Patterns
Posts that build in public: what the top 20 did
32 posts in the library were written to build in public. The 20 that travelled furthest, how they open, what the analysis says they share, and how to write one.
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Progress, shared as it happens. The genre has its own conventions, and these are the posts in the library that used them best. 32 posts in the library were written to build in public; these are the 20 that did the most.
The 20
- @PalmerLuckey — “Day 5 of Paul Graham rewriting what people actually say into gay fanfiction and declaring said fanfiction to be the dumbest thing he has ev…” — 13,064 likes · open
- @sama — “day 13 of shipmas: special sora bonus🎄✨” — 10,798 likes · open
- @jeremymbarr — “Some news: I’ve heard from three sources that CBS News dismissed the #2 producer on the CBS Evening News, Javier Guzman, after the show ton…” — 4,785 likes · open
- @Trillian42069 — “I don't know how long Hank Green has been using AI but the lack of self awareness was there from day 1” — 3,690 likes · open
- @denk_tweets — “beehiiv just crossed $2M MRR” — 3,166 likes · open
- @levie — “$500B in commitments to building AI in America. Stargate is certainly one of the most ambitious technology programs we’ve seen in the 21st…” — 2,589 likes · open
- @businessbarista — “Audience Building 101” — 2,319 likes · open
- @BobLoukas — “Bitcoin hopium. Kind of what been expecting.” — 2,195 likes · open
- @netblocks — “☎️ It's now day 61 of #Iran's internet blackout as the nation-scale censorship measure surpasses 1440 hours.” — 1,832 likes · open
- @gurgavin — “FUN FACT INTEL WAS ADDED TO THE DOW JONES ALMOST AT THE PEAK OF THE DOT COM BUBBLE IN NOVEMBER 1999” — 1,180 likes · open
- @FireworksAI_HQ — “Kimi K3 is live on Fireworks. Day 0, inference and training. US-hosted, and zero data retention.” — 1,016 likes · open
- @ecommmoose — “Sell Supplements?” — 762 likes · open
- @Bob_Wachter — “1/ Covid (@UCSF) Chronicles, Day 34” — 695 likes · open
- @Bob_Wachter — “Covid (@UCSF) Chronicles, Day 15” — 634 likes · open
- @JacobRubashkin — “I'm admittedly just one of probably 100,000 or so Washingtonians with this front page hanging up in my living room — but the thought of the…” — 614 likes · open
- @MaxBrodeurUrbas — “Today is day 80 and the end of YC.” — 557 likes · open
- @matthuang — “Very excited to see this new effort from Stripe, Visa, Coinbase, Mastercard, Amex, Blackrock, and many others to build a new open stablecoi…” — 541 likes · open
- @nikitabase — “I’m excited to share a major milestone: Neon is joining forces with @databricks.” — 485 likes · open
- @litcapital — “The reason why you want a ~20% IPO pop on day 1 is to reward investors who helped make the IPO successful by committing to the order book” — 368 likes · open
- @MattMickiewicz — “OpenRouter was always a small margin business: 5% take rate on GMV minus credit card costs.” — 358 likes · open
What they have in common
9 of the 20 open with an observation, and 8 with a number. The mechanism the analysis names most often is specificity — exact numbers, named tools, precise dates — details that make a claim feel observed rather than asserted — in 5 of them; pattern interrupts in 3. 16 of the 20 put a figure in the first line. The median post is 272 characters long — a single post, not a thread.
Three, read closely
@PalmerLuckey — 13,064 likes
Day 5 of Paul Graham rewriting what people actually say into gay fanfiction and declaring said fanfiction to be the dumbest thing he has ever seen.
- Contradicts something the audience already believes, which stops the scroll.
- Short enough to read in full without expanding, which removes a step before the point lands.
- Short sentences keep the pace up, so the reader never has to re-read a line.
@sama — 10,798 likes
day 13 of shipmas: special sora bonus🎄✨
- Leads with a specific number, which is concrete enough to be worth a second of attention.
- Follows a clear Hook → Context → Landing shape, so the reader always knows where they are.
- Ends on a short line that is easy to quote and repeat.
@jeremymbarr — 4,785 likes
Some news: I’ve heard from three sources that CBS News dismissed the #2 producer on the CBS Evening News, Javier Guzman, after the show tonight.
- Written from experience rather than as advice, which is harder to argue with.
- Short enough to read in full without expanding, which removes a step before the point lands.
Writing one
- Preserve the Hook → Landing structure and the plain observation opening.
- Preserve the Hook → Context → Landing structure and the leads with a number opening.
- Preserve the Hook → Landing structure and the plain observation opening.
Remix the top three with your own product as the subject.