We are Builing in Public and here is why: A Swiss SaaS Startupper Team's Journey
As a Swiss SaaS startup team, we've embraced the "Building in Public" (BIP) philosophy not just as a marketing strategy, but as a core element of our team culture. While Switzerland's business culture traditionally leans towards discretion and privacy, we've discovered that transparency can be a powerful catalyst for team growth, product development, and customer trust.
Before you read further, watch our #BIP series on Youtube
Team Alignment and Shared Purpose
Building in public fundamentally changes how our team operates. When every team member knows that our progress, challenges, and decisions will be shared with the public, it creates a unified sense of purpose and accountability. Our developers, product managers, and marketing specialists all understand that their work contributes to a story we're actively sharing with our community.
Trust Building in the Swiss and International Market
In the Swiss B2B market, trust is paramount. By building in public, we demonstrate:
- Reliability: Our regular updates show consistent progress
- Professionalism: We handle sensitive information responsibly while maintaining transparency
- Innovation: We showcase our modern approach to business building
- Cultural Alignment: We balance Swiss precision and reliability with startup agility
Internal Benefits for Our Team
1. Enhanced Documentation
When we share our journey publicly, we naturally create better internal documentation. Every feature launch, architecture decision, or product pivot needs to be clearly explained, creating valuable resources for current and future team members.
2. Clearer Decision-Making
Public sharing forces us to articulate our reasoning clearly. When we know we'll need to explain a decision to our audience, we think more thoroughly about our choices and their implications.
3. Distributed Leadership
Building in public empowers team members at all levels to become thought leaders in their areas. Our frontend developers share UI/UX insights, while our DevOps team discusses infrastructure solutions – each contributing to our collective narrative.
4. Recruitment Advantage
In Switzerland's competitive tech talent market, our transparent approach helps us attract candidates who align with our values. Potential hires can see exactly how we work before joining.
External Benefits
1. Swiss Market Differentiation
In a market known for discretion, our transparency helps us stand out. We're showing that a company can maintain Swiss quality standards while embracing modern startup practices.
2. International Reach
Building in public helps us bridge the gap between the Swiss and global SaaS communities. Our insights resonate with teams worldwide, creating opportunities for international collaboration and expansion.
3. Customer Co-Creation
Our B2B customers appreciate being part of our journey. They see how their feedback shapes our product, creating stronger partnerships.
How We Build in Public as a Team
1. Structured Sharing Framework
We've developed a sharing framework that involves all team members:
- Engineering: Technical blog posts and architecture decisions
- Product: Roadmap updates and feature previews
- Marketing: Growth metrics and campaign insights
- Leadership: Strategy and vision updates
2. Content Creation as Team Effort
Rather than burdening one person with all communication, we distribute content creation across the team:
- Weekly technical updates from our dev team
- Monthly product roadmap reviews from product managers
- Quarterly business metrics from leadership
- Regular "day in the life" content from various team members
3. Privacy and Security Balance
As a Swiss company, we take data protection seriously. We've established clear guidelines for:
- What can be shared publicly
- How to discuss features without exposing sensitive details
- Ways to share metrics while respecting customer privacy
- Maintaining GDPR and Swiss data protection compliance
Impact on Product Development
Building in public has transformed our product development cycle:
- Faster Validation: Public sharing of features gets us quick feedback
- Better Prioritization: Community input helps guide our roadmap
- Reduced Development Waste: Early feedback prevents unnecessary feature development
- Improved Quality: Public scrutiny drives higher standards
Tools and Processes We Use
Our Building in Public toolkit includes:
- GitHub public repositories for open-source components
- LinkedIn for company updates and thought leadership
- Twitter for quick insights and team highlights
- Monthly blog posts on our engineering blog
- Quarterly virtual open houses
- Public product roadmap
Looking Forward
As we continue our journey, Building in Public remains central to our team culture. It's not just about external communication – it's about building a more collaborative, accountable, and innovative team.
For other Swiss startups considering this approach, remember that transparency doesn't mean compromising professionalism or security. It means finding the right balance between openness and discretion, between sharing and protecting, between traditional Swiss values and modern startup practices.
Building in Public has transformed how we work as a team, how we interact with our customers, and how we position ourselves in the Swiss and global SaaS markets. It's more than a strategy – it's become part of our DNA as a company.
