Build In Public (BIP) Newsletter #4

Hi Reader, it’s Friday, and here’s this week’s edition of my Build In Public newsletter.

I’m Pierre, documenting my journey of starting a software consulting business from scratch.

Metrics Update

• LinkedIn: 454 impressions, 151 members reached, 17 engagements (likes, comments).
• Audience breakdown: 14.6% decision-makers, 11.4% software engineers.
• I've noticed a drop in performance with scheduled posts using Buffer. I believe the penalty on scheduled posts from LinkedIn’s algorithm is affecting the reach, but I’m not too concerned—I'm more focused on building my profile and credibility with decision-makers.

Time Management: Dropping Notion for Todoist

I’ve decided to make a change in how I manage my tasks and GTD (Getting Things Done). After trying Notion for a while, I found it too slow and awkward to use—adding a new entry to a table required a lot of mouse clicks, scrolling, and the UI just didn’t feel intuitive.

In contrast, Todoist is much better. It’s fast, responsive, and specifically built for GTD. The iOS app works smoothly, and the UI makes more sense to me, which makes it easier to manage my tasks. Most importantly, it has brought me peace of mind by allowing me to quickly dump any “open loops” (as GTD calls them) into the system as soon as they pop up. Because I know they’ll be addressed in time, I no longer have to worry about them constantly.

Content Creation and Lead Magnets

On the content front, I now have a clearer idea of a couple of lead magnets I want to create. I’m going to start working on them over the next few weeks, I’m curious to see how it goes.

Product-Led Growth and Messaging

In a recent call with someone helping companies boost their growth through marketing and sales, I heard about product-led growth for the first time. It’s a popular approach in North America and starting to gain traction in Europe. The concept is that customer acquisition costs have gone through the roof, and traditional tactics just don’t work for SaaS companies anymore. Instead, the idea is to let the product sell itself. Think freemium models where you try before you buy—see if the product works for you, then make the decision to purchase. This contrasts with the old-school model of pitch-calls, demos, contracts, and then discovering the product doesn’t live up to expectations.

I think my offering can play into a product-led growth strategy: with DevOps and code architecture, I help companies build better products that deliver more value, improve UX, which makes users more likely to pay for the product.

Sales Insights from Fanatical Prospecting

I finished reading Fanatical Prospecting by Jeb Blount this week, and I learned a ton. The biggest takeaway? The mindset of sales. Rather than viewing sales as a pressure-filled, adversarial process where you fight objections, it’s about cooperation: Can I really help with this problem, and how?

It’s probably sales 101 for those with experience, but for me, it was a revelation. I’m currently transferring my notes to a mind map so I can use it as a reference moving forward.

Final Thoughts

That’s it for this week! As always, feel free to hit reply if you have any thoughts or want to chat. I read every message.

Have a great weekend, and see you in the next one!