How to Build Market Pull Before Launch

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

First-time founders often fall into the same trap: They overbuild their MVP. They add too many features. They hope people will come. Then they launch… and nothing happens. But seasoned founders? They flip the script. They market first, build later. Here’s how that looks in the real world: ⸻ 1. Superhuman – The $30M Email App That Started With a Waiting List Before a single line of product code was shipped, founder Rahul Vohra built a 100,000+ person waitlist. How? He created a compelling vision for the fastest email experience ever. He validated demand through messaging and demos before a functional product existed. Then he personally onboarded early users, learning what to build from their expectations. The MVP was shaped by marketing. Not the other way around. ⸻ 2. Buffer – $0 Product, $0 Code, But Paying Customers Founder Joel Gascoigne didn’t start with a product. He started with a landing page. That page showed what Buffer would do — schedule tweets. He asked visitors to sign up for more info. When people signed up, he added a pricing page to gauge willingness to pay. Only after people started clicking “buy” did he start building. He validated both the problem and the business model before any code. ⸻ 3. Loom – Building in Public Before It Was Cool The Loom team used explainer videos and community feedback before their MVP hit the market. They joined Reddit, Twitter, Slack groups. Shared screen-recorded use cases. They built demand while building trust. By the time they launched, early adopters felt like insiders — not prospects. ⸻ Meanwhile, many novice founders: • Build for 6 months in isolation • Focus on perfection over relevance • Launch to silence, then start thinking about marketing ⸻ Here’s the truth: Marketing isn’t something you do after the product is built. It’s how you decide what to build. If no one’s excited before the MVP exists… No one will care once it does. ⸻ Start with conversations, not code. Start with people, not product. Start with marketing, not features. That’s how you win before you launch. HonestAI - Agentify Your Company GrayCyan AI Consultants & Developers

I’ve been the first marketer at two companies now worth over $2 billion. If I did it again, here’s 9 things I’d do differently: 1️⃣ Start with brand as a scalable system Build a modular design system early with components you can combine instead of create. A Figma system, Canva templates, Google Slide layouts. Pair that with a messaging doc, your "copy-paste" bank of positioning, beliefs, and product language. It becomes a foundation for consistency and a knowledge base for AI. 2️⃣ Prioritize the 95%, not just the 5% LinkedIn & search ads worked early, but only because we caught the 5% already in market. The "demand capture" pool dries up fast. Invest early in "demand creation." Reach the 95% who aren’t ready yet, but will be. 3️⃣ Build in public People trust people more than companies. Let internal voices share what they’re building and learning. In the AI era, content is easy. Opinion & stories are valuable. 4️⃣ Know your customer so well the strategy writes itself I used to sit on every sales call and write every piece of copy. That proximity helped me hear what customers cared about, what words they used, where they hung out. Be close enough to "hear the music," and messaging & growth channels become obvious. 5️⃣ Start community early Create spaces where early customers can connect: Slack, Reddit, meetups, certification. It fuels your roadmap and scales support when customers can help each other. Even better if it creates user-generated content that is indexable/shareable. 6️⃣ Create the problem Don’t build the whole funnel on day one. If you don’t have traffic, don’t worry about conversion. Solve the problem you actually have. Let the next one emerge or you'll be building and rebuilding as things inevitably change. 7️⃣ Look bigger than you are Design clean & consistent. Logo small (bigger companies don't oversize their logo). Feature your biggest customers, your compliance certifications. Use big company channels but use them small (buy one billboard, get one great PR story, speak on one well-known podcast). Make big company content but do it small (like a single high production video). 8️⃣ Build lightweight systems You don’t need full-blown infrastructure. A Notion board or copy-paste doc can carry you farther than you think. Build systems for speed, not scale. 9️⃣ Protect your focus Get used to working with an infinite backlog. I used to start each day with a sticky note on my laptop of my 3 to 5 most important tasks. You weren’t hired to do everything, you were hired to make impact. If you've done this - what would you add?

When I was 14, I sold a product that wasn't real. On purpose. I wanted to start a mail-order business selling fly-tying materials to fishermen. But I had no idea if anyone would actually buy. So I placed an £8 advert in Trout & Salmon magazine: "Send for my catalogue." The problem was, I hadn't printed the catalogue yet. I hadn't even bought any stock. When 25 people responded, I told them we had "sold out" and they were out of print. Then I scrambled to put one together. That £8 test told me everything I needed to know. There was demand and the business was viable. I went on to turn over £1,500 in the first year, with £356 profit. That felt good for a teenager with a £100 loan from his mum. Here's what I learned about validation: ➡️ Test before you invest The biggest mistake founders make is building before they validate.  They spend months (sometimes years) perfecting a product nobody wants. ➡️ Make your test affordable £8 bought me the answer to a £10,000 question.  You don't need venture capital to test an idea.  You need creativity and nerve. ➡️ Make your test fast I had my answer in a week. That's how I discovered that speed matters.  The longer you wait to test, the more attached you become to an idea that might not work. ➡️ Let the market decide I didn't ask friends what they thought.  I didn't run focus groups.  I put real money on the line and saw the results. ➡️ Copy what works, then improve it I didn't invent fly-tying materials.  I just found a better way to sell them.  Take what's already working and find a way to execute it better. It's about getting it 80% right, then letting your customers show you the rest. The software industry worked this out years ago.  They release version 1.0 knowing it's not perfect. Then they improve based on real feedback. You can do the same, whatever your business is. A simple test you can run this week: Before you invest a large amount of money, run the smallest possible test that proves demand. - A classified advert like I did. - 10 conversations with potential customers. - A prototype made from cardboard and duct tape. Whatever proves people will actually pay for what you're planning to build. Because the market will always tell you the truth if you're willing to ask. If you're currently testing a business idea,  I'd like to hear how you're validating demand before you build. 

Founders, prove the sale before you hire the seller... The first sales hire should walk into a working system, not a blank page. Here is the minimum starter kit I believe every founder needs in place: 1️⃣ Define your ICP in detail. Company size, vertical, persona, pain. If anyone on your team cannot name it instantly, you are not ready. 2️⃣ Map pain to clear outcomes. List the top three problems that make prospects lose sleep and the measurable wins your product gives them. 3️⃣ Choose your entry path. Bottom up, top down, or both. Run small tests and note which path shortens time to value. 4️⃣ Set up a lightweight CRM early. A single source of truth for stages, notes, and next steps keeps momentum high when leads hit double digits. 5️⃣ Stress‑test your messaging and deck. Show drafts to prospects until they finish your sentence for you. Keep only the slides that trigger the aha moment. 6️⃣ Charge real money, even for pilots. Paid trials beat free trials every time. Revenue is the only true product‑market fit signal. 7️⃣ Write down common objections and winning rebuttals. New reps should learn from your scar tissue, not repeat it. 8️⃣ Baseline the funnel. Track lead‑to‑demo, demo‑to‑close, and average deal size so the first sales hire knows what good looks like. 9️⃣ Create a two‑week onboarding plan. Goals, shadow calls, product deep dive, and first‑week KPIs. Hand it over on day one. 🔟 Block time to coach. Hiring a rep does not mean you stop selling. Plan weekly deal reviews so they ramp fast. Once you can tick these boxes, bringing in a salesperson is an accelerator, not a rescue mission...

Most startup teams go all-in for 6 weeks… They plan one big launch. Scramble for 6 weeks. Send a few LinkedIn posts. Then go radio silent until the next "campaign." They treat quarterly growth like a one-and-done event. The companies that scale consistently do something different: They run quarterly launches AND nurture continuously between them. Here’s my framework that actually builds momentum: 👉🏼 Every Quarter = One Major Launch (Weeks 1-4) a. Product release, feature launch, or major promotion. b. Full-scale go-to-market execution. c. All hands on deck for maximum impact. 👉🏼 Plus Continuous Nurturing (Weeks 5-12) a. Audience building and relationship development. b. Educational content and thought leadership. c. Community engagement and social proof collection. Why this works: When you launch in Q2, you're not starting from zero. You have an audience that's been warmed up for 8 weeks. They know who you are. They trust you. They're ready to buy. Resource allocation that builds momentum: → 40% dedicated to quarterly launch execution → 35% focused on continuous audience growth → 15% allocated to content and relationship building → 10% reserved for testing new opportunities The pattern I see in companies that scale: They don't treat marketing like a light switch (on during launches, off between them). They treat it like a compounding system. Each quarter builds on the last. Each launch reaches a bigger, warmer audience. Each campaign converts better because trust was built in the quiet weeks. Stop treating quarters like isolated events. Start treating them like chapters in a growth story. ♻️ Repost this to help teams build consistent momentum. 🔔 Follow me, Lillian Pierson, for more systematic growth frameworks. P.S. Are your launches getting easier or harder each quarter?

If I were launching a CPG brand today, here's exactly how I'd do it... the scrappy way: Most founders start with an idea. I'd start at the store. Here's my step-by-step playbook 👇 1. Find the white space BEFORE the product idea. I'm doing full shelf audits to spot categories ripe for disruption, then I’m conducting category and competitor audits for that category. 2. Build the brand world first. I’d be able to answer: Who desperately needs this? Why NOW? This becomes your north star for every decision—from recipe to packaging to pricing. 3. Sample, sample, sample. I'd rather iterate 5 times based on real data than launch something that flops because I fell in love with my own idea. A great way to do this? Product & Prosper® Sampling Program, which reaches 400+ industry vets. 4. Amazon first (not retail). It’s the fastest path to real customer feedback and reviews. Plus, you can test ad spend without a broker breathing down your neck. 5. Prove DTC works with actual data. With real reviews, proven conversion rates, and understanding of CAC from Amazon, you’re prepped to launch DTC. 6. Independent retail via Faire. This builds what we call The Retail Resume®—Credibility, Capability, Cash—before you pitch the big guys. 7. Build industry street cred in parallel. Pitch to industry media, join founder communities like Startup CPG and Naturally Network, post on LinkedIn and engage with other CPG folks on the platform. Buyers notice brands that other people are talking about. Notice what's NOT in this playbook: ❌ Immediately hiring a broker ❌ Cold-emailing buyers ❌ Rushing to trade shows without validation The brands that succeed today build proof of concept before distribution. They validate with real customers before buyers. Each step becomes the foundation for the next—not a sprint to the finish line. I dive deeper into each of these steps in today's Product & Prosper Newsletter. Link in the comments 👇

If I was launching your next product, here's the plan I would follow: It would take 16 weeks acceleratedl and I'd ignore anyone pushing for shortcuts. Most launches sputter and fail to meet expectations because teams get distracted by things like launch parties while skipping the boring-but-critical groundwork. Pulling off a successful launch means paying attention to EVERY detail. Over the years, I've built and refined this framework across dozens of launches. This is a high level version of my playbook. 1. MARKET ANALYSIS Analyze your target landscape thoroughly before designing a single asset. I've watched too many brands jump into creative work without understanding who they're competing against or why their product matters. 2. SALES ENABLEMENT Give your sales team the tools they actually need - not just pretty slides, but things like pre-sales materials, product knowledge training and objection guides for buyers and a compliant buyer sampling cadence. 3. RETAIL PARTNERSHIPS Sort out your shelf displays, merchandising units, and pricing strategy early. The physical pieces have long lead times - a reality that hits many brands in a panic three weeks before launch. 4. DIGITAL PRESENCE Make sure your product detaills; photography, naming conventions are consistent and compelling across Weedmaps Jane Technologies, Inc. , Leafly and your own platforms. There are a few SEO tricks too. I'm amazed how many brands mess this up. 5. EDUCATION PROGRAM Your budtenders make or break your launch. Create training modules on Seed Talent and SparkPlug they'll remember and incentive programs that actually motivate them to recommend your product. 6. CONSUMER JOURNEY Map out every single touchpoint from first impression to post-purchase. Each one needs to reinforce your key message and move consumers along a clear path. 7. AMPLIFICATION Get your social and PR engines running in a way that creates momentum your sales team can leverage when talking to buyers. I have a painfully detailed 16-week launch spreadsheet that maps every deliverable, deadline, and responsibility. I’ve been building on this and refining it for years. Those "boring details" everyone rolls their eyes at - UPC codes, compliance updates, inventory forecasting - usually determine whether you succeed or fail. What pieces are you pulling together for your next launch, and how far ahead have you started?

Steam Next Fest reality: Need 2K wishlists minimum or expect 460 median lift. If you walk into Next Fest hoping the festival will “discover” your game without any momentum, you’ll leave with polite pity and a handful of wishlists. Data from recent festivals (Feb 2025 benchmarks) show the truth: you need about 2K+ wishlists to even be heard by Steam’s discovery systems. Below that, median lift ≈ ~460 wishlists. Above it, you start to see real scale (10k+ pre-fest → median +6,360). Numbers don’t lie - they just don’t care about your optimism. Here’s the the eight things that actually move the needle: 1. Store page converts or it doesn’t. A micro-trailer that shows gameplay in the first 6s, crisp capsule art, screenshots that sell the loop, tags that match your audience. 2. Demo = marketing asset: polished vertical slice, clear CTAs to wishlist/Discord, soft-launch and iterate before Day 1. 3. Creator & press engine: start outreach 4–6 months out. Personalized keys > spray-and-pray. Micro-influencers scale better than cold outreach to mega channels. 4. The Double Jump: time a showcase or trailer 24–48h before the fest to buy massive velocity going into Day 1. High risk, high reward. 5. Broadcasts & presence: use your two featured slots, loop a quality stream, and be hyper-present in chat and forums. 6. Tag like your life depends on it: Steam tags feed recommendations. Bad tags = invisible game. 7. Collect feedback with a system: route players to Discord/surveys, instrument demo telemetry, ship hotfixes pre-fest. RailGods did this and hit 100k wishlists. 8. Post-fest follow up: publish learnings, move new players into owned channels, and warm creators for launch coverage. Targets (use these to set expectations, don’t fantasize): 0–1,999 pre-fest: conservative lift ≈ ~300–720 (validation goal). 2,000–9,999: realistic lift ≈ ~1,500 (aim to hit Trending). 10k+: you can play to win — median lift ≈ +6,300. If you’re running or advising a studio: don’t spend your Next Fest budget praying for luck. Earn the festival and build 2k wishlists first, treat your demo like a product, and use creators as your acquisition engine. Execute the checklist in the 14 days before the event and you actually have a shot at Trending, not just a pat on the head. Want the 14-day checklist + creator outreach email template (copy/paste ready)? Comment NEXT FEST and I’ll drop it in the replies.

For many devs, marketing and selling their game isn’t something they’re passionate about. However, getting your game seen is just as important as building it. To cover the basics of games marketing, I invited Justin La Torre, a marketing specialist for over 6 years and content mercenary for over 10 years, to share his experience. The guide is massive and it'll make promoting your game feel less like a chore. Here is the TL:DR of Justin’s guide: 1. Game marketing is about telling the story behind your game and building anticipation. ↳ Create a narrative that players can connect with, like behind-the-scenes videos or a compelling origin story for your characters or world. 2. Identify where your audience hangs out online—whether it's specific subreddits, Discord groups, or Twitter.  ↳ Engaging in these communities can build you a following before your game even launches. 3. While tried-and-true marketing tactics are important, don’t be afraid to try new things. ↳ Think beyond simple gameplay streams. Work with influencers on custom challenges, co-created content, or sponsored tournaments. 4. Invest in quality key art, logos, and in-game screenshots to use across multiple platforms—on your website, digital storefronts, social media, and in press kits.  ↳ They should be instantly recognizable and convey the essence of your game in one glance. 5. Collect emails and regularly update your most engaged fans on progress, release dates, and exclusive content to build launch excitement. 6. Allow players early access through a demo or beta build to create hype and gather valuable feedback. 7. Incentivize sharing by allowing players to invite friends and make the demo time-limited to create a sense of urgency. 8. Encourage players to add your game to their Steam wishlist well before launch. ↳When your game is wishlisted, it becomes visible to more users and Steam will notify them upon release or during a sale. 9. Don’t rely on a single launch announcement - Create a multi-step launch strategy that includes countdown teasers, trailers, influencer campaigns, and press outreach.  ↳ Build momentum in the weeks leading up to the release, so by launch day, there’s already a buzz in the community. 10. Use limited-time events and bonuses to keep players engaged post-launch, like seasonal events, exclusive skins, and time-sensitive offers to bring back lapsed players. 11. Encourage your community to share fan art, memes, or Let’s Play videos to deepen connections and expand your game's visibility organically. Marketing might not be the most exciting part of game development, but it’s just as important as the game itself. Even if promotion feels tedious, promote your game well so players can experience what you've built. Check out the guide in the comments if you want to take a deeper look 👇