What does a top-5 product launch success actually look like in the weeks after?
The thread on when to launch got me thinking about what happens right after.
In the past, I launched product via Reddit and not PH. One that I did on PH was a dead one. We launched a fintech product a few years back and it went well (through Reddit though)! 100+ signups in about 72 hours. I have never felt more like a founder than I did that Tuesday.
Then Wednesday arrived. Two of us, both technical, trying to have 100 conversations while also fixing everything those 100 people were cheerfully breaking. We got to maybe 20-30 properly. The rest got a welcome email and then a long, dignified silence.
The company also died because we went out to raise in 2023, which was a bit like opening a beach bar in November. lol. I wish the adventure had lasted more.
But I still think about those 70 conversations. Genuinely the best problem I've ever had and I fumbled it completely and I'd take it again tomorrow.
What does it even look like for those who make it to the top product list? And these days when product can be built easily with fewer builders, I am wondering if the success is manageable? Obviously, a really good problem to have.
Replies
Haven't launched here myself yet, still in prep, but the pattern is familiar from a couple decades building companies, including a few exits in gaming and marketplaces. A strong launch week is closer to a hiring event than a finish line, it just hands you a hundred people to actually serve. The Wednesday grind you're describing is the real test, and getting to twenty or thirty of those conversations properly usually matters more than the headline number from Tuesday. You already felt this once, which puts you ahead of most people writing about it secondhand.
The part that stays with me is that both of you were technical. So the people breaking things and the people answering questions were the same two people on the same day.
We are four founders and I still think we will get this wrong the same way, because on launch day everyone wants to watch the numbers instead of answering someone.
Did you try to split it, one person only talking and one person only fixing? And of the 70 who got silence, did any come back later? That is the number I would want before my own launch.