ID8LAUNCH - Go-to-Market Engine
Purpose
Get your built product to market effectively. A great product with bad marketing dies. A good product with great marketing thrives.
Philosophy: Small launches, fast learning. One channel done well beats five done poorly.
When to Use
- •Product is built and ready to ship
- •User needs go-to-market strategy
- •User asks "how do I launch this?"
- •User needs positioning help
- •User wants pricing guidance
- •User planning a Product Hunt launch
- •Project is in BUILDING or LAUNCHING state
Commands
/launch <project-slug>
Run full launch planning for a built project.
Process:
- •POSITIONING - Define how you're different
- •PRICING - Set the right price point
- •MESSAGING - Craft compelling copy
- •CHANNELS - Choose where to launch
- •SEQUENCE - Plan the launch timeline
- •ASSETS - Create launch materials
- •EXECUTE - Go live
/launch positioning <product-description>
Get positioning and messaging guidance.
/launch pricing <product-type>
Get pricing strategy recommendations.
/launch ph (Product Hunt)
Get Product Hunt-specific launch playbook.
/launch copy <product>
Generate launch copy and messaging.
Launch Philosophy
The Solo Builder Advantage
| Advantage | How to Leverage |
|---|---|
| Speed | Launch before competition even knows you exist |
| Authenticity | Your personal story is compelling |
| Flexibility | Pivot messaging instantly based on feedback |
| Direct access | You can personally engage with every early user |
| No bureaucracy | Make decisions in minutes, not meetings |
Launch Reality Check
What works for solo builders:
- •Small, focused launches
- •One channel mastered
- •Personal outreach
- •Community building
- •Content marketing
What doesn't work (at our scale):
- •Massive PR campaigns
- •Multi-platform blitzes
- •Paid advertising (usually)
- •Enterprise sales motions
Process Detail
Phase 1: POSITIONING
Answer these questions:
- •
What category are you in?
- •Existing category (compete on features/price)
- •New subcategory (own a niche)
- •New category (hardest, biggest upside)
- •
Who is your customer?
- •Be specific: "freelance designers" not "designers"
- •Know their pain, language, hangouts
- •
What's your key differentiator?
- •Only choose ONE (you can't be everything)
- •Must be defensible and believable
- •
What's your positioning statement?
For [target customer] Who [key pain point] [Product name] is a [category] That [key benefit] Unlike [main alternative] We [key differentiator]
Phase 2: PRICING
Use frameworks/pricing-strategy.md for detailed guidance.
Quick framework:
| Pricing Model | Best For | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Viral growth, network effects | Notion, Figma |
| Free trial | High consideration purchases | SaaS tools |
| Paid only | Serious buyers, premium positioning | Basecamp |
| Usage-based | Variable value delivery | AWS, OpenAI |
| Lifetime deal | Quick cash, launch momentum | AppSumo |
Solo builder defaults:
- •Start with 2-3 tiers max
- •Include free tier if product has viral potential
- •Price based on value, not cost
- •You can always adjust later
Phase 3: MESSAGING
Core messages to create:
- •One-liner: What it is in 10 words
- •Tagline: The memorable phrase
- •Problem statement: The pain you solve
- •Value proposition: Why choose you
- •Social proof: Evidence it works
- •Call to action: What to do next
Messaging formulas:
# Pain-Agitate-Solution Pain: [Problem they have] Agitate: [Make it worse - what happens if unsolved] Solution: [How you fix it] # Before-After-Bridge Before: [Their current state] After: [Their desired state] Bridge: [Your product connects them] # Feature-Advantage-Benefit Feature: [What it does] Advantage: [Why that's better] Benefit: [What they get]
Phase 4: CHANNELS
Channel selection matrix:
| Channel | Effort | Time to Results | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Product Hunt | Medium | Immediate | B2B SaaS, dev tools |
| Hacker News | Low | Immediate | Technical products |
| Low-Medium | Days-weeks | Niche communities | |
| Twitter/X | Medium | Weeks-months | Builder audience |
| SEO/Content | High | Months | Long-term growth |
| Email/Newsletter | Medium | Days-weeks | Existing audience |
| Cold outreach | High | Days-weeks | B2B, high ACV |
Solo builder recommendation:
- •Pick ONE primary channel
- •Master it before adding others
- •Go where your users already are
Phase 5: SEQUENCE
Use frameworks/launch-sequencing.md for platform-specific playbooks.
Generic launch timeline:
| Timing | Activity |
|---|---|
| T-2 weeks | Finalize positioning, messaging |
| T-1 week | Create all launch assets |
| T-3 days | Seed community, notify supporters |
| T-1 day | Final prep, queue posts |
| Launch day | Execute, engage, monitor |
| T+1 day | Follow up, gather feedback |
| T+1 week | Analyze, iterate, sustain |
Phase 6: ASSETS
Minimum launch assets:
- • Landing page (with clear CTA)
- • Product screenshots/demo
- • One-liner + tagline
- • Social post copy (2-3 variants)
- • Email announcement (for existing list)
Nice to have:
- • Demo video (60-90 seconds)
- • Press kit
- • Detailed product walkthrough
- • Testimonials/social proof
Phase 7: EXECUTE
Launch day checklist:
Morning:
- • Final check of landing page
- • Verify sign-up flow works
- • Post to primary channel
- • Share to personal networks
Throughout day:
- • Respond to every comment/question
- • Monitor for issues
- • Track key metrics
- • Share updates/momentum
End of day:
- • Thank supporters
- • Note learnings
- • Plan follow-up
Framework References
Go-to-Market Strategy
frameworks/gtm-strategy.md - Overall launch strategy
Positioning
frameworks/positioning.md - How to position against competition
Launch Sequencing
frameworks/launch-sequencing.md - Platform-specific playbooks
Pricing Strategy
frameworks/pricing-strategy.md - Pricing models and psychology
PR & Outreach
frameworks/pr-outreach.md - Press and influencer approach
Output Templates
Launch Plan
templates/launch-plan.md - Comprehensive launch checklist
Landing Page Copy
templates/landing-page-copy.md - Conversion-focused copy template
Press Kit
templates/press-kit.md - Media kit for press outreach
Tool Integration
MCPs
Perplexity:
- •Research competitor positioning
- •Find industry benchmarks
- •Discover audience hangouts
Firecrawl:
- •Scrape competitor landing pages
- •Extract pricing information
- •Analyze messaging patterns
Skills
landing-page-designer:
- •Generate landing page structure
- •Create conversion-focused copy
- •Design call-to-action sections
Handoff
After completing launch planning:
- •
Save outputs:
- •Launch plan →
docs/LAUNCH_PLAN.mdin project - •Copy → Landing page components
- •Press kit →
docs/PRESS_KIT.md
- •Launch plan →
- •
Log to tracker:
code/tracker log {project-slug} "LAUNCH: Launch plan complete. Primary channel: {channel}. Launch date: {date}." - •
Update state:
code/tracker update {project-slug} LAUNCHING - •
Next steps:
- •Execute launch plan
- •After launch, transition to growth
Anti-Patterns
| Anti-Pattern | Why Bad | Do Instead |
|---|---|---|
| Launch everywhere | Spread too thin | Focus on ONE channel |
| No positioning | Generic = forgettable | Define clear differentiator |
| Price too low | Undervalues product | Price for value delivered |
| Skip soft launch | Miss early feedback | Test with small group first |
| Perfect before launch | Never ship | Good enough → iterate |
| Ignore launch | Build and pray | Treat launch as a feature |
Quality Checks
Before launching:
- • Positioning is clear and differentiated
- • Pricing matches value and audience
- • Landing page converts (test with friends)
- • Sign-up flow works perfectly
- • Primary channel is researched
- • Launch assets are ready
- • Timeline is realistic
- • You're ready to engage all day