By Dario Cavallaro · Published · Updated
Building in Public Without the Theatre: Who Decides What
Our approach to building in public is simple: you lead, the audience influences. Invite audience input on expression while retaining responsibility for foundational decisions. The audience can help refine the brand while you remain accountable for its direction.
Two versions of building in public
The good version is “you lead, the audience influences.” You make the real decisions and show your reasoning; the audience shapes the edges and watches the build happen. The broken version is “you ask, the audience builds.” Every decision becomes a poll, strategy gets outsourced to whoever shows up, and the result is a brand assembled by committee with no coherent point of view.
Both involve sharing decisions publicly. The difference is who holds authority. Keep it, and building in public becomes proof. Give it away, and it becomes theatre.
What the audience can shape
Hand the audience the decisions where their input genuinely helps and the downside is small. Examples include:
- Wording of a bio, a tagline direction, or a call to action
- A colour chosen from options you have already vetted
- Naming a content pillar or a series
- Micro-copy and small presentation choices
These invite real participation, give people a stake in the build, and keep the scope manageable when all options fit the brand foundation.
What the audience must not decide
Some decisions set the direction of the brand. A public vote may lack the context needed to weigh their consequences. Keep responsibility for:
- Mission, values, and positioning
- Who the brand is for
- The business model
- Naming authority and any irreversible decision
These require judgment, context, and accountability the audience doesn’t have and shouldn’t carry. Your job is to decide them and explain why.
The failure modes to avoid
Building in public goes wrong in predictable ways. Fake democracy: asking for a vote on something you’ve already decided. Endless indecision: leaving asks open for months because you’re afraid to choose. Audience labour replacing strategy: using polls to avoid doing the hard thinking yourself. Empty behind-the-scenes content: documenting motion that has no decision or reasoning inside it. Each one trades real proof for the appearance of openness.
A clean way to run an open decision
When you do open a decision to the audience, run it as a loop with an end. Frame the decision clearly, collect the vote, collect the reasoning and objections behind it, and then show the consequence: what you chose and why. Set a deadline appropriate to the decision. For a small choice, ten days is one possible working limit, not a tested rule. An ask that never resolves stops being engagement and becomes indecision performed in public.
The honest version
Building in public can help people assess a new brand because visible work gives them something to judge. Keep responsibility for the decisions. Let people shape the expression, show your reasoning on the foundation, and close your decisions. That’s the difference between proof and a performance.
Frequently asked questions
Should I let my audience make decisions about my brand?
Invite input on wording, naming and small decisions within options you have vetted. Retain responsibility for mission, positioning, values and the business model.
What decisions should never be crowdsourced?
Keep responsibility for mission, audience, values, business model, positioning, naming authority and irreversible decisions. You can invite feedback while retaining accountability for the choice.
How do you avoid stalling when building in public?
Close every open decision on a stated deadline. About ten days can be a useful starting limit for a small decision. An ask that stays open for months stops being engagement and becomes indecision performed in public.