Public by default
How defaulting to openness is transforming our startup development
Three months ago, we made a radical change: we decided to make building Operately completely in the open. Engineering discussions? Public. Product decisions? Public. Development meetings? All on YouTube.
More than a year ago, when we were just starting the project, I enthusiastically declared we'd "build in public from day one." The code was open source, yes. But true openness? That took time to develop. It's one thing to declare transparency – it's another to make it part of your DNA.
The default in tech is to build behind closed doors. And while you have nothing concrete to show, it doesn’t make sense to be open about it either. But this fall, as our product approached beta, we realized it was time to truly embrace openness.
We moved our engineering and product discussions from private conversations to public Discord channels. We started recording and sharing our path to soft-launching the SaaS version of our product – over three hours of meetings now live on our Operately Backstage YouTube channel. Our documentation, decisions, and debates are happening in plain sight.
The benefits weren’t immediately obvious. There were no instant wins, no viral moments. It’s still early, but we did notice subtle shifts. Our team became a little more thoughtful in how we communicate. We naturally started leaving better documentation – "breadcrumbs" for others to follow. Most surprisingly, potential users started discovering us organically, even before we had proper marketing materials ready.
As companies grow, their internal complexity creates an invisible shield from market reality. Each new person, process, and project adds another layer of separation between the team and their customers. Building in public punctures these layers.
This approach isn't about transparency theater or building in public for its own sake. It's about removing unnecessary barriers between you and your potential customers, partners, and community. Unless something explicitly needs to be private, why not let it happen in the open?
Start by flipping the default question. Instead of asking "What can we share?", ask "What must stay private?" The rest becomes your competitive advantage in plain sight.
