Launch

Launch (Software)

Before starting

Confirm (ask or infer) before running:

• Positioning status — has /positioning been run? Is the output DRAFT or FINAL?
• ICP card — does one exist from /icp-research? (required for audience targeting)
• Launch scope — full release / beta / feature / segment launch?
• Target date — fixed or flexible? (determines if Phase 1 QA has time to run)
• Stakeholder sign-off — who needs to approve before go-live? (support, legal, exec?)
• Rollback plan — what is the fastest way to revert if something breaks post-launch?

If you detect hardware signals (BOM data, supply chain context, physical product, distributor channel, certifications), stop and redirect to hardware-gtm/launch/SKILL.md instead.

---

Contract

This skill guarantees:

• No launch proceeds without a Phase 1 QA record with explicit PASS/FAIL
• No launch achieves GO status without launch-readiness-review passing
• Software launches require FINAL positioning before distribution begins
• Rollback option is declared for every launch — "N/A" requires written justification

---

Role: Launch Coordinator. You prevent the two most common launch failure modes: launching before the product is ready (wrong timing), and launching with the right product but the wrong go-to-market motion.

---

Inputs

Required before proceeding:

• Product name and description
• Positioning artifact (ideally with FINAL status from positioning-review)
• ICP card (required for audience targeting)
• Launch scope (global / segment / geography / beta / full launch)
• Target launch date

---

Pre-flight check

STEP S1 — Positioning check
  IF positioning_artifact.status ≠ FINAL → BLOCK.
  Return: "Software launch requires FINAL positioning.
  Run /positioning and pass positioning-review before launch.
  Launching without clear positioning produces copy that fails across every channel."

STEP S2 — ICP check
  IF icp_card = undefined → WARN.
  Return: "No ICP card found. Without an ICP card, audience targeting defaults
  to 'everyone' — which means missing the best-fit users.
  Strongly recommend: run /icp-research before launch.
  Proceeding without ICP card: channels will be listed but without audience
  precision. Revisit after launch with cohort retention data."

STEP S3 — Scope confirmation
  Confirm: is this a full launch, segment launch, beta, or feature launch?
  Each requires different checklist depth and distribution scope.

---

Phase 1 — Pre-launch QA

Run against staging/preview environment. NEVER skip this phase.

Pre-launch QA record:

Environment: [URL / build number / branch — confirm not production]
Date of QA: [Date]

Checks:
  [ ] Content quality gate: run /content-quality-review on ALL primary launch copy
      (homepage headline + subheadline, primary CTA, primary email, any paid ad copy)
      Required: content_quality_review.status = APPROVE
      IF not yet run → STOP. Run /content-quality-review first, then return here.
      IF status ≠ APPROVE → STOP. Address REVISE/REJECT items before proceeding.

  [ ] Load & render: primary launch page loads without blocking console errors
  [ ] Tracking: UTM parameters, conversion events, analytics tags fire correctly;
      privacy banners present if applicable to jurisdiction
  [ ] Happy path: one full user journey completes end-to-end
      (sign up → activate → core action) without error
  [ ] Negative path: one invalid input returns a clear error
      (not a silent failure or blank page)
  [ ] Copy: final approved copy in place; no placeholder text [LOREM], [TBD], or draft language
  [ ] Mobile: critical elements render correctly on mobile viewport
      (test 375px wide minimum)
  [ ] Accessibility: keyboard navigation works on primary CTA; alt text on images
  [ ] Load time: primary page loads in < 3 seconds on simulated 4G

Result: PASS | FAIL
Blockers: [List or "none"]
QA reviewer: [Name or "self-review with a second pair of eyes"]

IF result = FAIL → STOP. Do not proceed to Phase 2.
IF blockers = critical → STOP. Address before any go-live step.

---

Launch-readiness-review gate

After Phase 1 QA passes, trigger the review before proceeding to Phase 2:

→ Trigger /launch-readiness-review
→ If verdict = GO → proceed to Phase 2
→ If verdict = CONDITIONAL-GO → address conditions with deadlines, then proceed
→ If verdict = NO-GO → resolve blockers before attempting launch

---

Phase 2 — Go-live execution

Launch log:

Objective: [What this launch was for — one sentence]
Environment: [Production URL / feature flag name / campaign ID]
Target audience: [ICP segment name from ICP card]

Go-live steps:
  1. [Step description] — PASS/FAIL
  2. [Step description] — PASS/FAIL
  3. [Step description] — PASS/FAIL
  ...

Verification: [Which check confirmed the launch is live and working correctly]
  Example: "Trial signup completed successfully from an incognito browser.
  Conversion event fired in analytics. No error in logs."

Rollback option:
  [How to undo this launch if something goes wrong post-launch]
  Example: "Disable feature flag [X] to revert to old flow. Takes effect immediately."
  "N/A" is acceptable only with justification: [explain why rollback is not needed]

User-visible impact: [What changed for users from their perspective]

Post-launch monitoring:
  [ ] Conversion events firing for first real users (monitor first 30 minutes)
  [ ] Error rate not elevated vs baseline (check in first 2 hours)
  [ ] At least one successful end-to-end conversion by a real user

---

Distribution plan

After confirming go-live, distribution is the launch:

Distribution plan:
  Primary channel: [Most important surface for this launch — where Core ICP is]
  Secondary channels: [2-3 additional surfaces]
  Assets ready: [Confirm: copy, images, links, UTMs are all in place]
  Publication time: [Optimal time for primary channel]
  
  HN note: if this is a Show HN launch, write the first comment before posting.
  LinkedIn note: first line works as standalone in preview truncation.
  Email note: subject line is the most important asset; test variant if possible.

---

Launch asset checklist and dependency order

Required structured output when launch date is set. Produce this section before Distribution plan is finalized — dependency order determines which assets can be produced in parallel and which cannot.

Dependency enforcement rule

Assets depend on each other. The agent enforces ordering and does not assume parallel production is safe. Each asset row declares what must exist before production begins. Do not mark an asset "in progress" if its upstream dependency has not been approved.

Pre-checklist gate:

BLOCK: IF launch date is set AND checklist has >2 assets with no assigned owner →
  Return: "Launch checklist has unassigned assets. Assign owners before continuing
  launch planning. Unowned assets at T-2d are the single most common cause of
  day-of scramble and copy regression."

WARN: IF Demo video and Landing page are assigned to different owners AND no
  dependency lock-date has been agreed →
  Return: "Demo video and landing page are being produced in parallel — verify
  landing page does not depend on final video content that is not yet locked.
  Agree on video content lock date before landing page copy is written."

Core launch assets

Asset	Format	Must exist before this	Typical lead time before launch
Demo video or product GIF	60–90s video / animated GIF	Nothing — create first	T-21d
Landing page	Web	Demo video or screenshot (locked content)	T-14d
Docs / changelog entry	Markdown	Feature complete (engineering sign-off)	T-7d
Announcement copy — short (2–3 variants)	280 chars + subject line	Landing page headline approved	T-7d
Social posts (3–5 variants per platform)	Platform copy	Announcement copy approved	T-3d
Launch email — existing customers	HTML email	Announcement copy approved	T-3d
Launch email — prospects	HTML email	Landing page live in staging	T-3d
HN / Product Hunt post draft	Text post	All above approved and stable	T-2d
Internal enablement brief	1-page PDF or doc	All customer-facing copy approved	T-1d

Checklist output format

## Launch asset checklist

Launch date: [Date]
Checklist produced: [Date]

| Asset | Owner | Status | Dependency met? | Due date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Demo video or product GIF | [Owner] | [ ] Not started / [ ] In progress / [✓] Approved | — (first asset) | T-21d |
| Landing page | [Owner] | [ ] Not started / [ ] In progress / [✓] Approved | [ ] Demo video locked? | T-14d |
| Docs / changelog entry | [Owner] | [ ] Not started / [ ] In progress / [✓] Approved | [ ] Feature complete? | T-7d |
| Announcement copy (2–3 variants) | [Owner] | [ ] Not started / [ ] In progress / [✓] Approved | [ ] Landing page headline approved? | T-7d |
| Social posts (3–5 variants/platform) | [Owner] | [ ] Not started / [ ] In progress / [✓] Approved | [ ] Announcement copy approved? | T-3d |
| Launch email — existing customers | [Owner] | [ ] Not started / [ ] In progress / [✓] Approved | [ ] Announcement copy approved? | T-3d |
| Launch email — prospects | [Owner] | [ ] Not started / [ ] In progress / [✓] Approved | [ ] Landing page live in staging? | T-3d |
| HN / Product Hunt post draft | [Owner] | [ ] Not started / [ ] In progress / [✓] Approved | [ ] All above approved? | T-2d |
| Internal enablement brief | [Owner] | [ ] Not started / [ ] In progress / [✓] Approved | [ ] All customer-facing copy approved? | T-1d |

Asset owner coverage: [N] of [Total] assets have assigned owners
Unblocked assets (no unmet dependency): [List]
Blocked assets (dependency not yet met): [List]

---

Output format

## Launch Brief

**Product:** [Name]
**Launch scope:** [Full / Beta / Segment / Feature]
**ICP segment:** [Name]
**Target date:** [Date]

### Upstream status
Positioning artifact: [FINAL / DRAFT / Missing]
ICP card: [Present / Missing]

### Phase 1 — Pre-launch QA
QA environment: [URL / system identifier]
Result: [PASS / FAIL]
Blockers: [List or "none"]

### Launch-readiness-review
Status: [Pending / Triggered / GO / CONDITIONAL-GO / NO-GO]

### Phase 2 — Go-live execution
[Complete after review passes]
Objective: ...
Steps: ...
Verification: ...
Rollback option: ...
User-visible impact: ...

### Distribution plan
Primary channel: ...
Publication time: ...

### Launch asset checklist
[Complete when launch date is set — see "Launch asset checklist and dependency order" section]
Asset owner coverage: [N] of [Total] assets assigned
Unblocked: [List or "all clear"]
Blocked: [List or "none"]

---

Brain reads / writes

If a companion brain repo is connected:

Before starting:

• Read knowledge/icp-map.md — confirm which ICP segment this launch targets
• Read channels/channel-history.md — check which channels have performed for this product type before
• Read experiments/experiment-log.md — check if any messaging experiment results inform copy selection

Brain write (after GO verdict):

• Write launch decision log to decisions/ including: launch date, scope, distribution plan, and first 48-hour monitoring results
• Update channels/channel-history.md with which channels were used and initial result signal

Brain not connected: proceed normally; note in output that launch learnings will not be persisted.

---

Anti-patterns

Anti-pattern	Why it fails	Fix
Launching without FINAL positioning	Copy becomes generic; every channel says something slightly different	Block until positioning-review passes
Skipping Phase 1 QA "because we know it works"	UAT catches what you assume away; tracking bugs, copy regressions, mobile breakages are invisible until QA runs	Never skip Phase 1
No rollback plan defined	Post-launch issue becomes a crisis; no one knows who makes the call to revert	Define rollback before go-live
Distributing without confirmed tracking	Conversion events that don't fire create permanent data gaps	Confirm UTMs and events fire in staging before Phase 2
"Soft launch" without audience definition	Soft launches are real launches; without ICP targeting, distribution is inefficient	Always define the audience even for beta / limited launches
Running /launch without /content-quality-review on copy	Launch copy regressions ship silently	Gate Phase 2 on APPROVE from content-quality-review
Producing all launch assets simultaneously without dependency order	When upstream assets change (video content shifts, headline revs), every downstream asset that copied from them requires rework; parallel production without declared dependencies creates cascading revision loops	Declare the dependency order first; lock upstream assets before starting dependent production

---

Benchmarks (2025–2026)

Benchmark	Value	Notes
Show HN launch typical upvote range	100–500 upvotes	Established OSS/dev-tools; requires strong technical first comment
Email launch open rate (warm list, developer audience)	35–50%	Plain text outperforms HTML by 15–20% for developer audiences
Trial conversion from launch email (dev tools)	8–18%	Drops to 2–5% without ICP segmentation
Product Hunt Day 1 ranking	Top 5 in category	Requires pre-launch coordination; quality gallery; maker responses
Time from launch event to first conversion signal	Under 2 hours for instrumented products	If no signal within 2 hours: check tracking first
Software launch copy approval rate (content-quality-review)	Target: APPROVE on first submission	Average: 60% first-pass approval on public launch copy
Phase 1 QA time for feature launch	1–2 hours	Full product launch: 4–8 hours for thorough QA

---

Related skills

Skill	When to use
pmm/positioning/SKILL.md	Before launch: FINAL positioning required
pmm/icp-research/SKILL.md	Before launch: ICP card required for audience targeting
pmm/launch-readiness-review/SKILL.md	Between Phase 1 and Phase 2: GO verdict required
pmm/content-review/SKILL.md	On launch copy: APPROVE required before Phase 2
hardware-gtm/launch/SKILL.md	If hardware signals are detected: use this skill instead
foundations/leader/composite-launch/SKILL.md	Full orchestration: runs ICP → positioning → launch as a single chain

---

Validation criteria

• Pre-flight check completed (positioning FINAL, ICP card present or documented as missing)
• Phase 1 QA completed with explicit PASS/FAIL and blockers listed
• Launch-readiness-review triggered before go-live
• Phase 2 log includes verification and rollback option
• Distribution plan specified
• When launch date is set: launch asset checklist produced with dependency order, assigned owners (or unassigned flagged as a blocker), and due dates relative to launch date

References & Sources

Tier 1:

• Product Marketing Alliance 5-phase framework (2026): "Get Set" phase — QA checklist structure
• growth-launch-checklist (growth-skills v1.0, score 7.5/10): two-phase launch structure, software track checklist