John Blackburn

Made In Public

Arts EN ↓ 4 episodes

Made in Public is the podcast for founders, builders, and dreamers who are tired of waiting until everything is "ready." Hosted by John Blackburn, Made in Public follows real entrepreneurs as they build their businesses in real time, messiness, uncertainty, and all. No polished success stories. No hindsight highlights. Just raw, honest conversations with people who are figuring it out as they go. From the back of a camper van to wherever the journey takes us, each episode dives into the mindset, the setbacks, and the bold moves behind businesses being built in public, before the ducks are ever...

Author

John Blackburn

Episodes

Laura Thompson Building The Yard in Public: Community, Coworking, Movement & Founder-Led Marketing 02.06.2026 32:03

Laura Thompson, former Deloitte and EY strategic marketer with a dance and personal training background, shares how redundancy and her mother’s unexpected death pushed her to build in public. She now runs Connect Studio, helping founder-led businesses translate strategy into meaningful marketing, while developing The Yard, a “third space” in West Sussex for people to work, move, and belong unfilte...

Made in Public Ep.3: Build in Public, Warm Starts, Trust & Standing Out in an AI Content World 27.05.2026 33:08

In this episode of Made in Public, the John speaks with Ben and James about why founders should “build in public” to avoid a risky cold-start launch and instead create a warm start by building trust, awareness, and interest early—before rent, staff, or agency costs kick in. They explain building in public as increasing “surface area” for luck, shortening the learning curve by iterating in public,...

Made in Public Ep.2: Jamie Vaughan on Building in Secret in Public, Launch Noise & AI-First Marketing 20.05.2026 38:38

This week John Blackburn interviews Jamie Vaughan, co-founder of Restless, an AI marketing company for a social world, days after launch. They unpack what “building in public” means, why Jamie chose “building in secret in public” due to co-founder notice periods, and how the teaser-style content created intrigue, inbound conversations, and even paying clients by launch day. Jamie explains Restless...

Made in Public Ep.1: Dan & Elise Rowntree on Launching Mood Haus Before the Ducks Are in a Row 13.05.2026 44:50

Episode one of Made in Public is recorded in a camper van with Dan and Elise Rowntree, founders of Mood Haus, a sauna, cold plunge, and community wellness concept launched publicly before they had a site or facilities. They explain why they posted that their “ducks are firmly not in a row,” how a Cameron Herold “vivid vision” document helped make the idea real, and how building in public overcame...