Launch Plan

Launch Plan — 30/60/90-Day Execution Roadmap

Converts analysis into action. Produces a chronological execution plan that tells the founder exactly what to do each week for the next 90 days — from validation through launch and early growth. Most powerful after running dimension skills; works standalone too.

Philosophy

Plans without deadlines are daydreams. Actions without sequence are chaos. Founders don't fail because they lack analysis — they fail because they can't convert analysis into a sequenced, time-bound execution plan. This skill is the bridge between "I know what to build" and "I built it and people are paying."

Read .claude/skills/_shared/philosophy.md for the full bottleneck shift and bootstrapper framework. For launch planning specifically:

The bootstrapper launch reality:

• You don't have a team. Every action item must be doable by 1-2 people.
• Cash is finite. Every spend must be justified against timeline to revenue.
• Speed is the advantage. The plan should be aggressive — 90 days, not 12 months.
• Validation before building. The plan front-loads customer evidence, not product development.
• Kill criteria are essential. A good plan includes when to STOP, not just what to START.

Phase philosophy:

• Days 1-30 (Validate): Prove the problem, customer, and willingness to pay are real. NO product building.
• Days 31-60 (Build & Test): Build the minimum product that tests the core value proposition. Ship to early users.
• Days 61-90 (Launch & Grow): Public launch, first paying customers, initial distribution. Revenue or a clear kill decision.

What makes this different from generic roadmaps:

• Every action has a concrete deliverable (not "research the market" but "interview 10 target buyers and document their top 3 pain points")
• Decision gates force go/no-go choices at key moments
• Kill criteria prevent founders from pouring 6 months into a dead idea
• Budget is explicit — founders know what they'll spend before they start
• The plan adapts to prior analysis — if /problem-analysis found weak evidence, Week 1 focuses on validation

Reference Books

Check references/INDEX.md for relevant frameworks. Key books for launch planning:

• lean-startup (Ries) — Build-measure-learn loop structures the validation phase; MVP definition for Phase 2 scoping; innovation accounting for decision gates; pivot-or-persevere framework for kill criteria
• startup-owners-manual (Blank & Dorf) — Customer development methodology for Phase 1 (discovery before building); earlyvangelists as the first customers to target; channel strategy for Phase 3 launch
• shape-up (Singer) — Fixed-time, variable-scope approach for the build phase; 6-week cycle concept adapted to 30-day phases; appetite setting before building; circuit breaker principle for kill decisions
• getting-real (37signals) — "Launch fast" philosophy; Hollywood launch technique for Phase 3; build less and ship sooner; epicenter design for deciding what to build first in the MVP sprint
• traction-weinberg (Weinberg & Mares) — Bullseye framework for channel testing in Phase 3; the 50% rule (spend half effort on distribution); 19 channels as the menu for launch distribution tactics
• mom-test (Fitzpatrick) — Customer interview methodology for Phase 1 validation activities; how to structure the customer conversations that decision gates depend on
• profit-first (Michalowicz) — Budget allocation framework for the 90-day budget section; Profit First formula for making the financial plan sustainable from day one

Research-First Protocol

This skill is primarily a synthesis skill — it consumes prior analysis more than it generates new research. However, when run standalone:

Quick research tasks:

• "[product category] launch strategy" / "how to launch [product type]"
• "[product category] tools and costs" (for budget estimation)
• "[target market] communities" / "[target market] events" (for launch channels)
• Check competitor launch stories on Product Hunt, IndieHackers, Hacker News

Consume prior intelligence (CRITICAL): This skill is designed to run AFTER dimension skills. Pull from:

• problem-analysis: Validation status, customer discovery recommendations, weak gates to address
• gtm-strategy: Channel strategy, first 100 customers plan, distribution economics
• competitor-analysis: Competitive wedge, customers to steal, positioning strategy
• solution-analysis: MPA (Minimum Product Achievability), time-to-value, differentiation
• financial-projections: Break-even timeline, startup costs, founder sustainability
• business-model: Revenue model, pricing strategy, monetization approach
• market-size: Beachhead market, demand signals
• founder-fit: Time budget, financial runway, execution tempo, critical gaps
• timing-analysis: Market window, entry timing urgency
• moat-analysis: What to invest in for long-term defensibility
• user-personas: Primary buyer targeting criteria, buying triggers (if run)
• positioning: Homepage copy, messaging, language bank (if run)
• content-strategy: Content calendar, keyword targets, distribution checklist (if run)
• risk-assessment: Top risks and mitigations (if run)
• bootstrap-oracle / analyze-idea: Overall verdict, scoring, recommended actions

Adaptation rules:

• If problem-analysis gates < 4/6 → Phase 1 extends to 45 days, heavy on customer discovery
• If financial-projections shows founder runway < 6 months → Compress to 60-day plan, cut non-essential actions
• If timing-analysis rated market window as CLOSING (< 3 months) or CLOSED → Compress Phase 1 to 2 weeks, accelerate everything
• If founder-fit shows time budget < 15 hrs/week → Reduce weekly actions to 3-4, extend timeline to 120 days

End-to-End Flow

STEP 0 — CONTEXT GATHERING

Extract from the user's input:

• The business idea (what it does, who it's for)
• Current stage (idea, MVP, live product)
• Available prior analysis (list all skill outputs available in session)
• Founder constraints (time per week, budget, skills, team size)
• Launch urgency (market window, personal timeline)

If critical context is missing (no idea description, no founder constraints), ask ONE clarifying question bundling all gaps. Otherwise, proceed.

STEP 1 — SYNTHESIS & PLAN ARCHITECTURE

Review all available prior analysis and construct the plan architecture:

1. Identify validation gaps — what's unproven that the plan must address?
2. Identify assets — what's already validated that the plan can build on?
3. Determine plan intensity — based on founder constraints and urgency
4. Set phase durations — adjust from default 30/30/30 based on context
5. Define success metrics — what does "done" look like for each phase?

STEP 2 — PLAN GENERATION

Build the week-by-week plan with deliverables, decision gates, and kill criteria.

STEP 3 — OUTPUT

Produce the full report using the template below.

Output Template

# LAUNCH PLAN: [Product/Idea Name]

Plan date: [date]
Stage: [Idea / MVP / Live Product]
Plan duration: [60 / 90 / 120 days — adjusted for context]
Weekly founder hours: [Estimated — e.g., "20 hrs/week" or "full-time"]
Prior analysis consumed: [List skills run in session, or "Standalone — no prior analysis"]

---

## PLAN OVERVIEW

**What this plan achieves:**
[2-3 sentences — what the founder will have at the end of 90 days. Be concrete: "10 paying customers, validated pricing, functioning product, and a repeatable acquisition channel" not "a launched business"]

**Key assumptions this plan rests on:**
1. [Critical assumption — what must be true for this plan to work]
2. [Critical assumption]
3. [Critical assumption]

**Plan intensity:** [Aggressive / Standard / Conservative — and why]

---

## PHASE 1: VALIDATE (Days 1-30)

**Phase goal:** Prove that real people have this problem, will pay to solve it, and can be reached through a specific channel.

**Phase exit criteria** (must hit before moving to Phase 2):
- [ ] [Specific validation milestone — e.g., "10 target buyers confirm the pain in their own words"]
- [ ] [Specific milestone — e.g., "3 potential customers state willingness to pay $X/month"]
- [ ] [Specific milestone — e.g., "Primary distribution channel identified with access confirmed"]
- [ ] [Specific milestone — e.g., "Landing page live with 100+ visitors and X% email signup rate"]

### Week 1: [Week theme — e.g., "Customer Discovery Sprint"]

| Day(s) | Action | Deliverable | Time Est. |
|--------|--------|-------------|-----------|
| 1-2 | [Specific action] | [Tangible output] | [hours] |
| 3-4 | [Specific action] | [Tangible output] | [hours] |
| 5-7 | [Specific action] | [Tangible output] | [hours] |

**Week 1 checkpoint:** [What you should know by end of week — a specific question answered]

### Week 2: [Week theme]

| Day(s) | Action | Deliverable | Time Est. |
|--------|--------|-------------|-----------|
| 8-9 | [Specific action] | [Tangible output] | [hours] |
| 10-11 | [Specific action] | [Tangible output] | [hours] |
| 12-14 | [Specific action] | [Tangible output] | [hours] |

**Week 2 checkpoint:** [What you should know by end of week]

### Week 3: [Week theme]

| Day(s) | Action | Deliverable | Time Est. |
|--------|--------|-------------|-----------|
| 15-17 | [Specific action] | [Tangible output] | [hours] |
| 18-19 | [Specific action] | [Tangible output] | [hours] |
| 20-21 | [Specific action] | [Tangible output] | [hours] |

**Week 3 checkpoint:** [What you should know by end of week]

### Week 4: [Week theme]

| Day(s) | Action | Deliverable | Time Est. |
|--------|--------|-------------|-----------|
| 22-24 | [Specific action] | [Tangible output] | [hours] |
| 25-26 | [Specific action] | [Tangible output] | [hours] |
| 27-30 | [Specific action] | [Tangible output] | [hours] |

**Week 4 checkpoint:** [What you should know by end of week]

### DECISION GATE 1 (Day 30)

**Question:** Is the problem validated with enough evidence to build?

| Signal | Threshold | Actual | Pass/Fail |
|--------|-----------|--------|-----------|
| Customer conversations completed | ≥10 | [_] | |
| Confirmed pain (unprompted) | ≥7/10 | [_] | |
| Stated willingness to pay | ≥5/10 | [_] | |
| Landing page signup rate | ≥5% | [_] | |
| Distribution channel access | Confirmed | [_] | |

**If PASS:** Proceed to Phase 2.
**If MARGINAL (3-4/5):** Extend Phase 1 by 2 weeks, focus on failing signals.
**If FAIL (<3/5):** KILL or PIVOT. [Specific guidance on what to do]

---

## PHASE 2: BUILD & TEST (Days 31-60)

**Phase goal:** Build the minimum product, get it into real users' hands, and test the core value proposition with actual usage.

**Phase exit criteria:**
- [ ] [Specific milestone — e.g., "MVP live and functional"]
- [ ] [Specific milestone — e.g., "10 beta users actively using the product"]
- [ ] [Specific milestone — e.g., "First payment processed (even if discounted)"]
- [ ] [Specific milestone — e.g., "Core retention metric: X% of users return in Week 2"]

### Week 5: [Week theme — e.g., "MVP Sprint Start"]

| Day(s) | Action | Deliverable | Time Est. |
|--------|--------|-------------|-----------|
| 31-33 | [Specific action] | [Tangible output] | [hours] |
| 34-35 | [Specific action] | [Tangible output] | [hours] |
| 36-37 | [Specific action] | [Tangible output] | [hours] |

**Week 5 checkpoint:** [What you should know by end of week]

### Week 6: [Week theme]
[Same structure]

### Week 7: [Week theme]
[Same structure]

### Week 8: [Week theme]
[Same structure]

### DECISION GATE 2 (Day 60)

**Question:** Does the product deliver value that users will pay for?

| Signal | Threshold | Actual | Pass/Fail |
|--------|-----------|--------|-----------|
| Beta users active | ≥10 | [_] | |
| Users reporting value | ≥7/10 | [_] | |
| Payment conversion (even early) | ≥1 | [_] | |
| Retention (Week 2 return) | ≥40% | [_] | |
| NPS or satisfaction signal | Positive | [_] | |

**If PASS:** Proceed to Phase 3.
**If MARGINAL:** Fix the weakest signal. Extend Phase 2 by 2 weeks.
**If FAIL:** Evaluate pivot options. [Specific guidance]

---

## PHASE 3: LAUNCH & GROW (Days 61-90)

**Phase goal:** Public launch, first paying customers from organic channels, repeatable acquisition motion established.

**Phase exit criteria:**
- [ ] [Specific milestone — e.g., "$1K MRR or 10 paying customers"]
- [ ] [Specific milestone — e.g., "Primary acquisition channel producing consistent leads"]
- [ ] [Specific milestone — e.g., "Customer retention above X% at 30 days"]
- [ ] [Specific milestone — e.g., "Unit economics validated: LTV > 3x CAC"]

### Week 9: [Week theme — e.g., "Launch Preparation"]
[Same structure]

### Week 10: [Week theme — e.g., "Public Launch"]
[Same structure]

### Week 11: [Week theme — e.g., "Post-Launch Optimization"]
[Same structure]

### Week 12: [Week theme — e.g., "Growth Foundation"]
[Same structure]

### DECISION GATE 3 (Day 90)

**Question:** Is this a business worth continuing?

| Signal | Threshold | Actual | Pass/Fail |
|--------|-----------|--------|-----------|
| Paying customers | ≥10 | [_] | |
| MRR | ≥$500 | [_] | |
| Organic acquisition | Repeatable | [_] | |
| Customer satisfaction | Positive | [_] | |
| Founder energy | Sustainable | [_] | |

**If PASS:** Continue — build the 6-month growth plan.
**If MARGINAL:** Identify the bottleneck. Give yourself 30 more days on the weakest signal.
**If FAIL:** Honest evaluation time. [Specific kill/pivot/persist guidance]

---

## KILL CRITERIA

**Kill this idea at any point if:**
1. [Specific kill signal — e.g., "30 customer conversations and <3 confirm the pain unprompted"]
2. [Specific kill signal — e.g., "Nobody converts to paid after 60 days of free usage"]
3. [Specific kill signal — e.g., "Primary distribution channel proves inaccessible or too expensive"]
4. [Specific kill signal — e.g., "Founder runway drops below 3 months with no revenue"]
5. [Specific kill signal — e.g., "A well-funded competitor launches identical product with better distribution"]

**Killing is not failing.** Killing a bad idea in 30 days to pursue a better one is the highest-leverage action a bootstrapper can take. The plan is designed to produce a kill signal FAST — before you've invested months of building.

---

## TOOLS & RESOURCES

| Category | Tool/Resource | Cost | When Needed |
|----------|-------------|------|-------------|
| **Landing page** | [Specific tool] | [$/mo or free] | Week 1 |
| **Email capture** | [Specific tool] | [$/mo or free] | Week 1-2 |
| **MVP building** | [Specific tool/approach] | [$/mo or free] | Week 5-8 |
| **Analytics** | [Specific tool] | [$/mo or free] | Week 1 |
| **Payment processing** | [Specific tool] | [% per transaction] | Week 7-8 |
| **Customer communication** | [Specific tool] | [$/mo or free] | Week 1 |
| **SEO/Content** | [Specific tool] | [$/mo or free] | Week 9+ |
| **Social/Community** | [Specific platforms] | Free | Week 1 |
| **Domain/Hosting** | [Specific service] | [$/mo] | Week 1 |

---

## 90-DAY BUDGET ESTIMATE

| Category | Month 1 | Month 2 | Month 3 | Total |
|----------|---------|---------|---------|-------|
| Tools & subscriptions | $[_] | $[_] | $[_] | $[_] |
| Paid marketing (if any) | $[_] | $[_] | $[_] | $[_] |
| Domain, hosting, infrastructure | $[_] | $[_] | $[_] | $[_] |
| Other (legal, design, etc.) | $[_] | $[_] | $[_] | $[_] |
| **TOTAL** | **$[_]** | **$[_]** | **$[_]** | **$[_]** |

**Budget philosophy:** Spend as little as possible in Month 1 (validation should be nearly free). Increase in Month 2 only if validation passes. Month 3 is the first real marketing spend.

---

## BOTTOM LINE

**Your 90-day mission:** [One sentence — the concrete outcome this plan produces]

**The honest answer about execution:** [One sentence — is this plan achievable given the founder's constraints? What's the biggest execution risk?]

**If you only do 3 things from this entire plan:**
1. [The single most important validation action]
2. [The single most important building action]
3. [The single most important distribution action]

Important Rules

See _shared/philosophy.md Universal Skill Rules.

Skill-specific rules:

• Every action must have a deliverable — "Research the market" is not an action. "Interview 10 target buyers and document their top 3 pain points in a spreadsheet" is. If it doesn't produce a tangible output, it's not a task.
• Time estimates are mandatory — founders need to know if this is a 5-hour week or a 40-hour week. Be realistic about time requirements.
• Decision gates are non-negotiable — every phase ends with a go/no-go decision. Without gates, founders drift into building mode without validation.
• Kill criteria save lives — or at least months. The plan must include specific, measurable signals that mean "stop." This is the hardest part for founders and the most valuable.
• Adapt to prior analysis — if dimension skills revealed specific risks, the plan must address them. If validation is already strong (high gate pass rates), Phase 1 can be compressed. If evidence is thin, Phase 1 extends.
• Budget must be explicit — founders need to know the cash requirement before they start. Hidden costs kill bootstrapped businesses.
• This is a Meta skill — it synthesizes all prior skill outputs into a sequenced execution plan. No validation gates, no digest mode. The output is a complete roadmap.
• No building in Phase 1 — validation always comes first. If the plan has "build MVP" in Week 1, something is wrong. The exception is when prior analysis already validated the problem and customer (gates passed).
• Standalone must work — when run without prior analysis, the plan must include its own validation activities. It will be less precise but still functional.