Launch Criteria

Launch criteria are the explicit conditions a product must meet before launching to its target audience, documented in advance and used as go/no-go decision points. They apply to soft launch, GA launch, or any defined release milestone, and they align teams on what "ready" actually means. The discipline transforms launch decisions from "vibes" to "documented commitments" and is one of the higher-leverage product-management practices. Without explicit launch criteria, launches happen when someone decides it's time, often before the product is actually ready.

The components:

Functional completeness criteria:

• All core features for target use case working.
• Defined acceptance criteria met.
• No P0 (critical) bugs open.

Quality criteria:

• Test coverage thresholds met.
• Performance metrics meeting targets (latency, throughput).
• Reliability metrics (uptime in test environment).

Operational readiness:

• Monitoring and alerting in place.
• On-call rotation established.
• Runbook for common issues.

Support readiness:

• Documentation complete.
• Customer success/support team trained.
• Help center articles published.

Marketing readiness:

• Launch materials prepared.
• Website updated.
• PR plan in place (if applicable).

Sales readiness:

• Sales team trained.
• Sales collateral updated.
• Pricing finalized.

Business readiness:

• Pricing and packaging confirmed.
• Contracts and legal reviewed.
• Compliance requirements met.

When to define launch criteria:

• Early in development: criteria defined before significant build investment. Drives toward focused work.
• At each milestone: separate criteria for alpha, beta, soft launch, GA.

How to use:

• Weekly progress against criteria: track which are met, which are not.
• Go/no-go meeting: formal decision at launch time based on criteria.
• No exception culture: if criteria aren't met, launch is delayed. No "we'll fix it after launch."

Ryan's Take

Launch criteria exist so you stop shipping on vibes and a calendar. Without them, someone declares 'let's launch this week,' the thing goes out half-built, and the team spends the launch firefighting instead of selling. Write the criteria down up front, track them weekly, and hold a real go/no-go. The exact criteria matter less than having any, because even rough ones beat 'it feels ready.'

What founders get wrong: Launching products without explicit criteria, leading to premature launches and operational issues. The right discipline: document launch criteria upfront for each release milestone, track weekly, formal go/no-go decisions.

Related: [GA Launch] · [Soft Launch] · [Product Vision] · [Alpha Testing] · [Beta Testing]

FAQ

What are launch criteria? The explicit conditions a product must meet before launching to its target audience (soft launch, GA, or any defined release milestone). Documented in advance and used as go/no-go decision points to prevent premature launches.

What categories should launch criteria cover? Functional completeness (features working, bug thresholds), quality (test coverage, performance, reliability), operational readiness (monitoring, on-call, runbook), support readiness (docs, training), marketing readiness, sales readiness, business readiness (pricing, legal, compliance).

When should I define launch criteria? Early in development (before significant build investment) so criteria drive focused work. Also at each milestone (alpha, beta, soft launch, GA). The criteria themselves matter less than having them defined and committed to.