Build in Public Isn’t Getting You Users? Do This Before You Post Again

If your “build in public” updates get 2 likes, 0 replies, and $0 revenue, you’re not alone - and you’re not broken.

Founders keep shipping, keep posting, and keep hearing “consistency wins”. while their timeline stays quiet. One founder described it bluntly: "2 likes", "0 users", "$0 revenue" - and that "building in public" ... "stops actually working" when "nobody replies to my product updates" (a frustrated indie builder sharing their traction stats).

The uncomfortable truth: posting progress is rarely the missing ingredient. The missing ingredient is proximity to pain - finding people who already have the problem, already tried alternatives, and are already asking for help.

Below is a practical playbook to stop posting into silence and start finding real conversations that turn into users.

The real reason “build in public” stalls: you’re talking to an audience, not a buyer

“Build in public” is great for:

• accountability
• networking
• attracting other founders
• learning in the open

But it often fails at the thing you actually need: getting users who pay or at least actively use the product.

Why? Because most build-in-public posts are addressed to the wrong crowd.

They’re usually written for:

• other builders
• people who like shipping
• people who want inspiration

Not for:

• someone actively searching for a solution today
• someone switching from a competitor
• someone with budget and urgency

That’s why you see waitlists and “belief” without revenue. A founder summed up this exact trap: "My SaaS has 58 believers and $0 MRR" (shared in a lead conversation about stalled monetization). You can have supportive spectators and still have no customers.

The fix isn’t “post more”. It’s to stop relying on updates as discovery.

Before you post another update, do this: move from broadcasting to listening

A lot of founders treat build-in-public as if it’s a distribution channel. It’s not. It’s a credibility layer.

Distribution comes from:

• being in the right threads
• responding to real questions
• showing up where people already complain, compare tools, and ask for recommendations

One founder put the core failure mode in a single line: "A lot of founders do product work to avoid customer work" - and it feels productive "right up until nobody buys" (shared as a warning to other builders).

Listening forces you into customer work.

What to listen for (buyer-intent signals)

If you want users, don’t search for your feature set. Search for these signals:

1. “I’m stuck / this isn’t working” language
2. Requests for recommendations (“What tool should I use for…?”)
3. Competitor comparisons (“Is X worth it?” “Any alternative to Y?”)
4. Budget + urgency clues (“Need this by next week” “We can’t keep doing it manually”)

This is exactly where Reddit, X, and LinkedIn are unusually valuable: people narrate their problems in public.

But manually finding these threads is where most founders burn out.

The manual approach breaks because it’s a full-time job

If you’ve ever tried to “do Reddit for growth”. you know the pattern:

• you open a tab to search for posts
• you get lost reading unrelated threads
• you see mostly spam, self-promo, or generic advice
• you close the tab with nothing actionable

Another founder described the meta-problem behind the silence: "stuck wondering why your saas isn't getting traction" while also "hunting for ICP pain points on reddit" and still feeling like "building in public but nobody replies to my product updates" (a builder actively testing Reddit/X for early users).

The pain here isn’t ignorance. It’s time and focus.

This is one reason tools like Achiv.com exist: to monitor Reddit, X, and LinkedIn daily and surface only the conversations where real people are describing problems your product can solve - without you spending hours scrolling.

Instead of a firehose of keyword alerts, Achiv.com’s workflow is built around qualified conversations, delivered as a curated kanban board in your inbox each morning.

Step 1: define the “pain sentence” your product solves

The biggest build-in-public failure isn’t distribution - it’s fuzzy positioning.

If your product solves “productivity”. “AI workflows”. or “better collaboration”. you’ll attract likes from peers but not decisive buyers.

Your job is to reduce your pitch to a single sentence:

“I help [specific person] stop [specific painful outcome] by [specific mechanism]”.

Then rewrite it in the words users use.

A good tell: if you can’t imagine a stranger writing your pain sentence as a frustrated post, it’s too vague.

Quick exercise (10 minutes)

1. Open your last 5 build-in-public updates.
2. For each, ask: “What problem does this solve in the customer’s words?”
3. If the answer is not obvious, your updates are about you, not them.

Achiv.com helps here because it extracts pain points directly from the source conversations it finds. You’re not guessing which phrasing resonates - you’re reading the exact language people used when they asked for help.

Step 2: switch from “updates” to “responses” (and earn the right to share)

If you want users, replies beat posts.

The best-performing “build in public” founders typically do three things:

• they participate daily in relevant threads
• they give a real answer first
• they mention their product only when it’s genuinely helpful

This avoids the most common objection people have to lead-gen tactics: “I don’t want to be salesy”.

You don’t have to be.

A response framework that doesn’t feel like a pitch

Use this structure:

1. Mirror the pain (quote their line back)
2. Offer one concrete step they can try today
3. Give an example (screenshot, template, short checklist)
4. Invite, don’t push (“If you want, I can share how we approach this”.)

Notice what’s missing: aggressive CTAs.

Achiv.com makes this easier by attaching objections and competitor context to each lead. If someone is comparing alternatives, you can respond directly to the real tradeoff they’re worried about - not the one you assume.

Step 3: build a simple “first 10 users” pipeline (instead of hoping posts convert)

Many founders treat early users like a lottery: post → wait → refresh.

But first users come from a small, repeatable pipeline:

1. find relevant conversations
2. respond thoughtfully
3. move to a short DM (if appropriate)
4. book a quick call
5. onboard
6. follow up

That’s it.

A founder who’s about to start this grind said: "Tomorrow I will start to pitch product and find seed users" (shared as part of a “Build in Public Day 17” update, signaling the shift from building to outreach).

The key is consistency - but not the “post daily” kind. The “talk to users daily” kind.

Achiv.com supports this by making step #1 automatic. You paste your URL, it derives positioning, creates ICPs, and then delivers a daily shortlist of real threads and posts where people already describe the problem.

Step 4: validate demand before you overbuild (yes, even if you’re shipping fast)

A lot of build-in-public founders still build too far ahead of demand. One lead conversation put it sharply:

• "You built too early in private."
• "You got emotionally attached before demand was real."
• "You kept polishing instead of talking."
• "by the time you finally showed up, nobody cared."

That’s the “quiet timeline” outcome.

What to validate (in order)

1. Problem reality: Do strangers describe this pain unprompted?
2. Current workaround: What are they doing today?
3. Cost of the workaround: Time, money, risk, frustration.
4. Switching trigger: What makes them try something new?

Achiv.com surfaces these elements indirectly through conversations - especially when people mention competitors, pricing frustration, or “we tried X and it didn’t work”. That’s better evidence than likes on a progress post.

Step 5: handle the “I don’t need a lead tool” objection (it’s valid)

A common reaction - especially among indie hackers - is: “I can just do this manually”. Or: “This is a mindset problem, not a tooling problem”.

Sometimes, that’s true.

If you’re still unclear on your niche, or you’re not ready to talk to users, a tool won’t fix avoidance.

But many founders aren’t avoiding. They’re already doing the work and hitting a ceiling.

They’re:

• replying to posts
• commenting
• engaging daily

…and still not finding enough high-intent conversations.

One builder described exactly that: they’re "Spent time interacting with people on social media:" "commenting", "replying", "engaging with other founders" - with the explicit "Goal: first 10 users" (a founder trying to grow audience alongside product).

Here’s where a tool becomes less “lead-gen software” and more “time leverage”.

Achiv.com isn’t an autopilot or a DM bot. It doesn’t post for you. It doesn’t connect to your accounts. It simply reduces the scavenger hunt by filtering noise and delivering a curated list of relevant conversations.

If your bottleneck is time and focus - not willingness - that’s a genuine use case.

Step 6: turn build-in-public into an asset (after you’ve earned attention)

Once you’re consistently in buyer conversations, your build-in-public feed starts working again - because now it’s a proof trail.

Instead of “Day 43 shipping features”. you can post:

• what you learned from 10 customer calls
• what objection you heard 7 times and how you changed the product
• why you removed a feature because users didn’t care

These posts attract the right people because they reflect real buyer language and real tradeoffs.

And when someone finds you through a comment or a helpful reply, your profile becomes a trust-building archive.

That’s the role build in public plays best: credibility, not discovery.

A practical weekly plan (so you stop guessing)

If you want a simple cadence:

Daily (30–45 minutes)

• Review new buyer conversations (manually, or via Achiv.com’s morning digest)
• Write 2–3 thoughtful replies
• Track who seems urgent and relevant

Weekly (60 minutes)

• Do 3 short calls with people who engaged
• Update your landing page with the top 3 phrases people used
• Ship one small improvement tied to a repeated pain

Biweekly (30 minutes)

• Post a build-in-public update based on what you learned from real conversations

This flips your default from “broadcast and hope” to “listen and respond”.

Closing takeaway: your next user is already complaining in public

Silence on your updates isn’t proof nobody cares. It’s proof your updates aren’t reaching people at the moment they care.

Your job isn’t to post louder. It’s to get closer to where pain is already being expressed - then show up with a useful response.

If you want to do that consistently without turning Reddit/X/LinkedIn into your full-time job, Achiv.com is built for exactly that workflow: daily discovery of qualified conversations, with pain points, objections, and competitor context attached, so you can engage like a human - with timing and relevance on your side.