'Build in Public' Playbook: Rajan Chida’s Blueprint for 0 to 370K Followers in 125 Days

Rajan Chida documented a luxury-cabin build in Virginia and turned it into a content-driven business: hundreds of thousands of followers, an engaged email list, a hospitality product, and a deliberately curated professional network.

How He Got His First 30K: Sneakers, Scrappiness, and a College Launchpad

Before the cabin, the story began with shoes. On August 30, 2024, he kicked off a series from his office near the University of Virginia campus, documenting a straightforward goal: reach $15,000 a month in eBay sales. That measurable arc and daily presence built a foundation quickly, taking the account from 0 to roughly 30,000 followers in 3 to 4 months.

The pivot arrived when a former high school tennis teammate surfaced a land opportunity. He began filming due diligence before owning the property. Some early followers churned, but far more arrived for the unfolding real-estate arc. The series framing did the heavy lifting because each post felt like a new episode.

• First recorded post: August 30, 2024

• Early outcome: 0 → ~30,000 followers in ~3–4 months

• Launch setting: filmed from his office near UVA

Why the Brand Is Rajan Himself, Not the Cabin

He treats the brand as a person, not a product. In his words, “The brand eventually has to be just you. And whatever you do, people will follow.” That principle allowed a clean pivot from e-commerce to real estate without losing narrative momentum.

He points to Yoni as a proof point. They connected over shared e-commerce backgrounds when Yoni was selling Amazon stickers. After that business was shut down, Yoni pivoted hard into AI content and saw his audience explode.

The lesson is simple: build storytelling skill and trust so the audience follows across themes.

Film on the Phone, Edit on the Phone — A Daily Grind That Compounds

The production stack stays intentionally minimal: iPhone for capture, CapCut for edits, tripod for solo shots, and a drone added later for a few establishing angles. He learned in a judgmental environment at college after years of being self-conscious on camera, which forced faster improvement in delivery and presence.

• Time cost then: most early one-minute videos were filmed for 30–40 minutes and edited for 1 to 2 hours, totaling 2 to 3 hours per day

• Time cost now: 6 to 7 hours on high-effort one-minute pieces when the topic demands it

• Staffing: he recently enlisted a friend’s younger brother to help film, allowing multiple videos per site visit

The First 20 Videos Rule

He insists the steepest learning curve is the first 10–20 posts. Those reps build camera comfort, pacing, and instinctive cuts faster than any playbook.

• Ship 10–20 baseline-quality videos quickly

• Publish through inevitable dead zones and underperformers

• Psychological advantage: near-daily posting provides a reset so one flop does not define the next day

4 Videos Did Half the Work — The Viral Math of the Series

Growth came in waves. He estimates that roughly half of his followers came from 4 viral hits.

The most important strategic shift was framing the account as a serialized narrative: the cabin build became a multi-episode arc with clear stakes (permits, loans, framing, inspections, operating metrics). Virality matters, but virality inside a series converts. When a video goes viral and is also a chapter in a story, viewers subscribe because they want the next episode.

• Construction loan video: more than 6 million views; about 80,000–90,000 followers attributed over time. Followers described the delivery as “rapping on this beat,” a cadence that helped the message land while branching into the finance niche.

• Health retreat positioning: a video reframing the project as a “health retreat” added roughly 50,000 followers and drew attention from high-profile figures like Kyrie Irving.

His core insight is that it's not enough to go viral; you must go viral within your series. This approach makes viewers feel like they are watching a TV show, compelling them to follow along to see what happens next.

Two Complementary Content Modes That Feed Each Other

He runs 2 tracks that reinforce the story and the business.

On site, videos are unscripted and progress driven. The visuals change as dirt moves, concrete cures, frames rise, and inspections pass. That texture keeps the plot alive.

Off site, he scripts with a whiteboard. Each piece follows a four-beat structure that compresses research into a concise lesson.

• Four beats: hook, context, proof number, forward promise

• Length guideline: keep to 60 seconds unless the topic needs 90

• Outcome: the site track shows the craft, the whiteboard track teaches the why

Production Decisions That Protect Voice

Editing remains in-house because timing is the brand. He tunes cuts for cadence so lines land at the right moment, which is why hiring an editor is deferred until that cadence is teachable.

• Practical rule: keep the edit until another person can mirror timing

• Batching: bring a helper to shoot 2 to 3 pieces per site visit

Community as Distribution: Reply to 90 Percent of DMs

He treats individual replies as the core growth engine. He answers about 90 percent of DMs and comments and estimates he has connected directly with roughly 6,000 people. That work compounds into evangelists who show up during algorithm slumps.

• Early tactic: reply to every new commenter, then immediately send a personal DM to thank them

• Personalization: reference a detail from their profile, such as “Yo, by the way, nice cars,” to create a real connection

• Depth: he still does 15-minute coffee chats with followers and students, asking only that they engage with content

He is vocal about creators who ignore comments when they have only a handful to answer.

Split Roles for Speed: Renzo Builds, Rajan Distributes

He and Renzo divide responsibilities to avoid collisions. Renzo handles construction detail and execution. Rajan runs distribution and audience. Each can cover for the other briefly, but the default separation preserves momentum on both the build and the story.

The benefit is that the execution continues while storytelling stays consistent and temporary crossovers are possible without any one of them losing focus.

He Left Short Money on the Table to Keep the Brand Pure

He states, “I haven’t gotten paid a dime from Instagram.” He has turned down brand deals in the $3,000–$5,000 range to avoid diluting trust. He and two other large, unmonetized creators have admitted the path is hard, even wondering aloud, “Are we the clowns at the end of the day?”

He still prefers the long game: a “$10 million, hundred million network” built on credibility.

The exception is in-kind sponsors that upgrade the guest experience and reduce capex. A hot tub, sauna, and cold plunge collectively saved about $20,000 while aligning with the property’s positioning.

The Hospitality Math — $500 a Night and a Ceiling Case

He models the unit as a premium, health-forward stay with an upper-bound capacity.

• Target nightly rate: $500

• Upper-bound nights per year: 360

• Top-line at that plan: $180,000 per year

• Alternate framing: 180 bookings averaging two nights also equals 360 nights, and longer average stays reduce turns and protect margin

Market reality will set true occupancy. Early signals are strong: an organically gathered email list of 700–800 people exists without heavy CTAs.

What He Actually Tracks

3 hard metrics inform content and business decisions.

• Follower adds: spikes are treated as windfalls. Ten to fifteen thousand adds in a day happen during viral runs, and a single video once brought in around 80,000 on its own

• DM and comment volume: the best signal of an inner circle he can nurture; he replies to about 90 percent

• Email list growth: a safety net and a booking seed list that continues to grow passively

He uses spike windows to ask for email signups, drop deeper explainers, and test booking readiness.

The Shoe Series Was the Training Ground

The sneaker arc taught the habits that now power the build. It made daily posting feel normal, normalized manual DMs, and showed how a measurable target like $15,000 per month becomes a narrative magnet. Those same muscles transfer to real estate: keep the quantifiable goal visible and let the audience root for the next milestone.

• Operational carryover: daily cadence, personal outreach, measurable stakes

• Cultural carryover: community-first instincts forged in a small but intense niche

Rajan's Repeatable Social Media Playbook for Instagram Growth

Here’s how Rajan’s habits translate into a repeatable playbook. Each principle stacks with the others to build momentum over time.

1. Cadence Comes First

Treat your account like a serial show, not a pile of random posts. Near-daily publishing gives you a reset button — yesterday’s flop disappears when a new episode goes live today. Rajan says the steepest learning curve comes in the first 20 videos, so ship them quickly to get comfortable and build rhythm.

2. Keep Production Simple

The gear doesn’t matter; the reps do. Rajan still films on his iPhone and edits in CapCut. A drone is a nice extra later, but not required. The biggest unlock was adding a helper on-site so he could batch multiple videos during a single visit.

3. Structure Like Chapters

On-site clips show real progress — dirt moving, frames rising, inspections passed. Off-site whiteboard videos carry the financials and decision-making. Together, they turn the project into an unfolding series where every post points to the next one.

4. Treat Community as Distribution

Replies are growth. Rajan answers about 90 percent of DMs and comments, and he tracks the first 100 repeat names that engage. He even hops on quick coffee chats with early supporters. For him, these one-to-one relationships are the engine, not an afterthought.

5. Monetize With Discipline

Protect the product above all else. Rajan declines sponsorships that don’t fit, but accepts in-kind partners that reduce costs and improve the experience. A sauna, hot tub, and cold plunge cut $20,000 from his budget while fitting the brand perfectly. Behind the scenes, he grows an email list as his long-term safety net.

6. Build the Right Mindset

Expect dry spells. Flops are normal. What matters is that a handful of heavy hitters can change everything — in Rajan’s case, four videos drove half his growth. By keeping each viral moment inside a bigger series, he turns spikes into long-term followers rather than one-off views.

The blueprint of Rajan Chida is repeatable. Frame work as a series, post frequently, protect the voice in the edit, and treat individual relationships like distribution channels.

Decline short-term cash that confuses the story, then let the strongest episodes do outsized work while the email list quietly compounds.

The result is not only attention but a bookable product and a growing network that raises the ceiling on what the project can become.

Hat Tip to Florian Darroman for the insight.

Top Tweets of the day

1/

Alex Hormozi convinced people to pay him $6k to $100k AND send him leads. Double-genius move.

2/

Pretty good list tbh. My favorites:

1. Being consistent is hard but getting better 1% everyday has immense benefit. Compound interest works wonders.

2. Second order thinking, based on first principles.

3. More pain than gain.

3/

Elon Musk has some badass principles. This one: "immersion to the point of pain."

Rabbit Holes

1. How to become a skilled SaaS Operator in 1 month by Denis Shatalin

2. How Jamie Grew Verse to 10 Million Users in 2 Weeks (Without Breaking a Sweat) by Walid Mohammed

3. Top apps that Gen Z downloaded this year. AppFigures, one of the world's largest app intelligence firms, recently published a report on the top mobile apps that Gen Z (young adults between 18 and 24) downloaded in 2024. by Indiehackers

What’d ya think of today’s newsletter? Hit ‘reply’ and let me know.

Do me a favor and share it in your company's Slack #marketing channel.

First time? Subscribe.

Follow me on X.

More Startup Spells 🪄

1. TablePlus's Smart Retort To Pirates (LINK)

2. Why the 'Share a piece of lore about yourself' meme got 1.2 billion views (LINK)

3. X Experiment: How X Algorithm Works (LINK)

4. Loom Product-Led Growth (PLG) Playbook: Cracking Viral B2B Enterprise Adoption (LINK)

5. Kilo Code Playbook: Beating Cursor, Windsurf, Claude Code with Guerrilla Marketing Tactics (LINK)