Quick answer: The launch week is the public release. The week itself is execution; the content and the assets are prepared earlier, and the day-by-day schedule is mostly about posting, supporting, and responding.

Before the week

The preparation work is in the asset checklist and the one announcement to a week of posts:

  • The listing and the gallery.
  • The maker comment.
  • The social set for the week.
  • The demo and the landing page.
  • The support channel and the FAQ.
  • The list of the people who want to support.

Day -1 (the day before)

  • Final check of the listing, the gallery, and the video.
  • The scheduled posts for the first day.
  • The maker comment is written and ready.
  • The support is staffed.
  • The analytics and the tracking are in place.

The launch day timeline covers the Product Hunt specifics.

Day 0 (launch day)

  • The listing goes live at 12:01 AM Pacific for the Product Hunt day.
  • The maker comment is posted in the first minutes.
  • The first social posts go out.
  • The team responds to every comment and question.
  • The founders respond to the inbound.
  • The metrics are checked but not obsessed over.

Day 1

  • The thank-you post and the first-day recap.
  • The follow-up answers.
  • The second content angle: the build story or the technical post.
  • The outreach to the community posts.

Day 2

  • The educational content: how the product solves the problem.
  • The community participation: the Hacker News or dev.to post, if not already used.
  • The replies to the press and the signups.

Day 3

  • The customer result or the first wins.
  • The Reddit share in the relevant community, following the rules.
  • The support review and the bug fixes.

Day 4

Day 5

  • The week recap and the numbers.
  • The thank-you to the community.
  • The next-step announcement and the roadmap.

The support during the week

  • The response time is the metric; a slow response on launch day is lost interest.
  • The bugs are fixed and the fixes are communicated.
  • The pricing and the access questions are answered from the FAQ.

The daily content

The week's posts are generated from the one product description and scheduled in advance. The X launch posts and the announcement templates cover the formats.

The post-launch

The week is not the end; the after-launch plan starts the retention and the next release.

Frequently asked questions

Can the launch week be run solo? Yes, but the assets must be prepared in advance and the support is the bottleneck. What time does the launch go live? Product Hunt resets at 12:01 AM Pacific; the platform guides confirm the timing. Is every day a big post? No; the cadence mixes the announcement, education, and the updates. What if the product isn't ready? The soft launch is the lower-risk path.

Prepare the assets before the week, then execute the daily plan and staff the support. The launch week is the release, not the rehearsal.

Related guide: the complete product launch checklist.

Related guide: the Product Hunt launch hub.