Launch Plan

First-time founders treat "launch" as a single fireworks moment: press the button, hope the internet shows up. It almost never does. A launch is a sequence - built on an audience you warmed up beforehand, aimed at one measurable outcome, and followed by a review that turns the day into learning. This skill replaces the one-shot gamble with a plan you can execute and repeat.

The method

Built on the Founder OS scaffold (High tier). Full templates in references/launch-checklist.md.

Step 1 - Define the launch goal and the ONE metric

A launch is not "tell people we exist." Pick a single outcome that proves the launch worked: sign-ups, waitlist adds, first paying customers, demo bookings, or upvotes/ranking on a platform. Translate [GOAL] into one number - the [METRIC] - and set the bar that counts as success before the day. Everything else is vanity. One metric keeps the team aimed.

Step 2 - Choose the launch type

Match the type to your stage and audience, not to what looks impressive (menu in references): quiet beta (a handful of hand-picked users), waitlist (build demand before the product), public launch (you have an audience to mobilise), or platform launch (a directory, marketplace, app store, or Product-Hunt-style listing where buyers already gather). Each has a different prep and a different [METRIC]. Don't do a public launch with no audience - that's the classic failure (see Step 5).

Step 3 - Build the asset list

Work backward from the launch type to the assets you actually need (checklist in references): landing page, demo/video, launch copy (post, thread, email), FAQ, an outreach list of warm contacts, and the tracking to read [METRIC]. Cut anything that doesn't serve the one goal. Don't build a press kit for a quiet beta. A draft asset is not a shipped asset - batch them, review the whole set once, then finalize.

Step 4 - Sequence the T-minus timeline

A launch has three phases: pre (warm the audience, collect the list, line up supporters), during (the choreographed launch-day run of show - what posts when, who amplifies, how you respond), and post (follow-up, thank-yous, converting attention into the [METRIC]). Use the T-minus template in references. The pre-phase is where launches are won; if your audience is cold on launch day, you've already lost.

Step 5 - Set the success bar and the review

Write the bar down before launch: "[METRIC] ≥ [number] = it worked." After the launch, run the post-launch review (template in references) - what hit the bar, what didn't, what you'll change for the next launch. Launching is iterative, not one-shot: most products launch many times (new channel, new segment, new feature). Treat day one as the first of several.

Output

• Launch goal + one [METRIC] with an explicit success bar set before launch day.
• Launch type chosen, with a one-line reason it fits the stage and audience.
• Asset checklist: what's needed, what's done, what's deliberately skipped.
• T-minus timeline across pre / during / post, with owners and trigger times.
• Post-launch review plan + the next launch this feeds into.

Constraints

• One launch, one metric. Multiple goals dilute the day and hide whether it worked.
• No audience, no public launch. Warm the list first or pick a platform that brings the crowd.
• Launches are iterative, not one-shot - design the post-phase, not just the button-press.
• Cut every asset that doesn't serve the one [GOAL]. Polish is not progress.
• Stay theme-agnostic; the founder supplies the domain, you supply the sequence.

Copy-paste version

Act as a pragmatic launch strategist for a first-time founder.
My product: [ONE_LINER]. Who it's for: [ICP]. My launch goal: [GOAL]. My constraints: [CONSTRAINT].
Help me:
1. Turn my goal into ONE metric and set the number that counts as success - before launch day.
2. Recommend a launch type (quiet beta / waitlist / public / platform like a directory or marketplace) that fits my stage and the audience I actually have. Tell me if I have no audience and what to do about it.
3. Give me the asset checklist for THAT launch type (landing page, demo, launch copy, FAQ, warm outreach list, tracking) - and tell me what to skip.
4. Lay out a T-minus timeline across pre / during / post phases, with what happens when and who does it.
5. Give me a post-launch review template and remind me this is the first of several launches, not a one-shot.
Don't let me do a public launch with no audience, and don't let me chase more than one metric.