Pre-Launch Checklist: A Four-Week Countdown for a Small Product
A pre-launch checklist works best as a four-week countdown. In week four, check that the problem is real. In week three, write the one-line pitch and the page. In week two, test the main path on a phone with people you do not know and set up tracking. In the last week, decide where you will post and who hears first. Stop when a stranger can repeat what the product does.
Why count backwards from the launch?
Preparation expands to fill whatever time you give it. If the only rule is “launch when it is ready”, a page can be polished for months while the one question that matters, whether anyone wants this, stays unanswered. Counting backwards from a date turns a vague mood into four short jobs, each with an exit. When the week ends, you either tick the box or you make a conscious decision to move the date.
Four weeks is the ceiling for a small product with one maker, not a minimum. A weekend project can compress the first two weeks into an evening, and a product that already has users can skip the first week completely. The order is what matters: evidence first, words second, plumbing third, people last. Doing it the other way round is how makers end up with a beautiful page for something nobody asked for.
Four weeks out: is the problem real?
- Talk to five people who have the problem and write down their exact words. Their phrasing becomes your headline, and a problem nobody can describe is a warning.
- Find out what they do today instead. A spreadsheet, a forgotten tab or a paid tool all count; if the answer is “nothing”, ask why it has never hurt enough to fix.
- Write the one-sentence version: who it is for and what it does. If it needs the word “platform”, it is not finished.
- Cut the first version to one path. The MVP scope planner turns a long wish list into a single workflow and a list for later.
- Decide what a good outcome looks like in numbers you can read. For example, “ten people finish the main action in the first month” is checkable; “a lot of interest” is not.
If you have not done this part, the validation planner generates interview questions and a small experiment, and the guide on how to validate an app idea explains the reasoning. Skipping validation is a legitimate choice for a side project built for fun, as long as you do not read silence after launch as a verdict on a market you never tested.
Three weeks out: what will the page say?
- Write the headline from the exact words your interviewees used, because their vocabulary is what a stranger will search and scan for.
- Add one screenshot or a short recording that shows the product doing its job, since a picture of the result lands faster than a paragraph about it.
- State the price or say it is free, so nobody has to guess and leave.
- Choose one action for the page, whether that is trying the product, joining a list or buying, because two equal buttons split attention.
- Draft the tagline, a one-paragraph description and three likely questions with answers. The launch copy generator produces a first draft you can edit down.
- Add a contact address and a short privacy note if you collect any personal data, since people look for both before they trust a signup form.
For the page itself, the landing page launch checklist goes through the top, middle and bottom of the page in detail.
Two weeks out: does the path survive strangers?
This is the week to stop trusting yourself. You know where every button is and what every label means, so your own testing proves little. Hand the product to two or three people who have never seen it and say nothing. Watch where they hesitate. Whatever they ask out loud belongs on the page.
- Run the whole path on a phone over mobile data, since that is where a slow or broken page shows up first.
- Sign up as a brand-new user and read every email the product sends, because the welcome message is often the first thing you have not looked at in weeks.
- Create one tagged link per place you plan to post and confirm your analytics records each tag; the UTM tagging guide for launches shows a simple naming scheme.
- Set up error alerts that reach your phone, so a crash on launch day finds you, not the other way round.
- Fix only what blocked a stranger. Resist adding features, because a feature added now is untested on launch day.
The last week: who hears first, and where do you post?
Pick the places before the week begins, not on the day. A free board with no queue is the simplest first step: on this site’s free launch board you fill in a form, open one emailed link and press Publish, and the launch is live. Then choose one community where the problem is discussed and read its self-promotion rules. The free launch directories tool compares options by queue and account, so you can see what each one asks before you commit.
- Write a short list of the people who said they wanted to hear about it and message them personally on the day.
- Draft the community post and read it once as the moderator would, looking for anything that reads as an advertisement.
- Decide your reply window: block the first four hours after posting, and tell anyone you live with.
- Prepare a plain note for questions you expect, such as pricing, privacy and “how is this different from…”, so replies are fast.
- Take the final screenshots and test the share preview by pasting the link into a private chat to see the title and image that appear.
WEEK 4 Evidence [ ] 5 conversations with people who have the problem [ ] Their exact words saved in one file [ ] One-sentence description written [ ] First version cut to a single path WEEK 3 Words [ ] Headline, tagline, description, 3 Q&As [ ] One screenshot or short recording [ ] Price or "free" stated [ ] One action on the page WEEK 2 Path [ ] Strangers tried it; notes saved [ ] Phone test on mobile data [ ] Tagged link per channel; analytics confirmed [ ] Error alerts reach my phone WEEK 1 People [ ] Where I post, in order [ ] Personal messages drafted [ ] Reply window blocked in my calendar [ ] Share preview checked NIGHT BEFORE [ ] No deploys after 6 pm [ ] Link opened in a private window [ ] Contact address tested
What can wait until after the launch?
- A logo you love. A clean wordmark is enough for week one, and the answer on needing a logo explains why.
- A blog. Write it once visitors have shown you which questions to answer.
- A referral programme, a community server or a newsletter archive. All three need people first.
- Perfect copy in every language. Launch in one, and see whether another language asks for you.
The habits that burn the most preparation time are naming debates, endless colour changes and building a waitlist page without a product behind it. If a waitlist is the plan, the waitlist to launch plan says how long to run one. When the tracker above is ticked, stop. Further polish after that point is avoidance. If you are still deciding what to build next, the ideas board lists ideas other people posted and will not build.
Frequently asked questions
How long before launch should I start preparing?
Allow up to four weeks for a small product with one maker, and less if the product already has users. Use the time in order: evidence in the first week, copy in the second, testing in the third, and people in the last. A weekend project can fold the first two weeks into an evening.
What is the most important item on a pre-launch checklist?
Having a stranger finish the main path without your help. Everything else, from the headline to the tracking links, only matters if the path works. Watch two or three people try it in silence and write down each place they hesitate before you decide the product is ready.
Should I build a waitlist before launching?
Only if the product will take weeks more to finish and you can show something concrete on the waitlist page. A list with no product behind it collects addresses but teaches you nothing. If the product is nearly done, skip the waitlist and publish, since a live product answers questions a signup form cannot.
Do I need analytics set up before I launch?
Yes, at the level of one tagged link per place you post and a way to see visits and first uses for each. Without it you cannot tell which channel worked, and you will rely on memory. Check that a test visit with each tag appears in your reports before launch day.
Written by Post your build ideas with AI assistance and edited for this site. Where a page names another product, the facts came from that product’s own pages on the date shown above; terms change, so check them before you rely on them. About the publisher.