In 6 months, we gained 500 active users, raised €250k, and were even approached by a competitor for an acquisition.

The secret? The LinkedIn carousel. An underrated format that turns strangers into ambassadors. Here’s how I use it—no bullshit.

1. Radical Transparency: Stop Playing Corporate, Be Human

Many founders think Build in Public is just about posting MRR. Big mistake. If you only share wins, you create envy—not engagement.

A good Build in Public carousel is a story in 8 slides max. Real example:

• Slide 1 (The Crash): "Yesterday, our database crashed at 4:37 PM. 30% of our customers saw their dashboard turn into a blank page."
• Slides 2-5 (The Investigation): Screenshot of the error, logs, panic-mode Slack screenshots. "We took 4 hours to identify the bug. Meanwhile, customers were emailing us in ALL CAPS."
• Slides 6-8 (The Fix): "We added an automatic rollback system. Result: This will never happen again. Here’s how we communicated with customers to reassure them."

Result? People relate. They share your carousel. LinkedIn’s algorithm loves it. And you gain credibility.

Keep your own tone—it’s your best asset for this.

2. The "Feature Request" Carousel: Co-Create with Your Audience Before Coding

Never develop a feature in isolation hoping it’ll stick. Use carousels to test ideas in real time.

Example:

• Slide 1: "We’re torn between two designs for our new dashboard. Help us decide!"
• Slide 2: Screenshot of Design A (minimalist, clean).
• Slide 3: Screenshot of Design B (busy, colorful).
• Slide 4: "Vote in the comments: A or B? We’re launching development tomorrow."

With the last slide (CTA), you can even add a direct poll. LinkedIn’s algorithm will boost your carousel, and you’ll gather user data before writing a single line of code.

3. The "Early Adopters" Case Study: Show Impact, Not Promises

As soon as you have your first customers, turn them into heroes. Not with generic testimonials—with hard numbers.

Example carousel:

• Slide 1: "Before [YourTool], [Client X] wasted 10 hours/week managing data manually."
• Slide 2: Screenshot of a messy Excel spreadsheet.
• Slide 3: "With [YourTool], they save 8 hours/week. Here’s their new process."
• Slide 4: Video testimonial or screenshot of their thank-you message.

With well-spaced bullet points and visual social proof, you can even add before/after comparisons. This works 10x better than a sales pitch.

Coding Time vs. Design Time: Stop Wasting Hours on Layouts

As a founder, your time is gold. If you spend 2 hours aligning blocks in Canva instead of working on your product, your marketing—and energy—will suffer.

That’s why we built CarouselCraft. Dump your weekly learnings into the tool, and the AI:

• Formats your slides automatically.
• Applies your brand colors and guidelines.
• Optimizes for mobile in 2 seconds.

You stay focused on the product. I’ll handle making your brand shine.

👉 Start building in public like a pro with CarouselCraft Studio!

Les illustrations de ce blog sont généreusement mises à disposition par les photographes d' Unsplash.