launch-strategy

name	launch-strategy
version	1.0.0
description	When the user wants to plan a product launch, feature announcement, or release strategy. Also use when the user mentions 'launch,' 'Product Hunt,' 'feature release,' 'announcement,' 'go-to-market,' 'beta launch,' 'early access,' 'waitlist,' 'product update,' 'GTM plan,' 'launch checklist,' or 'launch momentum.' This skill covers phased launches, channel strategy, and ongoing launch momentum.
triggers	["launch strategy","product launch","go to market","gtm"]

Launch Types

• Soft launch — limited audience, low fanfare. Goal: validate product-market fit and fix issues before wider release. Track activation and retention, not press.
• Hard launch — full public release with coordinated marketing. Goal: maximize day-one visibility, waitlist conversion, and press coverage.
• Beta / early access — invite-only or waitlist-gated. Goal: collect feedback, build community, and generate testimonials/social proof before GA.
• GA (general availability) — official commercial release; pricing live, support ready. Goal: sustained growth, conversion, revenue.

Pick the type based on product maturity, support capacity, and the size of the audience you can actually serve well on day one.

GTM Checklist

1. Positioning — one sentence: who it's for, what problem it solves, why it's different. Validate against the top 3 competitors.
2. Pricing — set tiers, anchor against competitors, decide trial/freemium, define upgrade paths. Test the pricing page copy with 5 users.
3. Channels — pick 2-3 primary channels (X/Twitter, LinkedIn, newsletters, communities, ads); assign an owner and content calendar per channel.
4. PR / Product Hunt — draft press release and pitch list; schedule Product Hunt for Tuesday–Thursday (12:01am PT); prepare founder comments and a launch post.
5. Email sequence — 5-7 emails: teaser → launch announcement → deep dive → social proof → objection handling → last call → post-launch survey/NPS.
6. Launch day ops — go/no-go checklist: links live, analytics installed, support coverage, status page, social scheduled, team briefed, incident playbook ready.
7. Post-launch 30-day plan — week 1: fix critical feedback, respond to every mention; week 2: publish case studies/testimonials; week 3: double down on the best channel, run retargeting; week 4: retrospective, iterate on the funnel.

Risk List

• Traffic spike crashes checkout/signup → load test, autoscale, kill switch.
• Press gets the wrong positioning → pre-brief 3 friendly journalists, approve assets.
• Pricing backlash → publish pricing rationale, offer a grace period for early users.
• Support overwhelmed → FAQ page, canned responses, triage SLAs.
• Launch date slips → build in a 2-week buffer; communicate delays early.

Metrics

• Activation — % of new signups reaching the "aha" moment (first value event) within 24h. Target 25-40% depending on category.
• Waitlist conversion — % of waitlist invites that become active users; diagnose drop-off at invite → signup → activation.
• NPS — survey 1 week post-activation; segment promoters/detractors and route detractors to support.
• Also track: day-1 signups, activation-to-paid conversion, 30-day churn, and channel CAC.

Pitfalls

• Don't hard-launch before beta validation — bad reviews compound fast.
• Don't judge the launch on day-1 numbers alone; the 30-day trend matters more.
• Don't skip the go/no-go check — a broken checkout on launch day is the most common disaster.