Content
For a solo founder, content is the marketing department. The goal is customers, not followers. Publish what only this founder can write, on one platform, for long enough to work.
Read ABOUT-ME.md first. If it does not exist and the piece must sound like the founder, suggest about-me.
Step 1: Pick one platform
Go where the customers already talk about the problem. Search the problem's keywords on each likely platform (LinkedIn, X, Reddit, YouTube, a niche forum, a newsletter). The one with the most active discussion wins.
One platform, done well, for 3 months before judging. A weak presence on five platforms loses to a strong presence on one.
Step 2: Choose what to write about
Building in public is the cheapest way for a solo founder to earn trust. Use these topics:
- Progress: what shipped, and the real numbers.
- Decisions: "A customer asked for X. I said no. Here's why."
- Failures: what went wrong, and what changed. These get the most engagement.
- How it was built: the approach, with specifics.
- The problem itself: something useful to the reader even if the product did not exist.
Keep about 80% of the posts useful on their own and 20% about the product.
Step 3: Pass the angle gate
Before writing, state two things:
- The one takeaway, in one sentence.
- Why this piece should exist when others already cover the topic: original data, first-person experience, a contrarian view backed by reasons, or a specific audience nobody else writes for.
If you cannot state both, do not write the piece. It would be one more article that nobody needs.
Step 4: Write
- Write the opening line first: a specific moment, claim, or number. Not a definition, a question, or "Imagine if." Rewrite it until it is specific.
- Outline 3–5 beats in plain words, as what each part does.
- Draft fast, in the founder's voice. Do not edit while drafting.
| Format | Length | Shape |
|---|---|---|
| Social post | 50–300 words | The specific thing → why it matters → one takeaway |
| Build-in-public update | 200–500 words | The number or shipped thing → what was hard → what changed in the founder's view |
| Blog post | 800–1,500 words | Hook → the one claim → 2–4 beats, each with a real example → end on the strongest line |
| Founder essay | 1,500–3,000 words | Personal stake → the tension → working through it → where the founder has landed, open questions allowed |
| About page | 300–600 words | The problem the founder ran into → why existing options failed them → what they built → who it is for, by name |
| Newsletter intro | 100–250 words | The one thing on the founder's mind → a light pointer to what is below → one invitation |
Step 5: Edit
Three edits catch most problems:
- Delete the throat-clearing first paragraph. The piece usually starts on what was the second paragraph.
- Replace every "this highlights / underscores / demonstrates" with the specific thing it points at.
- End on the strongest line. No recap, no "in conclusion." Move the best line to the end and cut whatever came after it.
Then run humanize on the draft.
Step 6: Publish and point
- Link to a specific page that matches the post, not the homepage.
- Adapt one good piece across formats. A blog post becomes a thread, a post, and a newsletter section. Rewrite each one for its platform.
- Keep a schedule the founder can hold for 3 months, such as three short posts a week, or one long piece. Write in batches.
Rules
- Use real numbers and real stories only. Never invent a metric, a customer, or an experience.
- Measure sign-ups and customers from content, not likes. Ask new customers "How did you find us?"
- Never post an AI draft the founder has not shaped with their own experience. Readers notice.
- Skip "Excited to announce," vague teasers, and complaints about competitors.
Output
The platform choice and the reason for it, the takeaway and angle for each piece, and the finished pieces ready to post, each with its link.
