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Launch Planning Mode

Philosophy

A launch is not a date. It's a campaign with a beginning, a middle, and an ongoing measurement phase. The date is just the midpoint.

The #1 launch failure: No rollback plan. If this launch goes badly, what happens? Can you turn it off? How fast? Who decides? If you don't know, you're not ready to launch.

The #2 launch failure: Launching without knowing what success looks like. "We'll see how it goes" is not a launch strategy. Define success criteria BEFORE launch so you can evaluate honestly, not retroactively.

The #3 launch failure: Internal launch ≠ external launch. The product is "done" but sales doesn't know it exists, support doesn't know how to troubleshoot it, and marketing doesn't have assets. This is a launch failure, not a product success.

Launch Tier Selection

Ask the user (via AskUserQuestion):

What size launch is this?

RECOMMENDATION: Choose the tier that matches the GTM effort needed, not the engineering effort.

A) MAJOR — New product, new market, or flagship feature. Full GTM campaign. Press, blog, enablement, event. (4-8 weeks prep) B) STANDARD — Significant feature or improvement. Blog post, email, in-app announcement, sales enablement. (2-4 weeks prep) C) MINOR — Small improvement or bug fix. Changelog entry, maybe a tweet. (1 week prep) D) Help me decide — describe the feature and I'll recommend a tier

Step 1: Launch Brief

LAUNCH BRIEF
═════════════
Feature: [Name]
Tier: [Major / Standard / Minor]
Launch Date: [Target date]
Owner: [Name — single DRI for the launch]

ONE-LINE PITCH:
"[What this is and why it matters — the sentence that goes in the blog post headline]"

TARGET AUDIENCE:
- Primary: [Who benefits most — specific segment]
- Secondary: [Who else benefits]
- Internal: [Sales, support, CS teams who need to know]

VALUE PROPOSITION:
Before: [What the user's life looks like today]
After:  [What the user's life looks like with this feature]
Delta:  [The specific improvement — quantified if possible]

SUCCESS CRITERIA (measured at launch +30 days):
1. [Metric]: [Target] — Measured by: [How]
2. [Metric]: [Target] — Measured by: [How]
3. [Metric]: [Target] — Measured by: [How]

ROLLBACK CRITERIA (when to pull the feature):
- If [condition], then [rollback action] — Decision maker: [Who]
- If [condition], then [rollback action] — Decision maker: [Who]

ROLLBACK MECHANISM:
[How: Feature flag? Revert deploy? Config change? How long does rollback take?]

Step 2: Channel Plan (MAJOR and STANDARD)

CHANNEL PLAN
═════════════
| Channel | Content | Owner | Due Date | Status |
|---------|---------|-------|----------|--------|
| Blog post | [Title/topic] | [Who] | [Date] | ⬜ |
| Email (existing users) | [Subject line] | [Who] | [Date] | ⬜ |
| Email (prospects) | [Subject line] | [Who] | [Date] | ⬜ |
| In-app announcement | [Copy summary] | [Who] | [Date] | ⬜ |
| Social (Twitter/LinkedIn) | [Theme] | [Who] | [Date] | ⬜ |
| Documentation | [Pages to create/update] | [Who] | [Date] | ⬜ |
| Changelog | [Entry text] | [Who] | [Date] | ⬜ |

MAJOR only: | Press/AR | [Outlets/analysts to brief] | [Who] | [Date] | ⬜ | | Webinar/demo | [Topic + format] | [Who] | [Date] | ⬜ | | Partner notification | [Partners to notify] | [Who] | [Date] | ⬜ | | Landing page | [URL + key messaging] | [Who] | [Date] | ⬜ | | Video/demo | [Script outline] | [Who] | [Date] | ⬜ |

Step 3: Enablement Plan

INTERNAL ENABLEMENT
════════════════════
| Team | What they need | Format | Due Date | Owner |
|------|---------------|--------|----------|-------|
| Sales | Talking points + demo script | Doc + video | [Date] | [Who] |
| Support | Troubleshooting guide + FAQ | KB article | [Date] | [Who] |
| CS/AM | Customer communication template | Email draft | [Date] | [Who] |
| Marketing | Messaging framework + assets | Brief | [Date] | [Who] |

KEY MESSAGING:
- For sales: "[How to position this in deals]"
- For support: "[Common questions and answers]"
- For CS: "[How to communicate this to existing customers]"

TRAINING:
- [Session 1]: [Audience] — [Date] — [Format: live demo / async video / doc]
- [Session 2]: [Audience] — [Date] — [Format]

Step 4: Launch Timeline

LAUNCH TIMELINE: [Feature Name]
════════════════════════════════

T-[N] weeks: PREPARATION
├── [Date]: Content drafts due (blog, email, docs)
├── [Date]: Sales enablement materials ready
├── [Date]: Internal preview / dogfooding begins
├── [Date]: Support documentation published (internal)
└── [Date]: Go/no-go decision checkpoint

T-1 week: FINAL PREP
├── [Date]: All content reviewed and approved
├── [Date]: Feature flag enabled for beta users (if applicable)
├── [Date]: Launch day runbook reviewed by all owners
├── [Date]: Monitoring dashboards verified
└── [Date]: Rollback mechanism tested

T-0: LAUNCH DAY
├── [Time]: Feature enabled for all users
├── [Time]: Blog post published
├── [Time]: Email campaign sent
├── [Time]: Social media posts go live
├── [Time]: In-app announcement activated
├── [Time]: T+2 hours: First metrics check
└── [Time]: T+4 hours: End-of-day status to stakeholders

T+1 week: EARLY MONITORING
├── Daily metrics review (owner: [Who])
├── Support ticket monitoring (owner: [Who])
├── Bug triage and hotfix readiness
└── [Date]: Week 1 launch report

T+2-4 weeks: MEASUREMENT
├── [Date]: 30-day launch report vs success criteria
├── [Date]: Win/loss data collection (if B2B)
├── [Date]: User feedback synthesis
└── [Date]: Post-launch retro

Step 5: Launch Day Runbook

LAUNCH DAY RUNBOOK
═══════════════════
Date: [Launch date]
DRI: [Name] — Backup: [Name]
War room: [Slack channel / Zoom link / physical room]

PRE-LAUNCH CHECKLIST (morning of):
□ Feature flag ready to flip — confirmed by: [Who]
□ Monitoring dashboards open — link: [URL]
□ Rollback tested in staging — confirmed by: [Who]
□ Support team briefed and ready — confirmed by: [Who]
□ Content scheduled and verified — confirmed by: [Who]
□ Go/no-go call completed — decision: [GO / HOLD]

LAUNCH SEQUENCE:
[Time] — [Who]: [Action — e.g., "Enable feature flag for 10% of users"]
[Time] — [Who]: [Action — e.g., "Monitor error rates for 30 min"]
[Time] — [Who]: [Action — e.g., "Ramp to 50%"]
[Time] — [Who]: [Action — e.g., "Ramp to 100%"]
[Time] — [Who]: [Action — e.g., "Publish blog post"]
[Time] — [Who]: [Action — e.g., "Send email campaign"]
[Time] — [Who]: [Action — e.g., "Post on social media"]

MONITORING (first 4 hours):
| Signal | Normal range | Alert threshold | Action if breached |
|--------|-------------|----------------|-------------------|
| Error rate | <0.5% | >2% | Rollback to 50% |
| Latency p95 | <200ms | >500ms | Investigate |
| Support tickets | <5/hour | >15/hour | Pause rollout |

ESCALATION PATH:
- Level 1: [DRI] handles — minor issues, expected volume
- Level 2: [Eng lead] + [DRI] — unexpected errors, elevated volume
- Level 3: [VP Eng] + [VP Product] — rollback decision needed

END OF DAY:
- [Time]: Status update to stakeholders
- [Time]: Metrics snapshot saved
- [Time]: Any hotfixes needed? Y/N
- [Time]: Tomorrow's monitoring plan confirmed

Step 6: RACI Matrix (MAJOR launches)

RACI: [Feature Launch]
═════════════════════
| Activity | PM | Eng | Design | Marketing | Sales | Support |
|----------|-----|-----|--------|-----------|-------|---------|
| Feature development | C | R | C | I | I | I |
| Launch timing decision | R | C | I | C | C | I |
| Blog post | A | C | C | R | I | I |
| Sales enablement | R | C | I | C | A | I |
| Support documentation | A | C | I | I | I | R |
| Rollback decision | A | R | I | I | I | C |

R = Responsible, A = Accountable, C = Consulted, I = Informed

Completion Summary

LAUNCH PLAN SUMMARY
══════════════════════════════════════
Feature: [Name]
Tier: [Major/Standard/Minor]
Launch date: [Date]
DRI: [Name]

| Component | Status |
|──────────────────────|───────────────────|
| Launch brief | ✓ Written |
| Success criteria | ___ metrics defined |
| Rollback plan | ✓ Defined + tested |
| Channel plan | ___ channels, ___ assets |
| Enablement | ___ teams briefed |
| Timeline | T-[N] to T+30 mapped |
| Runbook | ✓ Launch day sequenced |
| RACI | ✓ Defined (MAJOR only) |
══════════════════════════════════════

Open items before launch:
1. [Item] — Owner: [Who] — Due: [Date]
2. [Item] — Owner: [Who] — Due: [Date]

Ready for: /metrics (to finalize measurement plan) or /brief --audience exec (to communicate launch plan)

Formatting Rules

• Timelines use T-minus notation (T-2 weeks, T-0, T+1 week)
• Every deliverable has an owner and due date
• Rollback is not optional — every launch plan includes it
• Launch day runbook is time-sequenced with specific people and actions
• After the launch brief, pause: "Launch brief look right? Ready to build the channel plan?"