You nailed the launch. Now what?

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📬 You Shipped. Now What?

👋 Hey friends,

This one’s for the PMs who just launched something, or are about to, and are wondering what happens after the confetti 🎉 .

A year ago, I was prepping for my first big launch at HubSpot.
It wasn’t my first launch ever, but it was my first at this scale with more moving parts, more cross-team dependencies, and more visibility than anything I’d done before.

I was nervous.
Also: it was my first-ever conference. (IYKYK.)

And yet… it went really well.
That’s the part I want to underline today.

🧡 What HubSpot Gets Right About Launches

A big reason that launch didn’t turn into chaos?
HubSpot optimizes for rollout success.

We had:
● Clear ownership
● A thoughtful comms plan
● Internal alignment rituals that actually worked
● Space to listen to customers before locking scope

We weren’t just launching a feature.
We were rolling out an experience across support, marketing, product, and more.

Now, with INBOUND 2025 coming up, I’m noticing just how much smoother things feel when that foundation is in place.

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🧰 My Go-To Post-Launch Rituals

We talk a lot about what leads up to a launch

But what happens after is where trust is built.

Here’s what we’ve prioritize now:

• Usage tracking starts Day 1

• Customer feedback, CSAT responses, screenshots all go straight into 1 source of truth slack channel.

• Launch record and KB article go live with the feature (even if its to a beta)

• We book a retro BEFORE we book the next roadmap meeting

We’ve also been carving out margin for the team:

• Weekly wraps → where are we, what are the important dates, highlights in slack

• Cutting down on meetings as we get closer to launch → avoid meeting overload

• Defined decision makers (DRI’s) for every key task

• Less chaos, more clarity

📚 Fresh Reads for Smarter Shipping

Here are a few reads that have shaped how I approach launch cycles:

• The First 90 Days by Michael D. Watkins
  Great if you’re stepping into a new PM role or leading a launch for the first time. Technically it’s a management book, but all the same principles apply to product thinking.

• Good Strategy / Bad Strategy by Richard Rumelt
  Especially useful if you’ve ever been stuck between “a lot of ideas” and “no clear plan.”

• The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande
  A reminder that even pros need a system, and simple beats clever when the stakes are high.

💬 Don’t Let the Energy Die After Launch

The best launches I’ve been part of don’t stop at “go live.”

They treat launch day as a midpoint, not the finish line.

Post-launch rituals aren’t busywork.

They’re how we listen, learn, and level up before the next release.

They’re also how we protect our team’s energy so we’re not burning out before the next sprint even starts.

Thanks for reading to the end!

Here’s to the quieter side of great launches the rituals, follow-through, and shared momentum.

See you next Friday,

– Stef

PS: A few of you mentioned wanting to connect 1:1. I just signed up as a mentor on ADPList and I’d love to meet. If you’re breaking into product, navigating early PM life, or just want to chat, I’m here.