How to launch week: Raycast
An overview of what and how Raycast shipped during their launch week.
Raycast is an app that provides developers with quick access to their tools.**
It reduces context switching with a command line inspired interface and connects with GitHub, Linear, and G Suite among others.
The company ran a launch week in July 2022.
Below are some key takeaways — an overview of what and how Raycast shipped this week.
Raycast
Extendable macOS launcher
tldr
- Announce your launch week in advance to raise awareness and start building momentum
- Launch on more places like Product Hunt and Hacker News to maximize the compound effect
- Post a recap to keep the momentum going.
how Raycast launched
announcements
Raycast made five announcements:
- Community Stories
- Look and feel
- Raycast for Teams
- Menu Bar Comments
- Community Swag
For the announcements, Raycast applied these tactics:
- Publish a preview 1 week in advance
- Publish 1 changelog post
- Publish 4 blog posts — including a recap
- Spread the news on Twitter/X
- Launched on Product Hunt and Hacker News
Raycast Changelog
A fresh look and feel
Raycast for Teams on Product Hunt
Speed up internal workflows
results
Day 0 — Jul 11, 2022 — Preview
Prior to the launch week, Raycast posted a preview on socials to start building momentum.
- Likes: 300
- Reposts: 26
Day 1 — Jul 18, 2022 - Community Stories
- Likes: 141
- Reposts: 28
Day 2 - Jul 19, 2022 - Look and feel
- Likes: 435
- Reposts: 41
// Raycast announced this update in a blog Post and release note. They also dropped a preview on socials.
Day 3 - Jul 20, 2022 - Raycast for Teams
- Likes: 249
- Reposts: 36
// Raycast announced Raycast for Teams in a blog post. They also launched on Product Hunt, and ranked #4 Product of the Day.
Day 4 — Jul 21, 2022 — Menu Bar Commands
- Likes: 249
- Reposts: 36
// Raycast published a technical behind-the-scenes post and submitted it on Hacker News.
Day 5 — Jul 22, 2022 — Community Swag
- Likes: 197
- Reposts: 182
Raycast on X — Day 0
Preview
Raycast on X — Day 1
Introducing Community Stories
Raycast on X — Day 2
Introducing a new look and feel
Raycast on X — Day 3
Introducing Raycast for Teams
Raycast on X — Day 4
Introducing Menu Bar Commands
Raycast on X — Day 5
Introducing Community Swag
keep momentum
To wrap up this launch week, Raycast also published a recap on their blog — and reposted it on socials.
Raycast Launch Week Summary
An overview of what Raycast shipped during their launch week
key takeaways
Some learnings from this launch week:
- Announce your launch week in advance to raise awareness and start building momentum. Raycast started 1 week in advance.
- Launch on more places like Product Hunt and Hacker News to maximize the compound effect.
- Post a recap of your announcements to keep the momentum going. This could still reach people who either forgot, ignored, or missed them the first time.
That’s a wrap!
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