Your MVP Launch Checklist
Published by Tijana Momirov
Even though we are agile and no release is written in stone, that initial launch of the very early version of your product does feel like the moment of truth. Not only that you’ve spent months developing it, you’ve probably spent years thinking, planning and dreaming of it. You might’ve started pretty ad-hoc, as a side-hustle or a passion project, but if you’ve come so far, now it’s the time to make sure all prep work is done and all items crossed. You wanna make sure:
all the accounts are yours - meaning that you receive notifications to your email address and have the access credentials (I had cases when founders didn’t think about this and everything was created using the email of the developer who might not stay around forever). Here we are talking about accounts for the version control system (where the code lives), cloud hosting (where the app runs) and similar.
there are separate staging and production environments and the correctly set deployment procedures
production environment is scalable - as the number of users grows, the technical infrastructure can follow
the team ran basic performance, cross-browser and cross-device tests
infrastructure costs (scalable hosting, 3rd party systems that charge per click or transaction and similar) have been estimated and you are fine with that investment
there is FAQ available and if possible some more user onboarding material (quick tutorial video fx; consider also tooltips upon first login or a walkthrough)
the Contact in the homepage footer has a working email address behind it and somebody that can respond to the technical, legal and payment related questions within 24h
that also means a technical maintenance team ready to fix a reported bug (in other words, you keep your dev at least on part-time basis)
you are covered from the legal side (T&C, GDPR, cookies policy etc.)
In case of a PLG SaaS, there is clarity on freemium tiers, promos, trials etc.
If it’s a marketplace, there is at least some supply on your platform (give away free subscriptions, enter listings on behalf of your users if they are not committed enough (works for B2B) etc.) - a platform that is not populated has no value whatsoever
have the analytics tools set up (web traffic, user behavior, conversion rates; identify your main KPIs to be tracked)
your latest company logo and other branding assets are updated everywhere (homepage, socials etc.)
the monetization (based on your business model) seems justified from the user perspective even if you are giving it all for free in the MVP version (fx, if you’re gonna charge commission, display “0% commission due to promo” - the users will feel privileged and won’t take it for granted that your service is free atm; if you’re gonna go for a freemium, make sure the labels for the feature you plan to charge in the future read fx “get personalized results for free during promo” etc.)
you have the marketing strategy ready (homepage with clear CTAs, social media content, ads, sales funnel, press release, influencers, on/off site SEO, newsletter etc)
you have the feedback loop in place (quick pop-up rating, newsletter survey etc.) for private and public comments (publics as in authorized to be published as a testimonial)
soft-launch with beta-tester took place
your product is on ProductHunt
Check, check and check? Congrats! If you need a hand, you can book a free call with me (CPO) or any other CxO in Residence at: https://linktr.ee/canopy_inresidence