The Product Launch Checklist

Most launch checklists you'll find online are cargo-cult: 200 tasks copy-pasted from a 2019 blog post, half of them irrelevant to a modern SaaS release. This one is different. Every item here traces back to a real reason a launch we tracked either popped or flopped.

Phase 1 — Positioning (T-30 to T-14)

You cannot out-market bad positioning. If your one-liner takes more than 8 seconds to read and understand, you will lose 60% of visitors before they see your screenshot. Fix this first.

1. Write your one-liner in the "X for Y who Z" format

Example: "Linear is a project management tool for software teams who value speed." Not "The intelligent workspace for modern teams." Specificity converts.

2. Interview 5 target users this week

Ask two questions: "What were you using before this?" and "What almost stopped you from trying it?" The second question is where your objection-handling copy comes from.

3. Pick your primary comparison

Every product is "X but ___." Notion is "Google Docs but blocks." Superhuman is "Gmail but fast." Pick your anchor now — you'll use it in every asset.

4–12. Product readiness

• Ship the one bug that shows up in 30% of sessions
• Add a public roadmap (Canny, Featurebase, or a Notion page)
• Set up analytics with 3 events max: signup, first value, second session
• Write your changelog page — even if empty. Launch adds v1.0.
• Buy the .com if you haven't. Squatters watch Product Hunt daily.
• Configure error monitoring (Sentry free tier is fine)
• Add a status page (Instatus, or Vercel's built-in)
• Set up Postmark or Resend for transactional email
• Write 4 lifecycle emails: welcome, day-1, day-3, day-7

Phase 2 — Assets & Story (T-14 to T-7)

13. The gallery — 6 images, in this order

1. Hero shot with your one-liner overlaid
2. The main "aha" screen (not the dashboard — the payoff)
3. A before/after or comparison
4. A social proof shot: quote from an early user
5. Feature grid — max 6 features, use icons
6. Pricing or "get started" CTA

14. The demo video — 45 seconds, no talking head

The average launch-day visitor watches 12 seconds of your video. Front-load the "aha" moment in the first 5 seconds. Talking-head intros kill playthrough.

15–22. Copy assets

• Tagline — under 60 characters, benefit-first
• Description — 260 characters, ends with the specific ask
• First comment — the maker's story, 3 bullets, one question
• 3 tweet drafts: teaser, launch, thank-you
• LinkedIn post — long-form, story-driven
• Cold DM template for warm contacts
• Email to your list — subject line A/B tested
• Founder video (30s selfie, phone camera is fine)

Phase 3 — Distribution Prep (T-7 to T-1)

23. Build your notify list

Every person who says "let me know when you launch" is worth 3× a cold visitor. Track them in a spreadsheet: name, contact channel, warmth score (1-3), what you promised them.

24. Pick your day — data-driven, not superstition

Tuesday-Thursday historically get the most eyeballs but also the most competition. Sunday launches see 40% lower total upvotes but often better top-3 placement odds. See the launch day picker for your category.

25–38. Community warmup

• Post in 3 relevant subreddits (contribute, don't spam) — 2 weeks prior
• Comment on 20 recent Product Hunt launches in your category
• Join 2 maker Slack/Discord communities and introduce yourself
• Line up your hunter (or self-hunt — the difference is negligible in 2026)
• DM 15 people who launched similar products for advice
• Add a "coming soon" page with email capture on your site
• Update your Twitter/LinkedIn bios with a teaser + date
• Prepare 3 support snippets for common launch-day questions
• Test your signup flow on mobile, tablet, and a slow connection
• Load-test if you expect >5k visitors (k6 is free)
• Set up UTM tracking for every share link
• Draft your "we're live!" tweet — don't wing it at 6:01am
• Warn your on-call: launch day usually surfaces one weird bug
• Sleep. Seriously.

Phase 4 — Launch Day

The hour-by-hour, PST timezone

• 12:01am — Post goes live. Your first comment goes up within 90 seconds.
• 12:05am — Notify list email fires. Do not manually email PH voters (against ToS).
• 6:00am — First social pass: Twitter, LinkedIn, personal networks. Reply to every early comment.
• 9:00am–1:00pm — Peak traffic window. Reply to every single comment within 20 minutes.
• 1:00pm–5:00pm — Push in secondary channels: Reddit, Slack communities, Hacker News (only if truly technical).
• 5:00pm–11:59pm — Second wind push. Late-day comments matter for tomorrow's newsletter.
• 11:55pm — Post a thank-you comment. Screenshot your final ranking.

Phase 5 — The 30 Days After

The mistake 80% of makers make: they treat launch day as a finish line. It's a starting line. The next 30 days are where you convert a spike into a business.

Day 1–3: Absorb

• Reply to every comment, DM, and email — even the negative ones
• Ship one visible improvement based on feedback
• Post your launch results (transparent numbers convert)

Day 4–14: Convert

• Set up a "we launched on PH" banner for 7 days
• Reach out to every journalist who covered similar tools
• Publish a launch retro post (huge SEO value — see our SEO after launch guide)
• Submit to secondary directories (see 18 PH alternatives)

Day 15–30: Compound

• Write 3 SEO-focused blog posts targeting your top keywords
• Add a case study from your best launch-day customer
• Set up a Reddit + LinkedIn content cadence, 2× per week
• Book 10 customer calls — this is when real product feedback lands

FAQs

How long before launch should I start this checklist?

30 days minimum. 60 is comfortable. Under 14 days and you're launching a product, not marketing one.

Do I need a hunter?

In 2026: no. Product Hunt's algorithm treats self-hunted products the same as hunter-launched ones. A hunter with a genuine audience helps for reach, not ranking.

What's the single most important item?

Your one-liner. Everything else amplifies it. A great launch with a bad one-liner is a mediocre launch; a mediocre launch with a great one-liner is still a good launch.