the habit of launching.

when first-time founders think of launching, they imagine a massive event—steve jobs unveiling the iphone, spacex launching a rocket.

but that’s not how startups launch.

too many founders believe that once they launch, thousands of users will flood in.

some even think they’ll hit a million users from day one.

that’s not how it works.

what actually happens when you launch

in reality, you’ll be lucky to get 10 users.

if you get 100, you’re doing great.

and that’s normal.

those first 10 users are the most important ones you’ll ever have.

they will shape your product and tell you what works (and what doesn’t).

we’ll cover how to gather feedback next week. for now, focus on launching.

why you must launch early

in 2021, i made a critical mistake.

i built a digital gifting app and spent:

-2 months perfecting ui/ux

-3 months coding every feature we thought was necessary

-1 more month adding “just one more feature”

6+ months later, we still hadn’t launched.

we kept telling ourselves, “this feature will make our product better.”

“let’s launch once it’s perfect.”

then, we ran out of capital.

the cto left.

the motivation died.

we never launched.

had we launched earlier, we could have gained traction, raised money, or at least generated revenue.

lesson learned: don’t build for 6 months before launching.

launch in 30 days or less.

how to launch properly

1.build a simple landing page

-this is where users will see your product.

-use wix, shopify, webflow, wordpress—whatever works.

goal: either collect emails (if your product isn’t live) or provide a download link.

have a clear call to action

-if your product is unfinished, collect sign-ups.

-if your product is live, let users test it immediately.

2.choose your launch platform

-facebook groups

-product hunt

-reddit

-instagram

-wherever your target users hang out

3.write a launch description that works

-bad example: “after months of hard work, we’re excited to announce our groundbreaking new product designed with cutting-edge technology that will change the world…”

-good example:“i’m solving [problem] for [audience]. my product is now live. if you’re interested, sign up here: [link].”

-keep it under 50 words.

-no one cares about your “hard work.” they care about what your product does for them.

4.launch multiple times

-one launch is never enough.

-test different descriptions.

-try different platforms.

-keep tweaking until you get traction.

set clear launch goals

every launch should have a goal:

-trust → collect emails from interested users.

-usage → get users to test your product.

-money → see if users will pay for it.

best case scenario? people pay you from day one.

if you can prove users will pay, raising capital becomes 10x easier.

founders launch once, get 2 users, and quit.

bad move.

launch 100 times.

test different platforms.

tweak your descriptions.

iterate until something clicks.

your product doesn’t have to be perfect.

you just need to start.

(throwback to when launching was a habit)