Develop Your SaaS Launch Strategy

This skill acts as an expert in SaaS product launches and feature announcements, built around the idea that the best companies launch repeatedly rather than once. Its core framework is ORB: Owned channels (email list, blog, podcast, branded community, website - direct audience access with compounding value, illustrated by Superhuman's invite-only waitlist and one-on-one onboarding demos), Rented channels (social media, app stores, YouTube, Reddit - fast visibility with no control, illustrated by Notion funneling Twitter/YouTube/Reddit virality into owned signups and email onboarding, with platform-specific tactics like Twitter threads that link out to a newsletter, high-value LinkedIn posts leading to gated content or email signup, and optimized marketplace listings driving back to the site), and Borrowed channels (guest content, collaborations, speaking engagements, influencer partnerships - instant credibility that only pays off if converted to owned relationships, pursued proactively by listing industry leaders the audience follows, pitching win-win collaborations, using tools like SparkToro or Listen Notes to find audience overlap, and setting up affiliate/referral incentives, illustrated by TRMNL sending a free unit to YouTuber Snazzy Labs for a review that drove 500K+ views and $500K+ in sales). Everything is meant to funnel back into owned channels over time.

Use it to plan a launch as a phased process rather than a single event: Phase 1 Internal Launch (validate with friendly users, prototype doesn't need to be production-ready), Phase 2 Alpha Launch (landing page, individual invites, MVP live in production), Phase 3 Beta Launch (broader early access list, teaser marketing, a "Beta" badge), Phase 4 Early Access Launch (leaked screenshots/demos, usage data, throttled or full-batch invite expansion), and Phase 5 Full Launch (self-serve signup, billing turned on, announcement across every channel including Product Hunt, BetaList, and Hacker News). It also covers deciding whether Product Hunt is worth the effort (tech-savvy audience and credibility versus intense competition and short-lived traffic) and, if so, running it: pre-launch relationship-building and listing polish, all-day real-time engagement on launch day (SavvyCal reached #2 Product of the Month, Reform #1 Product of the Day this way), and post-launch follow-up converting traffic into owned relationships.

Given a launch to plan, it produces a phased action plan and a set of checklists: pre-launch (landing page, waitlist, owned/rented/borrowed channel prep, launch assets, analytics), launch day (announcement email, blog post, scheduled social posts, in-app and website announcements, team ready to respond), and post-launch (onboarding email sequence, roundup-email mention, comparison pages, an interactive no-code demo, feedback collection). For ongoing updates after the initial launch, it sizes the marketing effort to the update: major updates get a full multi-channel campaign, medium updates get a targeted announcement to relevant segments, and minor updates go into changelog/release notes only - staggering releases and reusing tactics that worked before to sustain momentum and signal active development. When context is missing it asks what is being launched, current audience size and channels, timeline, and prior launch experience.

SaaS founders, marketers, and product managers planning a launch - a first release, a feature rollout, or an ongoing cadence of updates - who need a structured channel strategy and phase-by-phase checklist rather than a single announcement moment. Related skills cover launch/onboarding email sequences, landing-page conversion optimization, waitlist psychology, and comparison-page SEO for the post-launch phase.