Chapter 10 of 12

Templates and Artifacts

Essential checklists, agendas, and frameworks to operationalize the launch playbook.

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What You'll Learn Ready-to-use templates for launch checklists, runbooks, retros, and crisis comms.

Templates and Artifacts

You need docs to run this playbook. These templates are ready to copy. They turn plans into action.

How to Use These Templates

Copy these into Notion, Confluence, or Google Docs. Change the details for your product, but keep the format—it works.

The Master Launch Checklist

This checklist covers all launch readiness areas. Every item must be done before Go/No-Go.

Category Item Owner Status
Product Readiness
Product User Acceptance Testing (UAT) Complete Product ⬜
Product Analytics events working (tested in staging) Data ⬜
Product Onboarding flow tested with external users UX ⬜
Product Pricing page reflects final pricing Product ⬜
Technical Readiness
Tech Security test (pen test) passed InfoSec ⬜
Tech Load testing completed (1.5x expected traffic) DevOps ⬜
Tech Database backup and restore verified DevOps ⬜
Tech Rollback procedure documented and tested DevOps ⬜
Tech Kill switches ready (feature flags set) Eng ⬜
Tech Third-party API quotas raised (email, payment, etc.) DevOps ⬜
Tech Monitoring dashboards configured DevOps ⬜
Tech Error alerting thresholds set DevOps ⬜
Legal & Compliance
Legal Privacy Policy updated on site Legal ⬜
Legal Terms of Service updated Legal ⬜
Legal Cookie consent banner configured Legal ⬜
Legal GDPR/CCPA compliance verified Legal ⬜
Legal Open-source license audit complete Eng ⬜
Support Readiness
Support Help Center articles published CS ⬜
Support Support team trained on new features CS Lead ⬜
Support Pre-written replies for common issues CS ⬜
Support On-call schedule finalized CS Lead ⬜
Support Status page configured DevOps ⬜
Marketing Readiness
Marketing Press Release loaded on wire service Comms ⬜
Marketing Blog post drafted and scheduled Content ⬜
Marketing Email sequences loaded (waitlist, announcement) Marketing ⬜
Marketing Social media posts scheduled Social ⬜
Marketing Paid ad campaigns ready (paused) Demand Gen ⬜
Marketing Analytics/UTM tracking verified Marketing Ops ⬜
Sales Readiness
Sales Pricing enabled in billing system RevOps ⬜
Sales Sales team briefed on new features Sales Mgr ⬜
Sales Demo environment updated Sales Eng ⬜
Sales Battle cards updated PMM ⬜

T-Minus Deployment Runbook Template

This runbook shows who does what, when, and how to undo it if things go wrong.

Time ID Task Description Owner Duration Rollback Status
Pre-Launch (T-24H to T-2H)
T-24H PRE-01 Final Go/No-Go Decision Meeting Launch Captain 60m Delay launch ⬜
T-24H PRE-02 Verify backup and restore functionality DevOps Lead 30m N/A ⬜
T-12H PRE-03 Code freeze (no new commits) Eng Lead - Delay launch ⬜
T-4H PRE-04 Notify on-call teams (Engineering, Support) Ops Lead 15m N/A ⬜
T-2H PRE-05 Establish War Room (Slack channel/Zoom) Ops Lead 10m N/A ⬜
Launch Sequence (T-60m to T-0)
T-60m TECH-01 Take production database snapshot Backend Lead 15m N/A ⬜
T-45m TECH-02 Run database migration scripts Backend Lead 20m Restore DB snapshot ⬜
T-30m TECH-03 Deploy application to production DevOps 15m Rollback deployment ⬜
T-15m TECH-04 Smoke test in production (internal IPs only) QA Lead 15m Revert migration ⬜
T-5m TECH-05 Final status check in War Room Launch Captain 5m Abort launch ⬜
T-0 GO-01 Flip feature flags to ON (100% rollout) Product Mgr 1m Flip flags OFF ⬜
Post-Launch (T+0 to T+60m)
T+2m MKT-01 Publish website updates & pricing page Web Team 5m Revert CMS ⬜
T+5m SOC-01 Post to Product Hunt / social channels Founder 5m N/A ⬜
T+10m MKT-02 Send email blast to waitlist Marketing 5m Pause SendGrid job ⬜
T+15m OPS-01 First health check (error rates, latency) DevOps 5m Scale/revert as needed ⬜
T+30m OPS-02 Second health check + first SitRep DevOps 10m - ⬜
T+60m OPS-03 Full status report to stakeholders Launch Captain 15m - ⬜

The Retrospective Agenda

Hold this meeting within one week of launch. The goal is learning, not blame.

Retrospective Structure

1. Prime Directive (5 minutes)

Read aloud: "Regardless of what we discover, we understand and truly believe that everyone did the best job they could, given what they knew at the time, their skills and abilities, the resources available, and the situation at hand."

2. Timeline Review (15 minutes)

Walk through the launch timeline. Where did reality diverge from the plan? Mark significant events on a shared timeline.

3. Data Review (15 minutes)

Review actual metrics vs. targets:

  • Sign-ups: Target vs. Actual
  • Activation Rate: Target vs. Actual
  • Error Rate: Target vs. Actual
  • Support Tickets: Expected vs. Actual
4. What Went Well (10 minutes)

Each team member shares one thing that worked well. Document and celebrate these wins.

5. What Didn't Go Well (15 minutes)

Each team member shares one challenge. No interrupting, no defending. Just listen and document.

6. Stop / Start / Continue (15 minutes)
STOP

What should we stop doing?

START

What should we start doing?

CONTINUE

What should we keep doing?

7. Action Items (10 minutes)

Convert insights into specific, owned action items with due dates. These become inputs to the next launch plan.

Crisis Communication Templates

Have these ready before you need them. Change the details for your brand.

Initial Acknowledgment

Use within 15 minutes of incident detection:

Subject: [Product] Service Disruption - We're Investigating

"We're aware that some users are experiencing [issue description]. Our team is actively investigating and we'll provide an update within 30 minutes. We apologize for any inconvenience and appreciate your patience."

Progress Update

Use every 30-60 minutes during active incident:

Subject: [Product] Update: [Issue] Under Investigation

"Update: We've identified [root cause/area of investigation]. Our engineering team is [action being taken]. We expect to have [resolution/more info] by [time]. Thank you for your continued patience."

Resolution Announcement

Use when service is restored:

Subject: [Product] Resolved: [Issue]

"The issue affecting [description] has been resolved as of [time]. The root cause was [brief explanation]. We're taking steps to prevent recurrence. We sincerely apologize for any disruption to your work. If you continue to experience issues, please contact support@[company].com."

Post-Incident Report

Use 24-48 hours after resolution:

Subject: Post-Incident Report: [Date] [Issue]

Include: Timeline, Root Cause, Impact (users/duration), Resolution, Prevention Measures. Be transparent. Users respect honesty over spin.

Go/No-Go Decision Template

Use this for the final launch call. Each lead shares their status.

Department Representative Status Blockers/Notes
Engineering [Name] 🟢 / 🟡 / 🔴
Product [Name] 🟢 / 🟡 / 🔴
Marketing [Name] 🟢 / 🟡 / 🔴
Sales [Name] 🟢 / 🟡 / 🔴
Support [Name] 🟢 / 🟡 / 🔴
Legal [Name] 🟢 / 🟡 / 🔴
Decision Rules
  • 🟢 Green: Ready to launch. No known blockers.
  • 🟡 Yellow: Proceed with caution. Plan B documented.
  • 🔴 Red: HARD STOP. Any single Red vote blocks the launch.

War Room Communication Protocol

Communication Rules

  • Single Channel: All launch communication happens in #launch-war-room (Slack/Teams). No side DMs during critical windows.
  • Status Format: Updates use format: [AREA] [STATUS] [DETAIL]. Example: "[TECH] 🟢 Deployment complete. Smoke test passed."
  • Hourly SitRep: Launch Captain posts overall status every hour (Green/Yellow/Red + summary).
  • Escalation: Blockers are announced immediately with @channel mention.
  • Scribe: Designated Scribe documents all major events for retrospective.
Generate Your Templates

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Launch Checklist

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Works Cited & Recommended Reading
Lean Startup Methodology
Launch Readiness & Strategy
  • 3. "Goals, Readiness and Constraints: The Three Dimensions of a Product Launch." Pragmatic Institute
  • 4. "I Launched a SaaS and Failed - Here's What I Learned." Reddit
  • 5. "SaaS Product Development Checklist: From Idea to Launch." Dev.Pro
  • 6. "10 Biggest SaaS Challenges: How to Protect Your Business." Userpilot
Metrics & KPIs
  • 7. "The Essential Guide to Product Launch Metrics." Gainsight
  • 8. "Product launch plan template for SaaS and B2B marketing teams." Understory Agency
  • 9. "SaaS Metrics Dashboard Examples and When to Use Them." UXCam
  • 10. "B2B SaaS Product Launch Checklist 2025: No-Fluff & AI-Ready." GTM Buddy
  • 11. "The Pre-Launch Metrics Imperative." Venture for All
  • 12. "Average Resolution Time | KPI example." Geckoboard
  • 13. "Burn rate is a better error rate." Datadog
Stakeholder Alignment
  • 14. "Coordinate product launches with internal stakeholders." Product Marketing Alliance
  • 15. "Comprehensive SaaS Product Readiness Checklist." Default
  • 16. "Launching with stakeholders - Open-source product playbook." Coda
  • 17. "Product launch checklist: How to ensure a successful launch." Atlassian
Launch Checklists & Process
Runbooks & Execution
  • 20. "Runbook Example: A Best Practices Guide." Nobl9
  • 21. "10 Steps for a Successful SaaS Product Launch Day." Scenic West Design
  • 22. "SaaS Outages: When Lightning Strikes, Thunder Rolls." Forrester
  • 23. "Developer-Friendly Runbooks: A Guide." Medium
  • 24. "Your Essential Product Launch Checklist Template." VeryCreatives
  • 25. "87-Action-Item Product Launch Checklist." Ignition
Press Kits & Marketing Assets
  • 26. "How to Build a SaaS Media Kit for Your Brand." Webstacks
  • 27. "Press Kit: What It Is, Templates & 10+ Examples For 2025." Prezly
  • 28. "How I Won #1 Product of The Day on Product Hunt." Microns.io
Messaging Frameworks
  • 29. "Product messaging: Guide to frameworks, strategy, and examples." PMA
  • 30. "Product Messaging Framework: A Guide for Ambitious PMMs." Product School
Runbook Templates & Automation
Dashboards & Real-Time Monitoring
  • 39. "8 SaaS Dashboard Examples to Track Key Metrics." Userpilot
  • 40. "Real-time dashboards: are they worth it?" Tinybird
  • 41. "Incident Management - MTBF, MTTR, MTTA, and MTTF." Atlassian
  • 42. "SaaS Metrics Dashboard: Your Revenue Command Center." Rework
  • 43. "12 product adoption metrics to track for success." Appcues
Crisis Communication
  • 44. "How to Create a Crisis Communication Plan." Everbridge
  • 45. "10 Crisis Communication Templates for Every Agency Owner." CoSchedule
  • 46. "Your Complete Crisis Communication Plan Template." Ready Response
  • 47. "Crisis communications: What it is and examples brands can learn from." Sprout Social
Retrospectives & Learning
  • 48. "What the 'Lean Startup' didn't tell me - 3 iterations in." Reddit
  • 49. "Does Your Product Launch Strategy Include Retrospectives?" UserVoice
  • 50. "Retrospective Templates for Efficient Team Meetings." Miro
  • 51. "50+ Retrospective Questions for your Next Meeting." Parabol
  • 52. "Quick Wins for Product Managers." Medium
  • 53. "Showcase Early Wins for Successful Product Adoption." Profit.co
Observability & Tooling
  • 54. "The Lean Startup Method 101: The Essential Ideas." Lean Startup Co
  • 55. "Grafana: The open and composable observability platform." Grafana Labs
  • 56. "The essential product launch checklist for SaaS companies | 2025." Orb Billing

This playbook synthesizes methodologies from DevOps, Site Reliability Engineering (SRE), Incident Command System (ICS), and modern product management practices. References are provided for deeper exploration of each topic.