What Exactly Are We Building in Public?
On "building in public" and remembering what the work is really for
When I started writing on Twitter/X in 2020—shortly after stepping away from my full-time career—I was all in on the idea of building in public.
To me, the purpose of business and making money has always been to subsidize your life—your family, your lifestyle. That includes the pleasures of life: hobbies, self-care, the ability to enjoy your personal time (even if that means doing absolutely nothing), travel and vacations, maybe even buying and appreciating a few beautiful accoutrements that make you feel something or remind you of something special.
But like many things in life and business, the pendulum eventually swung too far.
Building in public morphed into something else entirely: performative hustle culture, endless course launches, AI toolkit templates, engagement-bait memes, and marketing content disguised as “education.” I don’t know. I’ve always been a skeptical observer. Some of it’s fine—but it’s all gone a bit overboard. Everything in moderation.
There’s not enough celebration of life’s actual moments—the very reason you’re building anything in the first place.
Sure, the building part can be fun. Ideally, you’re making money and building a business in a sector you enjoy—or at least one where you have some skill. But at the end of the day, are you living to work, or working to live?
There’s a palpable friction every time I scroll through the latest flood of SMB and business content—on LinkedIn, on X, in all the newsletters I’ve long since given up trying to unsubscribe from.
Isn’t the whole point of making money to live the life you want?
Isn’t the point of getting a degree or top credential and working a demanding, high-profile W2 job so that you can eventually buy back your time and enjoy life on your terms?
Isn’t the appeal of “entrepreneurship through acquisition” supposed to be about winning back freedom from the grind of your old career?
Isn’t the reason you take a huge risk to start a business so you can either cash out one day and enjoy life—or build cash flow on your terms to do the same?
Isn’t it all just a means to a happy end?
I’ve always found it a little bizarre how few people ever step off the treadmill—even after they’ve hit the 10-mile mark. It often comes off as pure Puritanical coding.
What exactly are they trying to prove—and to whom?
They’re not getting any younger. And they’re not going to find real life inside the four lines of a screen, between lines of code, or scattered across podcast appearances.
But VEO, didn’t you leave Wall Street to launch a cool business of your own? Didn’t you start a business brokerage and M&A advisory brand? A data consulting practice? An angel investing fund? And don’t you write and post online all the time?
Yes! But I don’t talk about my business all that much—rarely, in fact.
I love the little ecosystem I’ve built. I’m proud of the small, like-minded team I’ve tapped over the years and the great clients we’ve worked with (and continue to work with). And yes, I plan to grow it. And yes, it’s fun.
But after five years of online engagement and reflection, I’ve realized I’d much rather build in public the idea that it’s possible to design a life and business around your own values.
Not just the building—but what the building makes possible.
The freedom to work, live, and enjoy life’s pleasures when and where you want.
Within the bounds of reason, of course—though those bounds might be far wider than you think.
Over the next few weeks, I’m going to start sharing more of the travel, leisure, and lifestyle moments—the kind of stuff that’s made possible because of the building.
The work funds the life.
Stay tuned.
