Product Launch Readiness Checklist

👀 What happens to your old ASIN when you launch a new version? The question is where those customers go next. Sellers are launching new product versions and creating brand-new ASINs from scratch. The old listing gets abandoned, reviews stay behind, and the customer has no clear path to the update. Most sellers think the only way to connect an old product to a new one is through a variation relationship. Variations require the same product in different sizes or colors, and all options live on a single detail page. The Newer Version Widget is a separate relationship type. You submit the original ASIN and the new ASIN through Seller Central, and Amazon adds a link directly on the old detail page that points customers to the newer model. To qualify, both ASINs must share the same function, quantity, type, and style, which is key because Amazon is verifying that these are the same product, but one enhanced, not two unrelated listings being connected. Here is the system behavior that makes this worth understanding: when the original ASIN goes out of stock or is discontinued, customers do not hit a dead end. The widget redirects them to your current offer. And we can see sellers having a 20 to 30% reduction in lost sales during stock transitions, and the click-through rate from the old listing to the new one runs between 15 and 25%. That is not a small number when you are phasing out a model with existing search traffic and review history still working in your favor. The submission is two fields. Original ASIN. New ASIN. Submit. So this might be a good time to check your catalog for any products that have had a version update in the last 2 years. If you launched a new ASIN without linking it back, this widget closes that gap without a catalog rebuild. And if you manage a brand with a product roadmap, add this step to your new launch checklist the moment a new ASIN goes live. Have you used this feature already, or is your catalog still leaving customers at a dead end? If you need help connecting your ASIN versions, we’re here: https://lnkd.in/gt2sgbB8 ♻️ Repost it to your network. Someone on your team is managing an orphaned ASIN right now. #AmazonSellers #CatalogManagement #EcommerceOperations #AmazonASIN #BrandBuilding

A product launch checklist probably won’t make your product launches better In fact, it might make them worse Most launch checklists I’ve seen look something like this: - write short feature description - write long feature description - create sales slides - send launch email - create launch video - 3 social media posts - Etc… The longer the list, the more likely it is that your team falls into a mindset trap: Launching a product = checking all the boxes on the list As opposed to… Launching a product = making sure the right subset of current or prospective customers understand the value of the feature You don’t want your team asking: -how can I talk about this feature in video format? -how can I talk about it in slide format? -how can I talk about it in a social media post? You want them asking: What outcome are we looking for as a result of educating customers about this feature? Here’s 3 potential answers to that question: 1 - This feature will help us reach a new audience, who aren’t paying attention to us today 2 - This feature will help us turn attention into sales opportunities, because it solves a pain point buyers have a sense of urgency about 3 - This feature will help us win more deals because it creates clear differentiation vs the competition (or gives us feature parity so we stop losing) If I were a PMM, I’d have a very different launch plan for scenario 1 vs 2 vs 3 This type of critical thinking will not happen if PMMs are consumed by creating 18 different pieces of collateral for every launch The reality is: 1-3 impactful activations > 18 pieces of mediocre collateral Unless you can create a launch checklist that incentivizes critical thinking (and not box checking), you are better off without one. #b2bmarketing #productmarketing

Tanguy Crusson has spent 10+ years at Atlassian, where he's taken several products from zero to one, including HipChat, Statuspage, and most recently, Jira Product Discovery. In this episode, we dive deep into the struggles and lessons of innovating and building new products inside a large company. Tanguy shares candid stories about what's worked, what hasn't, and everything he's learned about successfully building 0 to 1. We cover: 🔸 Why large companies with so many advantages still fail at creating new products 🔸 How to avoid common pitfalls like competitive myopia and premature scaling 🔸 Lessons learned from acquisitions 🔸 Lessons from competing with Slack 🔸 Insights from the success of Jira Product Discovery 🔸 Tactics for protecting your “ugly babies” 🔸 The power of “lighthouse users” 🔸 The importance of having a “why now” 🔸 So much more Listen now 👇 - YouTube: https://lnkd.in/gr9f4D45 - Spotify: https://lnkd.in/gmiuz944 - Apple: https://lnkd.in/gWGAc5ZX Some key takeaways: 1. “Don’t eat your own bullshit.” When launching new products within companies that have already seen some success, it’s easy to assume that your existing playbooks will work again. But what got you here won’t take you there. You need to define, test, and validate your assumptions, because they may very well be wrong—especially when targeting new customer segments. 2. Startups benefit from starving. Starving creates hunger, which drives people to solve problems with resourcefulness and urgency. When exploring new products in a big company with excessive resources, you need to create scarcity to emulate this startup starvation. This generally means operating as a small, scrappy, siloed team. 3. The most likely outcome when launching a new product is failure—even at big companies that appear to have many advantages. It’s important to ground new product launches in this reality so that you can deter the company from over-investing, which ultimately serves to reduce hunger, slow things down, and decrease the chances of success. After all, why invest heavily in something that’s most likely to fail anyway? 4. Success for new products should be measured differently from existing ones, both in terms of metrics and time horizons. In general, new products should be judged by whether the team is answering the right questions at the right pace and whether the team is still excited about the new bet’s potential. It’s a common mistake to judge new products by metrics that a big company is used to, like MAUs or revenue. However, if a team is optimizing for MAUs or revenue before they’ve worked to understand the problem, they will be working on the wrong things. 5. Atlassian uses a four-phase approach to launching new products and deciding whether to invest in them further: Wonder, Explore, Make, Impact

Can't raise your cost prices with #Amazon? Here's a tactic worth considering: 𝗥𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀. If your Vendor Manager blocks cost price increases, consider putting affected ASINs into "end of life" mode. Then, relaunch the new generation of product(s) with a new UPC/EAN and optimised ecommerce packaging (SIPP or FFP). This does three things: 1) Resets your Amazon listing. 2) Creates a real USP with improved packaging. 3) Differentiates the new generation from the old one. 👍 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘂𝗽𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲: - Healthier profit margins - Lower fulfilment and handling costs - Environment-friendly marketing opportunity - You can reroute traffic from the old to the new ASIN 👎 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲: - Temporary decline in sales rank - Loss of existing customer reviews - Increased short-term marketing effort - No impact on price matching Let me be clear: Relaunching products can be expensive. But a rejected cost price increase can cost even more. If low margins threaten your Amazon business, it's better to invest in a relaunch than wait for your Vendor Manager to accept new prices. --- Have you relaunched products on Amazon before? Let me know in the comments! #amazonvendor #amazonstrategy

Most PMs struggle aligning the company with their next feature launch. Launch tiers can help. There’s a strategy to launch tiers, and once you get it right, it changes everything. Here's a break down the 4-tier launch system that the best companies use to align PM with PMM and the rest of the GTM team: — First, let’s talk about what launch tiering really means. Not every product launch deserves a full-scale campaign with press releases and marketing blitzes. But most teams either overinvest in minor updates or underinvest in major ones. The solution? Launch tiers. — Tier 1: Major Launches These are the big ones: New product rollouts, major redesigns, or features that can redefine your category. They need: → Full company alignment (PMs, marketing, sales, PR, support) → A marketing campaign, press releases, and executive support. — Tier 2: Mid-Level Launches These are meaningful updates that improve the product or help expand market reach... But don’t require full-scale efforts. They involve: → Collaboration with marketing, but on a smaller scale → Blog posts, emails, and internal training for sales teams — Tier 3: Routine Updates These are your everyday product improvements. Small design tweaks, bug fixes, or iterative feature updates. Here’s what they need: → Simple announcements like release notes or in-app notifications → Minimal or no involvement from marketing and sales — Tier 4: Silent Releases These updates live behind the scenes... Things like backend optimizations, performance upgrades, or security patches. What they require: → Documentation for internal teams → No external communication or customer-facing announcements — But how do you decide which tier your launch belongs to? Ask these questions: → Business Impact: Will this update drive growth, retention, or revenue? → Customer Impact: Will it significantly change user workflows? The bigger the impact, the higher the tier. — Once you’ve categorized your launch, the next step is creating a playbook for each tier. For each tier, outline: → The key deliverables → Team roles and responsibilities → Lead times and budgets This way, there’s no confusion or last-minute scrambling. — If you treat every product launch the same, you’ll either burn out or miss key opportunities. Learn more about nailing launches here: https://lnkd.in/eB7s6umA And use this tier system to launch smarter, not harder.

Most creators obsess over the product. Few obsess over the rollout. The release is part of the art. Not an afterthought. Taylor Swift understands this. Midnights hit 1.4 million equivalent album units in 5 days. Fastest-selling album of 2022. Spotify record for most-streamed album in a day. Radiohead proved it differently with In Rainbows. Pay-what-you-want strategy. Made $3 million instantly. Sold 3+ million copies total. Compare this to most launches: Only 40% of tech products hit their launch goals. Companies that run pre-launch campaigns see 30% higher engagement. Yet 68% of creators launch with less than 2 weeks of planning. The difference? Strategic rollouts. Here's the 7-step framework that turns launches into breakthroughs: 1. Build anticipation, not just awareness Swift's cryptic countdown posts drove millions into detective mode. Create mystery before revelation. Tease features, don't announce them. Let your audience solve the puzzle. 2. Treat timing as a creative choice Radiohead released when the industry said "impossible." Their timing made a statement about value. Your launch date is part of your message. Choose it like you choose your words. 3. Plan for the long arc Most creators go silent after launch day. The best ones create seasons, not moments. Map content for 90 days, not 9 days. Think campaign, not event. 4. Map your content ecosystem One launch needs multiple content formats. Behind-the-scenes videos for YouTube. Process breakdowns for LinkedIn. User stories for testimonials. Each piece feeds the others. 5. Build community before you need it Swift had Swifties before she had albums to sell. Start building relationships today. Engage in comments, not just posts. Your launch audience should already know you. 6. Design feedback loops Launch, listen, adapt, repeat. Every comment is data for your next move. The best launches become conversations. Plan how you'll respond, not just how you'll speak. 7. Create momentum multipliers Design each piece to generate the next piece. User-generated content campaigns. Media coverage from early adopters. Referral programs that reward sharing. Success should snowball, not plateau. Your creative work deserves a creative launch. Stop treating the rollout like an obligation. Start treating it like an opportunity. ♻️ Share this with someone ready to launch their work strategically 🔔 Follow Kabir Sehgal for frameworks on creativity

Yesterday, A trampoline launched a car onto a roof. Today I realized why this matters for product leaders. This isn't a movie stunt - it's real life. Yesterday in Germany, a car crashed through a hedge, hit a trampoline, and somehow ended up lodged in a barn roof. Two people were seriously injured, but miraculously survived this impossible scenario. Sometimes the most valuable lessons come from the most improbable situations. Recently, I was advising a startup founder whose B2B payment solution was targeting SMEs. Their carefully researched roadmap was crystal clear - or so they thought. Three months post-launch, they discovered something extraordinary: 40% of their users were freelancers and gig workers, not traditional SMEs. They were using the corporate invoicing feature as a personal income tracker. Their initial reaction? "They're using it wrong." But then I posed the crucial question: "What if they're using it exactly right?" That "accidental" user behavior became the foundation for their most successful product pivot - a freelancer financial management platform that generated 300% more revenue than their original B2B offering. This is the power of what I've witnessed across 20+ years in fintech and countless advisory engagements: the most transformational breakthroughs often emerge from the spaces between intention and reality. Here's how senior product leaders can turn unexpected outcomes into strategic advantages: 1/ Resist the Correction Reflex: When users deviate from your intended path, investigate before you course-correct. 2/ Mine the Anomalies: The most disruptive innovations often hide in the "edge cases" your team initially wants to ignore. 3/ Embrace Strategic Ambiguity: Sometimes the best product strategy is being deliberately unclear about your boundaries. 4/ Build for Emergence: Design systems that can evolve with user behavior rather than constraining it. Here's my question for you: Have you ever had a meticulously planned feature fail spectacularly, while an "accidental" capability became your biggest competitive advantage? What did that teach you about the nature of product innovation? 👉 For VP-level product leaders: The next wave of fintech disruption won't come from following playbooks - it will emerge from leaders bold enough to architect products that thrive on uncertainty. 👉 For seasoned product executives navigating complex pivots, platform scaling, or organizational transformation: The patterns that separate good product leaders from transformational ones often emerge in these moments of strategic ambiguity. If you're facing strategic inflection points where traditional frameworks fall short, let's explore how to architect resilience into your product organization. DM me to discuss your unique challenges. #fintech #productleadership #productmanagement #payments #mentoring

Most startups don’t fail because founders lack effort. They fail because they start with unvalidated assumptions. Research consistently shows that lack of market need is one of the top reasons startups collapse. The real advantage at the idea stage is not speed of building. It is precision of validation. Bootstrapping Playbook for Idea-stage Founders - At the center of this framework is a simple but disciplined approach: 1) Find Your Edge: What's your domain expertise? Your unfair advantage? Pinpoint a pain point only you can solve. 2) Validate Mercilessly: No code. No outsourced MVP. If the idea doesn't validate? Discard. Start over. 3) Learn from Success: Study structured Case Studies, not anecdotes. Absorb lessons. 4) Refine Your Thesis: Iterate with real customer feedback loops. Is this idea strong enough for a decade of your life? 5) Immerse in Customers: Talk to at least 50 Ideal Customers. Understand their world. 6) Nail Positioning: Refine your precise positioning based on customer feedback. 7) De-risk Your Market: Master Market Sizing and Competitive Analysis. Avoid walking into a noisy market blind, hoping for funding. This is not about inspiration. It is about eliminating false positives early. The Core Principle: Validate Before You Build - Idea-stage founders often confuse motion with progress. But the real sequence follows a clear order. First, you define your edge by clarifying why you are the right person to pursue this idea. Next, you talk to real customers rather than relying on friends or assumptions. You then run structured validation before building anything, without writing code or creating an MVP. After that, you eliminate weak ideas quickly based on what you learn. Finally, you strengthen only the ideas that survive evidence. If your idea cannot survive structured scrutiny, it should not survive into development. Come talk to me at a free mentoring roundtable and ask questions of the 1Mby1M AI Mentor: https://lnkd.in/g3VwPX_S

Want to know why product launches fail? It's rarely because the product is bad. The real killer? Treating go-to-market as an afterthought. The "build it and they will come" mindset is a recipe for disaster. Your product (amazing as it is) won't reach its potential without a solid go-to-market strategy. So I teamed up with Aakash Gupta from Product Growth to create a launch playbook for PMs that don't have product marketing support. Some of the OG founding PMMs 💪 Here's a quick summary of what it takes to get to launch day: 1️⃣ Competitive Research: Analyze competitor messaging, market needs, buying habits, and potential positioning gaps. Start with internal research, but also get out there and talk to people. 2️⃣ Segmentation: Define your Customer Profile (ICP). Don't fall into the trap of being too broad — you want your audience to feel like the product was made just for them. 3️⃣ Pricing & Packaging: Set a clear pricing and packaging strategy early. I learned the hard way that last-minute pricing surprises can derail a launch, so planning a review can save a lot of stress later. 4️⃣ Positioning & Messaging: Craft a compelling launch narrative that drives your positioning home. A solid messaging framework can help distill complex ideas into simple stories that truly connect with your audience. 5️⃣ Assemble Your Launch Team: Establishing clear responsibilities early on prevents last-minute confusion and keeps the launch process running smoothly. 6️⃣ Clear Objectives: Establish measurable OKRs. Setting concrete, meaningful goals from the start helps keep everyone aligned and accountable before and after the launch. 7️⃣ Distribution Channels: Choose realistic, high-impact channels. Trust me, it’s more effective to focus on one or two channels that deliver results. Don't spread yourself too thin. 8️⃣ Launch Milestones: Set key dates and work backwards. Mapping out major milestones first makes it a lot easier to plan the little details more accurately. 9️⃣ Bill of Materials: Project management is still a big part of a successful go-to-market. List all content and deliverables needed. Breaking down tasks in a simple project board or spreadsheet keeps everything and everyone organized. 🔟 Enable Sales & CS: Equip teams with assets and training. Looping in your sales and customer success teams early ensures they’re confident and ready, turning them into powerful advocates on launch day. 1️⃣1️⃣ Launch Day: Execute, monitor, and celebrate every win. Remember, your enthusiasm is contagious and sets the bar for everyone else. By celebrating even the small wins, you build momentum that propels the entire team forward. There you have it - a framework for launching products that actually get traction. Want the complete playbook with templates and examples? Check it out here → https://lnkd.in/gGZmDyhT

A lot of product marketers are told to “own the launch.” But what that really ends up looking like is a glorified checklist. This is a problem. A good product launch is a strategic GTM motion that builds internal alignment, drives external clarity, and supports real business goals. And recently, Natalie Marcotullio from Navattic shared a great launch, when they rolled out Launchpad, so I want to use it to walk you through what this looks like in practice. Here’s the 5-part launch framework I coach clients on, and how it played out for this example: 1️⃣ Strategic readiness This is the part most teams skip. Everyone’s eager to “go live,” but you’d be shocked at how many can’t answer basic questions like: --> Who is this product for? --> Why are we launching it now? --> What’s the pain point we’re solving, and how do we know? This can happen a lot when PMs are under pressure to launch sooner before the product is ready (and are sucked into the build trap). What Navattic did: In Q4 and Q1, a small group of co-founders and sales reps quietly built and validated Launchpad. While marketing was not involved here, the product side ensured that this step was done. 2️⃣ Positioning & messaging Great messaging starts from the synthesis of real insights… and then ties a human story to it. What Navattic did: Natali pulled real call recordings, identified patterns, and built messaging around them. She also interviewed Navattic’s CEO about his time as an SE, grounding the narrative in the emotional reality of the demo treadmill Launchpad is designed to solve. 3️⃣ External promotion strategy Promotion should be treated as a marketing campaign, not a to-do list. Start with a clear theme or big idea. Then choose your channels and sequence intentionally based on how your audience actually buys. What Navattic did: In Q2, they quietly added Launchpad to the pricing page and iterated the copy 3–4 times. They ran lead gen through high-intent channels like SE conferences, LinkedIn, Google, and even AEO (ChatGPT and Perplexity). When launch day came, they focused on channels that mattered, like their trusted advisors and loyal customers who love them. 4️⃣ Internal enablement This is the final (and often most overlooked) step: making sure everyone inside the company understands the story and can retell it, through both documentation and training. What Navattic did: Natalie enabled everyone early: field teams, partners, even advisors. I got a detailed launch brief two weeks in advance, so I had the full context to speak confidently to my network. 5️⃣ Communications  Of course, a good launch also requires great communication and coordination throughout the entire process. Check out the post on this in the comments. ---- Ultimately, the key takeaway is that a great launch is STRATEGY-focused, not just tactical. ❓ What's the most important thing for you when launching major products? #productmarketing #launch #gtm #advising #coaching