# Week 1 Launch Checklist

**Date:** November 2, 2025  
**Purpose:** Step-by-step guide for ultra-minimal launch  
**Status:** Ready to execute

---

## 🎯 Goal

**NOT:** Mass launch, 100 users, perfect product  
**YES:** 3-5 early adopters, validation someone will pay, feedback

---

## ✅ Pre-Launch (Days 1-8)

### Technical (Days 1-7)
- [ ] Clear DB blocker (2 days)
- [ ] Align endpoints (2 days)
- [ ] Build Prompt URLs (3 days)
- [ ] Test generation flow end-to-end
- [ ] Verify Prompt Enhancement working

### Non-Technical (Day 8)

**Landing Page (2 hours):**
- [ ] Hero section with value prop
- [ ] 3 bullet points (what it does)
- [ ] Pricing (Free/Credits/Pro)
- [ ] Email signup CTA
- [ ] Deploy to Vercel/Netlify

**Documentation (2 hours):**
- [ ] Prompt URLs format + example
- [ ] API curl example
- [ ] "Email for API key" instruction
- [ ] Deploy docs page

**Signup Flow (30 min):**
- [ ] Create Google Form (Name, Email, Use case)
- [ ] Setup auto-reply email
- [ ] Prepare API key email template

**Stripe (1 hour):**
- [ ] Create Stripe account if needed
- [ ] Test invoice generation
- [ ] Prepare invoice template

---

## 🚀 Launch Day (Day 9)

### Morning (9-10 AM)

**Reddit r/cursor:**
- [ ] Post title: "Show HN: Generate images in Cursor without context switching"
- [ ] Body: Problem → Solution → Early access call
- [ ] Include example Prompt URL
- [ ] Link to landing page

**Discord Cursor:**
- [ ] Post shorter version in #share channel
- [ ] Monitor reactions

### Throughout Day (10 AM - 10 PM)

**Engagement:**
- [ ] Answer every comment within 1 hour
- [ ] Collect all feedback in spreadsheet
- [ ] Note feature requests
- [ ] Send API keys to first responders

**Manual Process:**
1. Someone fills Google Form
2. Review submission (good fit?)
3. If yes: Send Stripe invoice
4. After payment: Email API key
5. Check in next day: "How's it working?"

---

## 📊 Tracking (End of Day 9)

**Count:**
- Signups: _____
- Paid: _____
- Active users: _____
- Feedback themes: _____

**Questions to answer:**
- [ ] Did anyone pay? (minimum validation)
- [ ] What's the #1 requested feature?
- [ ] Is messaging clear? (confused comments?)
- [ ] Is enhancement value visible? (quality feedback?)

---

## 🎯 Success Criteria

**Minimum Viable Success:**
- ✅ 3 people try it
- ✅ 1 person pays (any amount)
- ✅ 5+ said "interesting, but need X"

**Strong Signal:**
- ✅ 5+ people try it
- ✅ 2+ people pay
- ✅ Clear feature request pattern (e.g., "all want MCP")

**Failure Signal:**
- ❌ <2 people try it
- ❌ No one willing to pay
- ❌ Confused responses ("what is this?")

---

## 🔄 Post-Launch (Days 10-14)

### If Success:
- [ ] Fix top 2 feedback issues (Days 10-11)
- [ ] Build most requested feature (Days 12-14)
- [ ] Plan Week 2 expansion (Dev.to post?)

### If Unclear:
- [ ] Schedule 1-on-1 calls with all early adopters
- [ ] Ask: What worked? What didn't? Would you pay $X?
- [ ] Iterate based on insights

### If Failure:
- [ ] Schedule analysis session with @men
- [ ] Review: Wrong messaging? Wrong segment? Wrong product?
- [ ] Decide: Pivot or stop?

---

## 📝 Copy Templates

### Reddit Post

```markdown
Title: Show HN: Generate images in Cursor without context switching

Hey r/cursor! Built a tool to generate images directly in your workflow.

**Problem:** 
- Stock photos (Unsplash MCP) = generic, overused
- Midjourney = Discord, manual save, context switching

**Solution:** 
Prompt URLs that work like this:
<img src="https://banatie.app/gen?prompt=hero+image&aspect=16:9" />

**Our trick:** 
AI enhances your prompt for professional quality.
"hero image" → "professional SaaS hero, modern gradient, 4K, clean UI"

**Early access:** 
10 free images to try. $20 for 200 images after that.

Link: [your-landing-page]

Looking for 5-10 early users for feedback. 
What features matter most to you?
```

### Auto-Reply Email

```
Subject: Your Banatie API Key (24h)

Hi [Name],

Thanks for your interest in Banatie!

I'll review your submission and send:
1. Stripe invoice for $20 (200 images credit)
2. Your API key within 24 hours

Quick start once you have your key:
https://docs.banatie.app/quickstart

Questions? Just reply to this email.

- Oleg
```

### API Key Email

```
Subject: Your Banatie API Key

Hi [Name],

Your API key: [KEY]

Quick start:
<img src="https://banatie.app/gen?prompt=YOUR_PROMPT&aspect=16:9&key=[KEY]" />

Docs: https://docs.banatie.app

Feedback? I'm all ears. Reply anytime.

- Oleg
```

---

## 🎯 Day 9 Hourly Schedule (Example)

**9:00 AM** - Post to Reddit r/cursor  
**9:15 AM** - Post to Discord Cursor  
**9:30 AM** - Monitor responses, respond immediately  
**10:00 AM** - First signups coming in, review forms  
**11:00 AM** - Send invoices to good fits  
**12:00 PM** - Lunch break, check payment status  
**1:00 PM** - First payment? Send API key!  
**2:00 PM** - Check in with early users: "How's it working?"  
**3:00 PM** - Compile feedback themes  
**4:00 PM** - Continue responding to comments  
**6:00 PM** - Evening check: metrics count  
**8:00 PM** - Final responses, plan Day 10  
**10:00 PM** - End tracking, write summary  

---

## 💡 Key Reminders

**Week 1 = Experiment, not Product**
- Simple is better than polished
- 3-5 users > 100 confused visitors
- Feedback > features
- Fast iteration > perfect launch

**You're selling to early adopters:**
- They tolerate rough edges
- They want to shape the product
- They value solution over polish
- They'll give honest feedback

**Manual processes are OK:**
- Email API keys manually
- Send Stripe invoices manually
- This doesn't scale, that's fine
- Automate only after validation

---

**Created:** November 2, 2025  
**Owner:** Oleg  
**Execute:** After DB blocker cleared (Day 5-9)