Your MVP Is Done. Now What? A 90-Day GTM Playbook

You built it. They haven't come. Here's the actual launch sequence.

You spent 4 months building.

You launched. Tweeted. Posted on LinkedIn.

Silence.

 

You're not alone. We've launched 14 software products. The first 5 were quiet. The last 9 weren't.

The difference wasn't luck. It was sequence.

 

Days 1–30: Pre-Launch (No Public Announcements)

Mistake: Build in stealth, then announce to world.

Problem: First users find bugs, get confused, churn, never return.

Our playbook:

Week 1–2: Identify 20–50 pilot users. People who actually have the problem. No ads. No landing page. Just conversations.

Week 3–4: Onboard them manually. Watch them use it.

Learn: Where they pause. What they ask. Where they almost quit.

Fix these before anyone else sees the product.

Success signal: 30% of pilot users return 3x+ without you emailing them.

 

Days 31–60: Soft Launch (Limited Audience)

Mistake: Product Hunt on day 1.

Problem: Traffic spike, then flatline. You used your "launch" energy on an audience that doesn't stick.

Our playbook:

Week 5–6: Invite-only. Waitlist or referral.

Goal: 100–200 weekly active users.

Measure: Activation rate. Retention. Support contact rate.

Week 7–8: One piece of useful content.

Not: "We're excited to announce…"

Instead: "How to [solve problem] without [pain]"

Distribute: One channel. Where users already are.

 

 

Days 61–90: Go-to-Market (Public)

Mistake: Launch to "everyone," reach no one.

Our playbook:

Week 9–10: Nail the funnel math.

Retention <20%? Don't spend on acquisition. Fix product.

Retention >20%? You can scale.

Week 11–12: One paid channel. $3–5k budget.

Measure: Cost per activated user, not cost per click.

Success signal: Cost per retained user < 3x monthly price (SaaS) or payback <6 months (transactional).

 

The First 90 Days

Days	Focus	Budget	Success Metric
1–30	Pilot users	$0	30% return rate
31–60	Product refinement	Low	>20% retention
61–90	One channel test	Moderate	Unit economics

 

 

What We Don't Do

❌ Press releases on launch day. Nobody cares.

❌ Multiple channels at once. You won't know what worked.

❌ Discounts as acquisition. Attracts price-sensitive users who leave.

❌ "Launching soon" pages. Low-intent leads rarely convert.

 

Your MVP Is Done. What's Your Retention Number?

Option A: Hire a marketing agency. Spend $20–50k. Learn whether your product retains users (should've learned this earlier).

Option B: Do it in order. Pilot users. Retention validation. THEN paid acquisition.

We do Option B. Not because we're noble, because we've watched clients burn money on Option A.