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TL;DR: Chris Raroque’s launch checklist is less about a hype day and more about operational readiness: waitlist, analytics, feedback board, email sequences, App Store listing, landing page, beta retention, then a public announcement.
Biggest lessons
- Set up the waitlist early. A simple page with one screenshot and an email field gauges interest, seeds beta testers, and creates a launch list.
- Install analytics before you have users. Waiting until later means losing the first churn and activation data, exactly when the product is most uncertain.
- Use a public feedback board. Upvotes reveal requests the builder would not predict. For Ellie, a heavily used list feature came from feedback-board demand.
- Email is retention infrastructure. Chris uses sequences to welcome users, ask for feedback when they do not return, and teach lesser-known features during the first two weeks.
- Take the App Store listing seriously. He recommends spending real time on screenshots because Apple may give a new app an initial search/discovery boost that should not be wasted.
- Launch when beta users stick. His practical launch gate is confidence that beta users do not drop after day one.
Why it matters
- This source updates launch-playbook with a readiness checklist rather than only a traffic-spike strategy.
- It reinforces app-product-craft because analytics, feedback, and email loops help the product improve after the spike.
- It connects to idea-validation by treating waitlist and beta behavior as signals, not proof by themselves.