

Ask YC: Good time & ways to launch - robmnl

Hello!<p>I'd like to know, what do you take into consideration when thinking about when to launch and how to launch a new web product, so it gets some attention?<p>Where do you post? (reddit, news.yc, digg, ..)<p>What's a good day time to post?<p>What's a good day to post? Mondays? And what about holidays? Is it a good idea to post on Jan 1st?<p>Do you write press releases? Upload logos?<p>I'd also appreciate if anyone can introduce me to bloggers or people interested in new products.  I have a product coming up which you can read about in my profile.
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myoung8
Cool site. The calendar isn't working properly, though (you have to refresh to
view events you add if they aren't on the current day). I also somehow ended
up at the year 20070 at one point just by pressing the next link.

Regarding how to launch: I'd wait until you're ready first (this is obviously
more like an Alpha launch, so just showing it to the YC community was a good
first step). Once you are, you can do the normal digg and bloggers route, but
even better is to figure out who are your target users and try to get in touch
with them. Advertise on a site or in a publication they all read (try to
negotiate and get this for free in exchange for something else). You can write
a press release if it makes you feel good, but odds are no one's going to read
it at this stage--it never hurts, though.

Otherwise, just try to get in touch with your users and ask them to spread the
word. Sending a personal email to the early adopters would probably go a long
way--ask them what they thought about it, what could you improve, then tell
them you'd appreciate it if they could tell their friends. People like cool
T-shirts too...

Definitely post on a Monday or early in the week if you can. Fridays are for
bad news, no one cares on the weekend, or holidays for that matter. Bad idea
to come out on January 1st if it's a mainstream release. Otherwise it doesn't
matter too much.

Good luck.

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robmnl
thanks myyoung, that's very good advice. I'll get those fixed.

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robmnl
ok, adding works properly now. Thanks for bug report.

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lsemel
Don't get too many people to seed sites like Digg for you -- we got buried
yesterday when we launched <http://www.commandshift3.com> because we got a lot
of our friends Digg us and they blocked it. It got on the front page of Reddit
and del.icio.us completely organically, without any action on our part..

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ekanes
This article on Guy Kawasaki's blog talks about how word of mouth from normal
everyday folks is worth more than trying to get high-profile people to talk
about you.

<http://blog.guykawasaki.com/2007/12/word-of-mouth-v.html>

 _Thinking_ that way would also push you in the right long-term direction.
"How can I make a product worthy of being talked about?" vs "How am I going to
get this in front of celebrities"

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robmnl
very true, customers matter more than high profile bloggers. thanks.

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zaidf
Before you worry about the when and how, you should take a step back and be
clear on your launch time goal.

With your initial launch, you don't necessarily want a big PR hit that draws
1000s of users to checkout your site. What you do want is a small group that
joins your site and gives you feedback. Go for the big PR hit when you are
more sure from your small user-base that you have a great product.

That was our plan. Fortunately(or unfortunately) we posted on the techcrunch
forums and some people loved it and passed it to digg and soon it made the TC
homepage without even submitting to them--making to TC was our 3 month goal.

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wmeredith
This is a fantastic resource when dealing with the traditional media.
Something I would highly recommend you do, when you launch, in earnest.

The Care and Feeding of The Press:
<http://www.netpress.org/careandfeeding.html>

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mattthazhmon
Great question, we're running into the same issues with our startup
<http://freemyfriends.com>. Not sure how to get the word out without paying
for a PR campaign. At the very least, we're just looking for feedback on our
API.

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henning
When your product is mature, it could be very different from what you started
out with upon launching. It's hubris to think you'll get it right the first
time. I'd say, therefore, don't worry about stuff like this at all. Launch but
don't make a big stink about it on the blagoweb.

In other words, you don't want the Marimba Phenomenon to bite you in the ass.

Disclaimer: I'm a wage slave and I have never worked in a startup environment.

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jraines
Looks pretty cool. I'd remove the political advocacy link at the bottom
though.

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robmnl
thanks. Probably a good idea, removed it.

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dyu
You should launch on Tuesdays or Wednesdays. Mondays still feel like weekends,
and Friday everyone wants weekend to happen. Thursday is also not as good
because people wait for fridays.

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jkush
I think you need to take the long view. Based on your comments you're looking
at tactics instead of strategy. I should know, I'm guilty of that.

Focus on making something good. Focus on providing real value. Focus on having
fun. Focus on getting solid and stable. The traffic and money will come.

