Building in Public When SaaS Gets Hard

The short answer

For SaaS founders, building in public can help restore motivation by making progress visible, turning failures into useful lessons, and creating opportunities for community encouragement.

When SaaS building drains your motivation, build in public by sharing the truth: what moved forward, what failed, and what you will try next. For me, public updates turned a loss of motivation from a private dead end into a conversation with a community that encouraged me to keep going.

Why building SaaS can become discouraging

Building SaaS requires continuing before the outcome is certain. Some days bring a clear win. Other days feel like a failed approach, a slow decision, or no visible progress at all.

That uncertainty can make it difficult to maintain momentum. When the work stays private, it is also easy to treat a difficult week as evidence that you are not moving forward.

Building in public gives the work a visible record. A small improvement can become a milestone, while a failed attempt can become something useful to reflect on rather than something to hide.

Share failures, not just wins

Sharing wins is encouraging, but only sharing wins creates an incomplete picture of SaaS building. The failures and setbacks often make the journey more relatable—and more useful to other founders.

A practical failure update can answer four questions:

• What did I expect to happen?

• What actually happened?

• What did I learn?

• What will I try next?

This turns a frustrating moment into a clear update. You do not need to present the failure dramatically or pretend it was positive. Candidly explaining what went wrong is enough.

Let your community help you keep going

The most valuable part of building in public is not only visibility. It is the response from people who understand what it feels like to build a product.

When I shared both progress and failures, the community encouraged me during periods when my motivation was low. That encouragement did not remove the hard work, but it helped me return to it. A public update created a reason to keep the conversation—and the work—moving.

Community support is not a replacement for product feedback or good decisions. It is a source of perspective, accountability, and energy when working alone starts to feel isolating.

A simple format for honest updates

You can make building in public sustainable with a repeatable structure:

1. State where things stand. Give readers the current context.

2. Share one win. Mention what moved forward, however small.

3. Name one difficulty. Be clear about what did not work or what is uncertain.

4. Explain the next step. Show how you will respond.

5. Invite useful input. Ask a specific question when you need perspective.

This format keeps updates practical instead of turning them into performance. Share enough to make the journey useful, while keeping sensitive information private.

The takeaway

Building in public will not make SaaS easy. It can make the difficult parts less lonely and help you notice progress that is easy to miss.

For me, sharing failures mattered as much as sharing wins. The community’s encouragement helped me overcome lost motivation and continue building. If you are struggling to stay consistent, start with one honest update: what happened, what you learned, and what you will do next.

Frequently asked questions

A note from Uriel Bitton

I have found that sharing failures is just as important as sharing wins. When motivation dropped, the encouragement from the community helped me return to the work and keep building.

Keep building with us

Get practical founder lessons and product updates in your inbox.

Subscribe or Join Buildside.

Keep reading