For the launch owner

Two weeks to launch. 'Should be fine' isn't a status.

The full checklist is below — every phase, an owner per item, free to copy, no email gate. And the honest part: the list isn't what sinks launches. The items are owned by people on three different teams, launch day doesn't move, and someone has to keep every loop closed.

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SarahSarah · two weeks out launch is the 14th — are the tracking events verified? is the support macro written? did legal sign off?
○ asked in 3 channels — 1 answer
MikeMike · 5:41pm events fire in staging, prod should be fine 🤞
· "done" in conversation but not in reality — you find out on launch day · eng items live in the tracker, marketing in docs and calendars, support in someone's intentions — no single view shows if the launch is on track

thread staged with our recurring cast

01 · Ayven holds the launch together

Every item an owned loop, chased across three teams.

Hand Ayven the checklist and each item gets a named owner and a date worked back from launch — held open in Slack or Teams until it's confirmed closed. She follows up with each owner individually — the eng lead about the build, the support lead about macros, the marketer about the announcement — with urgency that tightens as launch day approaches.

T-14—every item a loop: named owner, date worked back from launch
T-10—chased eng, support, and marketing — each owner about their own items
T-7—tracking-events item quiet — checked the ticket before nudging
T-5○daily digest: closed, on track, truly at risk

02 · The register

"Done in conversation but not in reality" gets caught early.

Ayven APP · T-7 days, 10:20am Two eng items said "done" and pointed at tickets, so I checked the tracker instead of the thread. One really was done. The other went back on the risk list — at T-7, not on launch day.
!back on the risk list — T-7
Claimed done in the thread; the ticket never changed state. Caught at T-7, not on launch day.
already tried: checked the tracker · asked the owner, once
→ flagged to the launch owner — slip it, reassign it, or cut it
Done — Jira · 10:20

sign-offs, macros, drafts — items outside the tracker are held as loops too

03 · It's real

The product, not a promise.

Ayven missions view with pending follow-ups
forty-odd items, three teams — every loop with its pending follow-up in one view
Ayven workspace document with context
the plan lives with its why — context the whole launch team can read

threads shown are staged with our recurring cast · screenshots are the live product

04 · The checklist, if that's all you need

Phase by phase, an owner per item.

Every item gets one named owner and a date worked back from launch. "Marketing" owns nothing; a person does.

1. Positioning & pricing sign-off

One-sentence positioning agreed and written down · pricing and packaging signed off by whoever can actually say yes · naming final across product, docs, and announcement · sign-off recorded with a name and a date, not a meeting memory.

2. Scope freeze & release build

Launch scope frozen — a cut list exists and everyone has seen it · release build tagged; ship-blocking bugs triaged to zero or waived by name · feature flags and rollout plan written down · QA pass on the exact build that ships.

3. Docs & changelog

User docs drafted, reviewed by someone who didn't build the feature · changelog entry in the product's voice · screenshots match the shipping UI · docs publish scheduled to go live with the release, not after it.

4. Support readiness

Support macros and FAQ written for the questions you know are coming · support team walked through the feature before customers see it · escalation path named · known limitations documented internally so answers are consistent.

5. Tracking & analytics events

Success metrics agreed before launch day · tracking events specced, implemented, and verified firing in staging · dashboards ready so day-one numbers are readable · attribution checked end-to-end on the signup or upgrade path.

6. Announcement & assets

Announcement post drafted, reviewed, and scheduled · email, social, and in-app messages written and queued · landing page updated and staged behind the release · embargoes and publish times agreed across every channel owner.

7. Internal enablement

Sales and customer-facing teams briefed: what it is, who it's for, what it costs · demo script or sandbox account ready · internal announcement drafted so the company hears before customers ask · objection answers shared where the team will find them.

8. Legal & compliance

Terms, privacy, or DPA changes reviewed if the feature touches data · claims in the announcement checked against what the product actually does · third-party licenses cleared · sign-off recorded with a name and a date.

9. Rollback & incident plan

Rollback steps written and tested — flags off, revert path, data implications · go/no-go criteria agreed before the day, not during it · on-call owner named for launch day and the day after · status-page templates drafted for the bad timeline.

10. Launch day & the week after

Hour-by-hour run sheet: release, docs, announcement, email, social · one channel where each step is reported done · owner watching errors and support volume from the first hour · daily metrics read against success criteria · support themes routed to the product owner · fast-follow fixes owned and dated · retro.

"We already track this in Jira."

Good — keep it there. The tracker is where eng work belongs. But half this checklist can't live in a sprint board: pricing sign-off, support macros, the announcement, legal review. Those live in conversation — and Ayven holds them as loops there, with the same owners and dates as everything else. And a ticket sitting in "In progress" doesn't follow up with its assignee; Ayven does — checking the tracker before nudging, so the chase reflects the real state of the work. Rerouting, escalation, and anything drafted on your behalf are approval-gated: she proposes, the launch owner signs off.

Launch day doesn't move. Every loop should be held.

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owners chased across eng, marketing, and support · ticket-linked items verified in the tracker · one daily digest of what's truly at risk