| name | launch |
| description | Product launch and go-to-market planning — readiness gate (SLC), the ORB channel framework, the five-phase launch ramp (internal → alpha → beta → early access → full), Product Hunt playbook, launch-day checklist, and post-launch adoption. Triggers on "launch", "Product Hunt", "GTM plan", "feature release", "announcement", "beta launch", "early access", "waitlist", "launch checklist", "we're about to ship". |
| allowed-tools | Read, Write, Glob, Grep |
Launch Strategy
The best companies don't launch once — they launch again and again. A launch is a phased ramp that compounds attention into owned relationships, not a single day on a calendar.
When this skill activates
Implicit: planning a product launch, feature announcement, release strategy, waitlist, beta/early-access program, or Product Hunt run.
Explicit: "Use the launch skill to [task]."
Routed from: /mk:growth launch (skills: launch, copywriting, ads), /mk:campaign when the campaign is a launch, /mk:email campaign for the announcement send.
Scope
Covers:
- Launch readiness gate — is this thing actually launchable (SLC), or are you in Stealth Mode / "just one more feature"?
- Channel strategy across Owned / Rented / Borrowed (ORB), with everything funnelling back to owned.
- The five-phase ramp: internal → alpha → beta → early access → full launch, with per-phase goals and actions.
- Product Hunt (and comparable platform) launches — pre-day, day-of, after.
- Launch-day touchpoint checklist and asset list.
- Post-launch adoption work and the ongoing update-tiering cadence (major / medium / minor).
Does NOT cover:
- Writing the announcement email or onboarding sequence → [[emails]], [[email-sequence]].
- Writing the launch tweets/threads/LinkedIn posts → [[social-content]].
- Launch ad creative and paid amplification → [[ad-creative]], [[ads]].
- Headline, tagline, and landing-page copy → [[copywriting]]; conversion tuning of the launch page → [[cro]].
- Positioning, ICP, and messaging that precede the launch → [[product-marketing]] (hub:
plans/marketing-context.md).
- Comparison / alternatives pages named in post-launch → [[seo-programmatic]], [[competitor-alternatives]].
- Post-signup activation flows → [[user-onboarding]], [[signup]].
Readiness gate — run before any planning
Launch mechanics only pay off if the thing is worth launching. Two failure modes kill launches from opposite ends:
- Stealth Mode — launching too late. Polishing in private, waiting for perfect. Procrastination in a fancy suit.
- "Just one more feature" — never launching. Every date slips for one more thing; scope creeps forever.
The middle path is SLC — Simple, Lovable, Complete (Jason Cohen), the antidote to an MVP that is minimal but unlovable:
- Simple — it does one thing, not many things poorly.
- Lovable — a target user would choose it, not merely endure it to give feedback. If nobody would be sad to lose it, it isn't lovable yet.
- Complete — a whole experience at its chosen scope; no glaring stubs, not a teaser for a bigger promise.
Gate checks: one clearly-defined thing? would a target user choose it? whole at that scope? Still polishing past the bar → Stealth Mode, ship. Still adding scope → cut back to SLC, then ship. A real launch now beats a perfect launch never.
ORB — the channel frame
Every launch channel is Owned, Rented, or Borrowed. Rented and Borrowed buy attention; Owned is where it is banked.
| Type | You control | Examples | Role in a launch |
|---|
| Owned | Channel (not audience) | Email list, blog, podcast, community, the product itself | Compound asset; the destination for all other traffic |
| Rented | Nothing | X/Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Reddit, app stores, marketplaces | Speed and reach; convert to owned or it evaporates |
| Borrowed | Nothing, and not even the relationship | Guest posts, podcast interviews, newsletter features, webinars, influencers, affiliates | Instant credibility; shortcut past "nobody knows you" |
Rules: start with 1–2 owned channels chosen by audience behavior; pick 1–2 rented platforms where the audience already is; be proactive on borrowed — list the people your audience follows, pitch win-win collaborations, and set referral/affiliate incentives before launch week. Rented channels give speed, not stability. Detail, tactics, and case studies (Superhuman, Notion, TRMNL): references/orb-channels.md.
The five-phase ramp
Launching is a process that builds momentum, not a one-day event.
| Phase | Audience | Core action | Goal |
|---|
| 1. Internal | Hand-picked friendlies | Recruit testers one-on-one, collect usability feedback; demo-grade is enough | Validate core functionality |
| 2. Alpha | First externals | Landing page + early-access form; announce it exists; invite individually | First external validation, waitlist starts |
| 3. Beta | Wider early-access list | Work the list (some free, some paid); tease the problem you solve; recruit friends/investors/influencers to test and share | Buzz plus broader feedback |
| 4. Early access | Engaged cohort at scale | Leak screenshots/GIFs/demos; gather usage data + qualitative research; optional PMF survey | Validate at scale, sharpen messaging |
| 5. Full launch | Everyone | Open self-serve signups, start charging, announce GA everywhere | Maximum visibility and conversion |
Phase-4 expansion is a choice: throttle invites in batches (5–10% at a time) for control, or open the whole list at once under an "early access" framing for a bigger moment. Per-phase actions, "consider adding" lists, and the full GA touchpoint list: references/launch-phases.md.
Launch-day touchpoints
Announcement email to the list · blog post · social posts across chosen platforms · in-app popup or product tour · "New" sticker in dashboard nav · site banner linking to launch assets · platform listing live (Product Hunt / BetaList / Hacker News) · team on deck all day to respond · monitoring for breakage and feedback. Full pre / day-of / post checklist: references/launch-checklist.md.
Product Hunt
Powerful for reaching early adopters, not magic. Upside: tech-savvy audience, credibility bump (especially Product of the Day), PR and backlinks. Downside: competitive, short-lived traffic spike, heavy pre-work. It rewards relationships built weeks earlier, a polished listing (tagline, visuals, short demo video), and all-day real-time engagement — then converting that traffic into email signups the same day. Playbook plus the SavvyCal and Reform case studies: references/product-hunt.md.
Ongoing launch cadence
Tier every update so marketing effort matches significance:
| Tier | Examples | Treatment |
|---|
| Major | New product, new feature, overhaul | Full campaign — blog, email, in-app, social, platform listings |
| Medium | New integration, UI improvement | Targeted — email to relevant segments, in-app banner |
| Minor | Bug fixes, small tweaks | Changelog and release notes only |
Space releases out rather than shipping everything at once, reuse the tactics that measurably worked last time, and keep shipping changelog entries — visible active development builds retention and word of mouth. Post-launch adoption work (onboarding sequence, roundup email, comparison pages, site updates, interactive demo): references/post-launch.md.
Key concepts
- ORB — Owned / Rented / Borrowed channels; borrowed and rented attention only counts once converted to owned.
- SLC (Simple, Lovable, Complete) — the launchable-v1 bar that replaces "minimum viable".
- Stealth Mode / "just one more feature" — the two opposite ways launches die.
- Phased ramp — five escalating audiences; each phase de-risks the next.
- Launch moment — a manufactured spike (waitlist open, GA day, platform listing) that concentrates attention rather than dribbling it.
- Update tiering — major/medium/minor, so small ships still signal momentum without burning the list.
Intake questions
- What is being launched — new product, major feature, or minor update?
- Current audience size and engagement per channel?
- Which owned channels exist today (list size, blog traffic, community)?
- Timeline to launch date?
- Previous launches — what worked, what didn't?
- Product Hunt or similar in scope? Preparation status?
Output
plans/marketing/<campaign>/growth-launch.md — launch plan (readiness verdict, ORB channel map, phased timeline, touchpoint checklist, asset list, owners/dates). Path matches /mk:growth's declared output.- Optional companions in the same folder:
launch-checklist.md, product-hunt-plan.md.
- Inline recommendations for quick checks.
Cross-references
plans/marketing-context.md — required hub (ICP, positioning, brand voice, forbidden words). Read before asking the intake questions; only ask what it does not already answer.- [[product-marketing]] — positioning and messaging feeding the launch narrative
- [[emails]] / [[email-sequence]] — announcement send and post-launch onboarding sequence
- [[social-content]] — launch-day posts and threads
- [[ad-creative]] / [[ads]] — paid amplification of the launch moment
- [[copywriting]] / [[cro]] — launch page copy and conversion tuning
- [[marketing-ideas]] — additional launch tactics (Product Hunt, early-access referrals)
- [[analytics]] — launch instrumentation and post-launch measurement
.claude/workflows/marketing-rules.md — quality gates, output-path convention, anti-patterns.claude/skills/marketing/README.md — full kit overview
Provenance
Imported from coreyhaines31/marketingskills (MIT, © 2025 Corey Haines) and adapted for KitForge: KitForge frontmatter, /mk: namespace wiring, .agents/product-marketing.md context convention replaced by plans/marketing-context.md, long-form sections split into references/. Dropped: the upstream eval harness (evals/evals.json — no ClauKit equivalent), the tools/integrations/introw.md vendor link, and cross-references to upstream skills ClauKit does not ship (marketing-psychology, sales-enablement, offers); their intents are redirected to shipped siblings above.
