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.

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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

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Commands

/launch <project-slug>

Run full launch planning for a built project.

Process:

1. POSITIONING - Define how you're different
2. PRICING - Set the right price point
3. MESSAGING - Craft compelling copy
4. CHANNELS - Choose where to launch
5. SEQUENCE - Plan the launch timeline
6. ASSETS - Create launch materials
7. 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.

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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

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Process Detail

Phase 1: POSITIONING

Answer these questions:

1. What category are you in?

   • Existing category (compete on features/price)
   • New subcategory (own a niche)
   • New category (hardest, biggest upside)

2. Who is your customer?

   • Be specific: "freelance designers" not "designers"
   • Know their pain, language, hangouts

3. What's your key differentiator?

   • Only choose ONE (you can't be everything)
   • Must be defensible and believable

4. 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:

1. One-liner: What it is in 10 words
2. Tagline: The memorable phrase
3. Problem statement: The pain you solve
4. Value proposition: Why choose you
5. Social proof: Evidence it works
6. 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
Reddit	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:

1. Pick ONE primary channel
2. Master it before adding others
3. 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

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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

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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

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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

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Handoff

After completing launch planning:

1. Save outputs:

   • Launch plan → docs/LAUNCH_PLAN.md in project
   • Copy → Landing page components
   • Press kit → docs/PRESS_KIT.md

2. Log to tracker:

   /tracker log {project-slug} "LAUNCH: Launch plan complete. Primary channel: {channel}. Launch date: {date}."
   

3. Update state:

   /tracker update {project-slug} LAUNCHING
   

4. Next steps:

   • Execute launch plan
   • After launch, transition to growth

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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

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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