Launch Readiness Checklist
62-item cross-functional go/no-go checklist covering engineering, marketing, support, sales, and legal sign-off.
What this template covers
A launch fails when one team assumed another team was ready. This checklist codifies every pre-launch obligation, QA and staging sign-off, documentation, support macros, help center articles, sales collateral, pricing page updates, legal review, analytics instrumentation, rollback plan, on-call coverage, and post-launch retrospective owner. Product ops owns the checklist; functional leads sign off on their sections 72 hours before launch.
The template
# Launch Readiness Checklist **Launch name:** ___________ **Launch date:** YYYY-MM-DD **Launch lead (PM):** ___________ **Product Ops facilitator:** ___________ **Go/no-go meeting:** YYYY-MM-DD, 72h before launch > Each functional lead signs off on their section. Any unchecked box at T-72h is a red flag, raise it in the go/no-go meeting. --- ## Engineering — owner: ___________ - [ ] All P0 and P1 bugs closed or formally accepted - [ ] Staging build matches production environment (same flags, same configs) - [ ] Load test run at 2x expected peak; results reviewed - [ ] Feature flag wired and tested in both on and off states - [ ] Rollback plan documented and tested - [ ] On-call rotation confirmed for launch week - [ ] Logs and error tracking instrumented and dashboards live - [ ] Database migrations rehearsed in a copy-of-prod environment ## Design — owner: ___________ - [ ] Final visuals approved by design lead - [ ] Empty states, loading states, and error states reviewed - [ ] Accessibility pass complete (color contrast, keyboard nav, screen reader) - [ ] Marketing assets aligned with in-product UI ## Marketing — owner: ___________ - [ ] Launch tier confirmed (Tier 1 / 2 / 3) and channels matched - [ ] Blog post drafted, reviewed by PM, and scheduled - [ ] Email to existing customers drafted and scheduled - [ ] Social posts queued for launch day +1, +3, +7 - [ ] Pricing page, landing page, and feature page updates staged - [ ] PR or analyst briefings scheduled (if Tier 1) ## Sales — owner: ___________ - [ ] Sales enablement deck updated and shared - [ ] Internal demo recorded and posted - [ ] Pricing/discount guidance distributed to AEs - [ ] FAQ for sales objections drafted - [ ] CRM stage definitions updated if needed ## Support — owner: ___________ - [ ] Help center articles published (or scheduled to publish at launch) - [ ] Macros and canned responses written - [ ] Support team trained on the feature - [ ] Escalation path to engineering documented - [ ] Estimated ticket volume modeled and staffing confirmed ## Legal & Compliance — owner: ___________ - [ ] Terms of service updated if needed - [ ] Privacy policy updated if data collection changed - [ ] Data processing addendum updated for affected customers - [ ] Export-control / regional restrictions reviewed ## Data — owner: ___________ - [ ] Event instrumentation deployed and validated in staging - [ ] Launch dashboard built and shared - [ ] North-star metric and guardrail metrics defined - [ ] Daily reporting cadence agreed for the first 14 days ## Customer Success — owner: ___________ - [ ] Top-20 customers briefed (Tier 1 and Tier 2 launches) - [ ] CSM playbook for customer questions in place - [ ] Customer-facing release notes reviewed ## Post-launch — owner: ___________ - [ ] Post-launch retro scheduled within 72 hours of launch - [ ] Owner assigned for the post-launch retro write-up - [ ] Follow-up review scheduled at T+30 days - [ ] Success criteria re-stated and tracked against actuals --- ## Go / No-Go meeting agenda (T-72h) 1. Walk every section, lead by lead. 2. Identify any unchecked box and either close it or formally accept the risk. 3. Confirm the rollback owner and the rollback trigger. 4. Confirm the launch comms timing and audience. 5. Final go / no-go vote (PM, Eng Lead, PO, Marketing). Any "no" stops the launch.
When to use it
- First GA launch of a new product
- Major feature release
- Pricing or packaging change
- Brand or rename rollout
How to adapt it
Copy the template above into Google Docs, Sheets, Notion, Airtable, or Confluence. Keep the section order intact, later sections often reference data entered earlier. Replace the example values with your own, then review quarterly and re-circulate to stakeholders.
Related templates
Templates are drafted from public Product Operations research and reviewed by practicing PO leaders. Free to copy and modify for internal company use.
Frequently Asked Questions
A launch fails when one team assumed another team was ready. This checklist codifies every pre-launch obligation, QA and staging sign-off, documentation, support macros, help center articles, sales collateral, pricing page updates, legal review, analytics instrumentation, rollback plan, on-call coverage, and post-launch retrospective owner. Product ops owns the checklist; functional leads sign off on their sections 72 hours before launch.
This template is written for Product Operations teams at software companies sized 50-500 employees. Common use cases include: First GA launch of a new product; Major feature release; Pricing or packaging change.
The template is designed as a Checklist. Copy the structure directly into your own Google Docs, Sheets, Notion, or Airtable workspace. No attribution is required for internal company use.
Start with the section structure exactly as published, then modify field names to match your organization's vocabulary. Most teams complete a first pass in 30 minutes and a polished version within one working week.