Launch Playbook

Launch Playbook

Launch Phases Overview

Phase 1: Pre-Launch (T-8 to T-1 Weeks)

T-8 Weeks: Foundation

• Define launch goals and success metrics
• Identify ICP (Ideal Customer Profile) for launch
• Assign launch DRI (Directly Responsible Individual)
• Set launch tier: Soft / Standard / Major
• Draft press kit (logo, screenshots, one-liner, long description)

T-6 Weeks: Content & Assets

• Landing page live (feature list, pricing, CTA)
• Product demo video recorded (60–90 sec)
• Blog post: "Why we built this" drafted
• Social announcement assets designed
• Email sequence written (waitlist → launch day → follow-up)
• SEO: target keyword research done, meta tags set

T-4 Weeks: Seed & Warm Up

• Waitlist open and collecting signups
• Beta testers recruited (target: 20–50 users)
• Press list built (10–20 journalists / publications)
• Product Hunt hunter identified
• Community seeding: share in Slack/Discord groups as preview
• LinkedIn/Twitter teaser posts scheduled

T-2 Weeks: Press & Influencer Outreach

• Embargo pitches sent to top 5 journalists
• Influencer briefings scheduled
• Partner co-announcement assets shared
• Affiliate/referral codes distributed
• All content assets reviewed and approved
• Launch day war room attendees confirmed

T-1 Week: Final Checks

• Website load tested (use k6 or LoadImpact)
• Onboarding flow QA'd end-to-end
• Support/FAQ docs live
• Billing and payment flows tested
• Analytics tracking verified (GA4, Segment, Mixpanel)
• Rollback plan documented

Phase 2: Launch Day

War Room Setup

Attendees: Marketing lead, CEO/founder, Eng lead, Customer Success
Communication channel: #launch-day Slack
Meeting: 9am standup, 12pm check-in, 5pm close-out
Dashboard open: signups, errors, social mentions, revenue

Hour-by-Hour Schedule (Sample)

Social Announcement Templates

Twitter/X thread opener:

We just launched [Product Name] 🚀

[One sentence what it does]
[One sentence who it's for]
[One sentence key differentiator]

Here's everything you need to know 🧵

LinkedIn post:

After [X months] of building, [Product Name] is live.

The problem we solve: [2 sentences]
Who it's for: [1 sentence]
The result: [quantified benefit]

Try it free → [link]

Press Release Template

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

[Company] Launches [Product] to [Outcome]

[City, Date] — [Company], a [description], today announced the launch of
[Product], a [category] that [key benefit].

"[Founder quote about why this matters]," said [Name], [Title] of [Company].

[Product] addresses [problem] by [solution]. Key features include:
- [Feature 1]: [Benefit]
- [Feature 2]: [Benefit]
- [Feature 3]: [Benefit]

Pricing starts at $[X]/month. Available at [URL].

About [Company]: [2-sentence company description]
Contact: [name@company.com]

Phase 3: Post-Launch (T+2 to T+30)

Week 1: Stabilize

• Monitor error rates every 4 hours
• Respond to all support tickets same day
• Collect and triage beta user feedback
• Fix critical bugs within 24 hours
• Daily metrics review: signups, activation, churn

Week 2–4: Optimize

• Analyze onboarding drop-off funnel
• A/B test landing page headline (if traffic sufficient)
• Publish 2–3 follow-up blog posts (use cases, how-to)
• Collect customer testimonials (email 5 active users)
• Post-launch retargeting ad campaign live
• SEO: build 5–10 backlinks from press coverage

Launch Metrics Dashboard

Launch Post-Mortem Template

Run T+14 days. Time box: 60 minutes.

1. What was the goal? (signups, revenue, press, activation)
2. What happened? (actual metrics vs targets)
3. What worked? (top 3 wins — be specific)
4. What didn't? (top 3 misses — be honest)
5. Surprises? (unexpected good or bad)
6. What we'd do differently? (3 action items with owners)
7. What do we carry forward? (tactics to repeat)

Launch Tier Definitions