What does 'build in public' mean to you?

I'm actually doing this right now. I'm a physical product designer/inventor and for the launch of my next product I'm trying to bring my fanbase along for the creative process. I am worried about copycats as most of my successful products have been stolen like that. It's so annoying but I try to out market the other people. You can join this online Design Laboratory where I have some stages of the design process up there: https://be-mighty.mn.co/share/EZ... I'd love to hear your feedback. Also I guess its not fully "in public" because I can screen who gets in and what I share w each user. For example only active users who I really trust will advance to the next stages of the reveal of the design.