#86: Grow Your Audience by Building in Public [with Kevon Cheung]
Oct 17, 2023
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In this special episode, Bryan interviews Kevon Cheung, creator of Public Lab. They discuss the power of building in public, being authentic online and offline, learning from mistakes, building a long-term career, and finding balance in scaling a business.
Building in public involves sharing and connecting with your community, creating free high-quality content that people would pay for.
Relatability and authenticity are crucial in building a community of followers who resonate with your journey.
Deep dives
The Power of Building in Public
Kavon Chung, the founder of Public Lab, discusses the importance of building in public and how it can lead to success. He explains that sharing and connecting with your community is the new way of doing business. Chung emphasizes the significance of creating free high-quality content that people would pay for. He also shares how building in public involves not just sharing, but involving the people around you in conversations and educational experiences. Chung believes that building in public pulls people closer and allows for collaboration within the community.
Discovering the Concept of Building in Public
Chung shares how he discovered the concept of building in public and how it aligns with his own life principles. He explains that being transparent, helpful, and open in sharing your journey and work is key. Chung decided to create a building in public definitive guide as a free product to test the market's interest. The guide gained significant traction and helped him realize the potential of building in public as a concept to teach others. Chung emphasizes the importance of relatability and authenticity in building a community of followers who resonate with your journey.
Overcoming Nervousness and Sharing Failures
Chung addresses the fear and embarrassment some people may feel when sharing online. He suggests changing the mindset about being perfect and highlights the value of being raw and unfiltered. Chung shares his own experience of trying too hard to be a teacher on YouTube and how he realized the importance of being more expressive and authentic. He encourages creators to share failures but also provide lessons learned and improvements made. Chung emphasizes that relatability and providing value are more important than striving for perfection.
Balancing Community Scale and Individual Care
Chung discusses the challenge of balancing community scale with individual care when scaling a business. He poses the question of how to maintain high-quality relationships with students and customers while growing in scale. Chung acknowledges the difficulty of maintaining personalized care as the community grows but remains interested in finding the right balance and learning from others' experiences. He believes that focusing on building a supportive and engaged community can help solve this challenge.