jmsktm/launch

ID8LAUNCH - Go-to-Market Engine

Purpose

Get your built product to market effectively. A great product with bad marketing dies. A good product with great marketing thrives.

Philosophy: Small launches, fast learning. One channel done well beats five done poorly.

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When to Use

• Product is built and ready to ship
• User needs go-to-market strategy
• User asks "how do I launch this?"
• User needs positioning help
• User wants pricing guidance
• User planning a Product Hunt launch
• Project is in BUILDING or LAUNCHING state

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Commands

/launch <project-slug>

Run full launch planning for a built project.

Process:

1. POSITIONING - Define how you're different
2. PRICING - Set the right price point
3. MESSAGING - Craft compelling copy
4. CHANNELS - Choose where to launch
5. SEQUENCE - Plan the launch timeline
6. ASSETS - Create launch materials
7. EXECUTE - Go live

/launch positioning <product-description>

Get positioning and messaging guidance.

/launch pricing <product-type>

Get pricing strategy recommendations.

/launch ph (Product Hunt)

Get Product Hunt-specific launch playbook.

/launch copy <product>

Generate launch copy and messaging.

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Launch Philosophy

The Solo Builder Advantage

| Advantage | How to Leverage | |-----------|-----------------| | Speed | Launch before competition even knows you exist | | Authenticity | Your personal story is compelling | | Flexibility | Pivot messaging instantly based on feedback | | Direct access | You can personally engage with every early user | | No bureaucracy | Make decisions in minutes, not meetings |

Launch Reality Check

What works for solo builders:

• Small, focused launches
• One channel mastered
• Personal outreach
• Community building
• Content marketing

What doesn't work (at our scale):

• Massive PR campaigns
• Multi-platform blitzes
• Paid advertising (usually)
• Enterprise sales motions

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Process Detail

Phase 1: POSITIONING

Answer these questions:

1. What category are you in?

   • Existing category (compete on features/price)
   • New subcategory (own a niche)
   • New category (hardest, biggest upside)

2. Who is your customer?

   • Be specific: "freelance designers" not "designers"
   • Know their pain, language, hangouts

3. What's your key differentiator?

   • Only choose ONE (you can't be everything)
   • Must be defensible and believable

4. What's your positioning statement?

For [target customer]
Who [key pain point]
[Product name] is a [category]
That [key benefit]
Unlike [main alternative]
We [key differentiator]

Phase 2: PRICING

Use frameworks/pricing-strategy.md for detailed guidance.

Quick framework:

| Pricing Model | Best For | Example | |---------------|----------|---------| | Freemium | Viral growth, network effects | Notion, Figma | | Free trial | High consideration purchases | SaaS tools | | Paid only | Serious buyers, premium positioning | Basecamp | | Usage-based | Variable value delivery | AWS, OpenAI | | Lifetime deal | Quick cash, launch momentum | AppSumo |

Solo builder defaults:

• Start with 2-3 tiers max
• Include free tier if product has viral potential
• Price based on value, not cost
• You can always adjust later

Phase 3: MESSAGING

Core messages to create:

1. One-liner: What it is in 10 words
2. Tagline: The memorable phrase
3. Problem statement: The pain you solve
4. Value proposition: Why choose you
5. Social proof: Evidence it works
6. Call to action: What to do next

Messaging formulas:

# Pain-Agitate-Solution
Pain: [Problem they have]
Agitate: [Make it worse - what happens if unsolved]
Solution: [How you fix it]

# Before-After-Bridge
Before: [Their current state]
After: [Their desired state]
Bridge: [Your product connects them]

# Feature-Advantage-Benefit
Feature: [What it does]
Advantage: [Why that's better]
Benefit: [What they get]

Phase 4: CHANNELS

Channel selection matrix:

| Channel | Effort | Time to Results | Best For | |---------|--------|-----------------|----------| | Product Hunt | Medium | Immediate | B2B SaaS, dev tools | | Hacker News | Low | Immediate | Technical products | | Reddit | Low-Medium | Days-weeks | Niche communities | | Twitter/X | Medium | Weeks-months | Builder audience | | SEO/Content | High | Months | Long-term growth | | Email/Newsletter | Medium | Days-weeks | Existing audience | | Cold outreach | High | Days-weeks | B2B, high ACV |

Solo builder recommendation:

1. Pick ONE primary channel
2. Master it before adding others
3. Go where your users already are

Phase 5: SEQUENCE

Use frameworks/launch-sequencing.md for platform-specific playbooks.

Generic launch timeline:

| Timing | Activity | |--------|----------| | T-2 weeks | Finalize positioning, messaging | | T-1 week | Create all launch assets | | T-3 days | Seed community, notify supporters | | T-1 day | Final prep, queue posts | | Launch day | Execute, engage, monitor | | T+1 day | Follow up, gather feedback | | T+1 week | Analyze, iterate, sustain |

Phase 6: ASSETS

Minimum launch assets:

• [ ] Landing page (with clear CTA)
• [ ] Product screenshots/demo
• [ ] One-liner + tagline
• [ ] Social post copy (2-3 variants)
• [ ] Email announcement (for existing list)

Nice to have:

• [ ] Demo video (60-90 seconds)
• [ ] Press kit
• [ ] Detailed product walkthrough
• [ ] Testimonials/social proof

Phase 7: EXECUTE

Launch day checklist:

Morning:

• [ ] Final check of landing page
• [ ] Verify sign-up flow works
• [ ] Post to primary channel
• [ ] Share to personal networks

Throughout day:

• [ ] Respond to every comment/question
• [ ] Monitor for issues
• [ ] Track key metrics
• [ ] Share updates/momentum

End of day:

• [ ] Thank supporters
• [ ] Note learnings
• [ ] Plan follow-up

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Framework References

Go-to-Market Strategy

frameworks/gtm-strategy.md - Overall launch strategy

Positioning

frameworks/positioning.md - How to position against competition

Launch Sequencing

frameworks/launch-sequencing.md - Platform-specific playbooks

Pricing Strategy

frameworks/pricing-strategy.md - Pricing models and psychology

PR & Outreach

frameworks/pr-outreach.md - Press and influencer approach

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Output Templates

Launch Plan

templates/launch-plan.md - Comprehensive launch checklist

Landing Page Copy

templates/landing-page-copy.md - Conversion-focused copy template

Press Kit

templates/press-kit.md - Media kit for press outreach

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Tool Integration

MCPs

Perplexity:

• Research competitor positioning
• Find industry benchmarks
• Discover audience hangouts

Firecrawl:

• Scrape competitor landing pages
• Extract pricing information
• Analyze messaging patterns

Skills

landing-page-designer:

• Generate landing page structure
• Create conversion-focused copy
• Design call-to-action sections

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Handoff

After completing launch planning:

1. Save outputs:

   • Launch plan → docs/LAUNCH_PLAN.md in project
   • Copy → Landing page components
   • Press kit → docs/PRESS_KIT.md

2. Log to tracker:

   /tracker log {project-slug} "LAUNCH: Launch plan complete. Primary channel: {channel}. Launch date: {date}."
   

3. Update state:

   /tracker update {project-slug} LAUNCHING
   

4. Next steps:

   • Execute launch plan
   • After launch, transition to growth

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Anti-Patterns

| Anti-Pattern | Why Bad | Do Instead | |--------------|---------|------------| | Launch everywhere | Spread too thin | Focus on ONE channel | | No positioning | Generic = forgettable | Define clear differentiator | | Price too low | Undervalues product | Price for value delivered | | Skip soft launch | Miss early feedback | Test with small group first | | Perfect before launch | Never ship | Good enough → iterate | | Ignore launch | Build and pray | Treat launch as a feature |

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Quality Checks

Before launching:

• [ ] Positioning is clear and differentiated
• [ ] Pricing matches value and audience
• [ ] Landing page converts (test with friends)
• [ ] Sign-up flow works perfectly
• [ ] Primary channel is researched
• [ ] Launch assets are ready
• [ ] Timeline is realistic
• [ ] You're ready to engage all day