Why I Share My Revenue, Users, and Failures Publicly

Every month, I publish my actual numbers: revenue, user counts, churn rates, and the features that flopped. Friends in tech think I'm crazy. "Why give competitors that information? Why admit to failures publicly?"

Here's why.

Accountability That Actually Works

When I commit to sharing metrics publicly, I can't hide from bad months. There's no "we're in stealth mode" excuse when things aren't working. That pressure is uncomfortable—and incredibly motivating.

Last quarter, I had to publish that Overdrafty's retention rate dropped 15%. It hurt. It also forced me to diagnose the problem immediately instead of hoping it would fix itself.

Building Trust Through Honesty

Everyone claims their product is growing. Few prove it. By sharing real numbers—including the unflattering ones—I build trust that marketing claims can't buy.

When I say NsideOut helped users save an average of 4 hours per week, I can point to the actual data. When I say our free tier converts at 8%, you can verify it against my public metrics.

Learning From the Community

Some of my best product insights have come from people analyzing my public data. A follower noticed a pattern in my churn data that I'd missed—users who didn't complete onboarding within 48 hours were 3x more likely to churn. That insight led to a complete onboarding redesign.

What I Share (And What I Don't)

I'm transparent about:

• Revenue and growth rates
• User counts and retention metrics
• Feature experiments and their results
• Failures and what I learned from them

I don't share:

• Individual user data
• Competitive technical secrets
• Information that could harm users

The Unexpected Benefits

Beyond accountability and trust, building in public has:

• Attracted collaborators who want to work on transparent projects
• Generated content naturally from the documentation process
• Created a support network of other builders facing similar challenges
• Differentiated my products in crowded markets

The Fear Factor

Yes, I sometimes worry about sharing too much. What if competitors use this information? What if investors see the bad months?

But here's what I've learned: the benefits of transparency far outweigh the risks. Competitors have their own problems to solve. Investors respect honesty more than manufactured perfection.

The builders who inspire me most are the ones who share their real journeys. I want to be that kind of builder.