# Launch Week Checklist (D-3 to D+3) The 7-day solo launch, as checkboxes. Print it or paste it into your task app. Assumes launch day (D0) is a Tuesday with Product Hunt as the anchor, Show HN on D+1, Reddit on D+2. Platform rules verified as of July 2026. Companion files: `launch-templates.md` (every template referenced below), `utm-scheme.md` (tracking). --- ## D-3 (Saturday): assets and warm-up - [ ] Freeze the product. No new features between now and D0. Bug fixes only. - [ ] Record a 30-60 second demo video (screen capture, real product, no intro slide). - [ ] Export 4-6 gallery images for Product Hunt (1270x760). First image = the product doing the thing, not a logo card. - [ ] Draft the PH page: name, tagline (60 chars, plain words), description (500 char limit as of 2026), topics. - [ ] Draft the PH maker first comment (template in launch-templates.md). 60-80% of voters read it, it is the highest-leverage asset on the page. - [ ] Send the waitlist warm email: "we go live Tuesday" (template in launch-templates.md). Ask for feedback and comments, never upvotes. - [ ] Build all tracked links per utm-scheme.md. Click each one and confirm the UTM lands in your signup record, not just your pageview analytics. ## D-2 (Sunday): copy by hand - [ ] Write the X launch thread. Hook tweet has NO link (links in the main tweet cost roughly 30-50% of reach as of early 2026). Link goes in the first reply. - [ ] Write the Show HN title and text BY HAND. HN's community flags LLM-flavored prose in 2026. Do not let an agent "polish" it. - [ ] Verify the HN demo path: a stranger can try the product with no signup and no email gate. If they can't, fix that today. - [ ] Confirm your PH account: personal account (not company), aged 30+ days, completed profile. Self-hunt; PH says there is no discernible advantage to a third-party hunter as of 2026. - [ ] Schedule the PH launch for 12:01 AM Pacific. - [ ] Message 5-10 people who actually use or care about the product: "launching Tuesday, would love your honest feedback in the comments." Feedback, not upvotes. Paid or begged upvotes get listings removed. ## D-1 (Monday): dry run - [ ] Full click-through: every link, every UTM, signup flow, payment flow, mobile. - [ ] Load your canned reply snippets somewhere one keystroke away (pricing answer, roadmap answer, "how is this different from X" answer). - [ ] Send or schedule the launch-morning email to the waitlist. - [ ] Clear your calendar for D0 and D+1. Launch day is a full-day customer support shift. - [ ] Decide your sleep plan. 12:01 AM PT is 9:01 AM in Berlin and 3:01 AM in New York. The first 6 hours set your ranking; be awake for as many of them as you can. ## D0 (Tuesday): Product Hunt day - [ ] 12:01 AM PT: launch is live. Post your maker first comment within minutes. - [ ] Send the launch email to your waitlist at their morning (template in launch-templates.md). - [ ] Reply to every PH comment within 15-30 minutes, all day. Comment depth and maker responsiveness outrank raw upvotes in the 2026 algorithm. - [ ] Post the X thread mid-morning US Eastern. Link in the first reply. Answer every reply for the first hour minimum (replies weigh roughly 13.5x a like; a real back-and-forth roughly 150x). - [ ] Working targets by 6 AM PT: 200+ upvotes, 30+ comments. Miss them and you're probably not top 5; keep engaging anyway, the page compounds either way. - [ ] Do NOT post to HN today. Each platform demands full-day presence; splitting yourself halves both. ## D+1 (Wednesday): Show HN day - [ ] Post Show HN between 8-11 AM US Eastern. Title format: "Show HN: [Name] - [plain description, zero adjectives]". - [ ] Post your maker comment immediately: why you built it, how it works, tradeoffs, known limitations. - [ ] Stay for 4+ hours. Answer every substantive question. Technical honesty is the whole game here. - [ ] Do NOT ask anyone to upvote or comment. HN's ring detection kills posts and this is the #1 self-inflicted launch death. - [ ] Post a short results/thank-you tweet with real numbers from D0. - [ ] Triage the top 3 bugs or objections from launch day. Ship fixes if small. ## D+2 (Thursday): Reddit day - [ ] Post to r/SideProject as a story/show-and-tell, not an announcement. Working product link only; waitlist and email-gate links get removed there. - [ ] Check the sidebar rules of every sub the same day you post. They change. - [ ] r/startups: designated megathreads ONLY. A promotional post there gets you banned even if it hits #1. - [ ] Respect the site-wide 10% rule: across your account, at most 1 in 10 posts/comments links your own stuff. - [ ] Write the post by hand. Builder subs run filters for obvious LLM output in 2026. - [ ] Keep answering stragglers on PH, HN, and X. ## D+3 (Friday): close the loop - [ ] Send the follow-up email: real numbers, what you shipped from feedback, one CTA (template in launch-templates.md). - [ ] Run the analytics check in utm-scheme.md. Write down signups per channel, not visits. - [ ] 20-minute retro: what worked, what flopped, what you'd cut next time. - [ ] Book the 6-week follow-through: one story/lesson post per week using launch material. The launch is the spike; this is the compounding. --- ## The three rules that survive contact with every platform 1. Never ask for upvotes. Anywhere. Ask for feedback and comments instead. 2. Links are taxed everywhere. Native content first, link in the reply/comment/context. 3. Write launch copy by hand. Every platform now filters or flags LLM-flavored text, and every platform scores conversation quality over vote counts.