Press Release

Purpose

Write a future-dated press release that describes your product/feature as if it's already launched — forcing clarity on who benefits, what problem is solved, and what makes it remarkable before you build anything. Based on Amazon's Working Backwards methodology.

Key Concepts

Amazon Working Backwards

Write the press release before building the product. If the press release is boring, the product will be boring. If you can't articulate the benefit in customer language, you don't understand the customer well enough.

Press Release Structure

Application

The Full Template

# [HEADLINE: Clear, Benefit-Driven Title]

**[City, Date]** — [Company Name] today announced [Product/Feature Name],
a [brief description] that helps [target customer] [key benefit].

## The Problem

[2-3 sentences describing the customer pain point in the customer's own language.
Not your internal jargon. Not your feature set. The customer's actual frustration.]

## The Solution

[Product/Feature Name] [solves the problem by...]. Key capabilities include:

- **[Capability 1]:** [Benefit in customer terms]
- **[Capability 2]:** [Benefit in customer terms]
- **[Capability 3]:** [Benefit in customer terms]

## Internal Quote

"[Executive name], [title] at [Company], said: '[Why we built this.
What it means for our mission. Forward-looking vision statement.]'"

## How It Works

[3-4 sentences describing the customer experience. Walk through what a
customer actually does, step by step. Keep it simple enough for a
non-technical reader.]

## Customer Quote

"[Customer name], [role] at [Company], said: '[What they would say about
the product. Focus on the outcome and feeling, not the features. Make it
sound like a real person, not marketing copy.]'"

## Getting Started

[Product/Feature Name] is available [today/starting date] for [who can access it].
[Pricing info if applicable.] To get started, [specific action].

For more information, visit [link].

Examples

✅ Good Example

# MetricFlow Eliminates Manual Reporting for Product Teams

**San Francisco, March 2026** — MetricFlow today announced Unified Product 
Analytics, a new capability that automatically combines usage, revenue, and 
customer feedback data into decision-ready dashboards — saving product managers 
5+ hours per week of manual data compilation.

## The Problem
Product managers at mid-market SaaS companies typically spend Monday mornings
exporting data from 4-5 tools, copying into spreadsheets, and building 
presentations for leadership meetings. By the time the data is formatted,
it's often already stale.

## Customer Quote
"I used to spend every Monday morning as a data janitor instead of a product
leader. Now I walk into Monday standups with live dashboards that update 
themselves. I've literally reclaimed a full workday every week."
— Maya Chen, Product Manager at DataStack (150-person B2B SaaS)

❌ Bad Example

# MetricFlow Launches New AI-Powered Analytics Platform

MetricFlow announced its innovative, AI-powered, best-in-class analytics
solution leveraging state-of-the-art machine learning algorithms for
data-driven organizations seeking to optimize their business intelligence
capabilities.

Why this fails: Jargon-heavy, no specific customer, no specific problem, no specific benefit. Could be any company's press release.

Quality Rubric

Common Pitfalls

Pitfall 1: Writing for Investors, Not Customers

Fix: If your press release sounds like a pitch deck, rewrite it. Customers don't care about your "paradigm-shifting platform."

Pitfall 2: Too Many Features

Fix: Highlight 2-3 capabilities max. Focus on the ONE big benefit.

References

Related Skills

• skills/strategy/positioning-statement/SKILL.md — Positioning feeds the headline and value prop
• skills/strategy/product-vision-statement/SKILL.md — Internal quote echoes the vision
• skills/discovery/proto-persona/SKILL.md — Customer quote uses persona voice

External Frameworks

• Amazon Working Backwards — Ian McAllister, Colin Bryar & Bill Carr

Skill type: Component Domain: Strategy & Vision