Why Real Code Progress Beats Sandbox Screenshots in Build-in-Public

Sandbox screenshots are theater. Commit graphs are receipts.

Every "build in public" thread I have ever seen leans on screenshots. Founder posts a frame from a Lovable preview, three hearts float in, somebody asks "what stack is that" and the thread ends. Two weeks later the project is dead and the screenshots age into nothing.

Compare that to a thread anchored by a GitHub repo with a live commit graph. Same product, same marketing, but the receipts are different. The repo does the talking.

That's the gap. Build-in-public works when the thing you're building is owned, versioned, and walkable. Anything less, and you're selling vibes.

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