Always Be Launching

Because tbh no one gives a shit about your new product, anyway

Product launches in the social media era are fundamentally different
Social media has changed the way we launch products. Instead of a Big Bang Launch — a single spike of attention — we have Always Be Launching, the idea that what you need is nonstop/constant talk about your product, its capabilities, case studies, and achievements. You don’t “save up” info for announcements, you just go. This is the optimal strategy in world of abundance — an abundance is caused by infinite feeds, plentiful influencers, and a short news cycle that devours new content every hour.

The ABL philosophy emphasizes the following:

• It’s a relationship, not an advertisement. Launching isn’t a one-time thing, but rather, a long-term narrative you’re telling the market. Sometimes punctuated by bits of big news, but often small things too

• Drum beat not big bang. A steady drumbeat of screenshots, videos, demos, comments, and discussion about what you’re building

• Wins and more wins. Publicizing small wins, and big case studies, with interviews from customers and partners

• Communicate, don’t just broadcast. Replies, comments, and discussion alongside people in the ecosystem that are discussing products in your category

• Educate and help, don’t just sell. Lessons learned, unexpected events, and counterintuitive insights gleaned from running your business

• Long-term, not one-time. A long-term view on engaging your ecosystem. Not to drive a lot of attention in one spike, but to build a large mailing list or community to share content over time

• Go direct. A purposeful disengagement from traditional gatekeepers like journalists/partners/conferences — instead, go direct and talk to folks as a human

Some of this will resonate — but remember, it was not always this way. Old school comms/PR emphasize many opposite concepts. They say, be polished and buttoned up. Hold off until you have enough for a Big Bang Launch, because you only have one chance. Suck up to gatekeepers. Hire all those agencies, pay all those experts. It comes from the dynamics of scarcity, where a newspaper only has so much space on their front page, and journalists will only write about you once in a blue moon. In the past, there were only a few important newspapers and TV channels to watch, but things have changed — we’re in the world of abundance of media, not scarcity.

The problem with the BBL is that it doesn't work anymore. Journalists want to critique tech, not advocate for it. Journalists also get their distribution via social media, because they lack it themselves. Billions of people get their content from feeds, not newspapers, and even successful traditional launches fail to drive real signups/customers. The news cycle has been shortened, and as a result, the next day everyone forgets about it. (Believe me, I've seen many founders get confused when they get covered by Techcrunch, see nothing, but then go viral on X or Hacker News, and get a flood)

The Big Bang Launch is also intoxicating to people who are a bit naturally shy, who suffer from imposter syndrome, who don't want to speak up. If you surround yourself with PR experts, who can program you with all the right things to say, then with enough preparation, then the launch will go well! Then you can put it behind you, and go back to "running the business."

ABL in the world of abundance
In this new world of feeds, Always Be Launching is the right strategy. The reason is that your 15 minutes of fame has now been shortened to 5, and realistically, your users won't care (at first) what you have to say. Announce your new startup, and just a few friends will congratulate you. Show screenshots of your demo, and you'll get a few more pings. It's only the long, gradual accumulation of these launches, with occasional random spikes -- alongside collecting emails for your mailing list, gathering followers via social -- that over time people come to know who you are.

The biggest psychological barrier is to ask founders to talk more. To write down what they're excited about, about their milestones, and to join the dialog. It's difficult because -- in the fog of war that is startup life -- it's hard to know how to be right. But it's part of the fun to lower the bar. Say one thing one day, and then do a writeup about why you're wrong the next. Launch a product, then share the metrics, but then talk about all the bugs and problems. It's the unvarnished view that gathers supporters.

Quantity is a quality all on its own. ABL builds on the natural strengths of the new social media environment. More content and more feeds on more days means that you accumulate reach over time, rather than expecting it to happen all at once. And once your following hits critical mass, and frankly, your skillset becomes more refined, you'll start getting threads and content able to pop off in a repeated way.

Authenticity helps. When you talk to other humans on social from your own personal account, and talk like a real person (not a corpobot) it makes a difference. When you share a win, or a lesson you’ve learned, people will engage in ways they’d never engage an official company account. If people genuinely like you, they will like your product. And part of the de-programming from the Big Bang mentality is to actually talk like a human instead of a corpomarketing person.

Starting the ABL journey
When you’re ready to start the Always Be Launching strategy, I have a few ideas. Step one, go to your favorite social app, and type in your latest small win at work. Hit share. Do it again every day, but include any of the following:

• a quote from a customer that you liked

• your favorite feature from your product

• something you learned at work recently

• a recent article you read in a work context

• someone who helped you along the way, and what they taught you

• … or anything else

Share something that’s a few lines, and do it again the next day. Don’t outsource it to anyone else — make sure you do it yourself, and it speaks to you. It’s really that easy. And then when you have something big to announce or say, just do it. Don’t overthink it. The next day, take that big announcement and announce it in a different way. Repeat :)

The media landscape is post-scarcity, and we need to retire the Big Bang Launch as the strategy. Always Be Launching, and launch a little each week. Go directly to your customers, your investors, and your supporters. Build over time, not in one go. And learn to tell the truth.