The MVP Launch Checklist: 30 Things to Do Before Going Live

The Complete MVP Launch Checklist

You've built your MVP. The features work, the design looks good, and you're itching to share it with the world. But before you flip the switch, there are critical items that can make or break your launch.

Here's the complete MVP launch checklist — 30 items across technical, marketing, legal, and operations categories. Not all will apply to every product, but reviewing each one will prevent the "oh no, we forgot about that" moments.

Technical (Items 1-12)

Security

• 1. SSL certificate installed — Your site must load over HTTPS. No exceptions.
• 2. Authentication tested — Login, logout, password reset, and session expiry all work correctly.
• 3. Input validation — All user inputs are validated server-side (not just client-side).
• 4. Environment variables secured — No API keys, passwords, or secrets in your codebase.
• 5. CORS configured — Only your domain(s) can access your API.

Performance

• 6. Page load under 3 seconds — Run Lighthouse and fix anything below 90 performance score.
• 7. Images optimized — Use Next.js Image component or similar for automatic optimization.
• 8. Mobile responsive — Test on real devices, not just browser dev tools.

Infrastructure

• 9. Production environment configured — Separate from development/staging.
• 10. Database backups enabled — Automated daily backups with tested restore process.
• 11. Error monitoring set up — Sentry, LogRocket, or similar to catch production errors.
• 12. Uptime monitoring active — Better Uptime, Pingdom, or similar to alert you when the site goes down.

Marketing (Items 13-20)

SEO and Discovery

• 13. Meta tags on every page — Title (under 60 chars), description (under 155 chars), OG image.
• 14. Sitemap generated — Submit to Google Search Console.
• 15. robots.txt configured — Allow search engines to crawl public pages.
• 16. Google Search Console connected — Verify your domain and submit sitemap.

Analytics

• 17. Analytics installed — Google Analytics, Mixpanel, PostHog, or Vercel Analytics.
• 18. Conversion tracking set up — Track sign-ups, purchases, and key actions.
• 19. UTM parameters ready — For tracking which channels drive traffic.

Launch Marketing

• 20. Launch announcement ready — Email, social media posts, Product Hunt listing (if applicable).

Legal (Items 21-25)

• 21. Privacy Policy published — Required by law in most jurisdictions. Cover what data you collect, how you use it, and how users can request deletion.
• 22. Terms of Service published — Define acceptable use, liability limits, and dispute resolution.
• 23. Cookie consent banner — Required in the EU (GDPR) and increasingly elsewhere.
• 24. GDPR compliance — If serving EU users: data processing agreements, right to deletion, data export capability.
• 25. Business entity formed — LLC, Corp, or equivalent in your jurisdiction.

Operations (Items 26-30)

• 26. Support channel active — Email, chat widget, or help center — users need a way to reach you.
• 27. Onboarding flow tested — Walk through the complete new user experience from sign-up to first value.
• 28. Payment flow tested — Make real purchases (and refunds) with test and live payment methods.
• 29. Team notification alerts configured — Get notified for new sign-ups, errors, and support requests.
• 30. Post-launch monitoring plan — Who's watching for issues in the first 48 hours? Have someone available.

The Launch Day Process

Before Launch (Morning)

1. Run through the checklist one final time
2. Test the complete user flow in production
3. Make a payment and verify it processes correctly
4. Check all notification emails are sending
5. Verify monitoring dashboards are active

Launch

1. Make the site publicly accessible (remove password protection, update DNS)
2. Send launch announcement to your list
3. Post on social media
4. Submit to Product Hunt, Hacker News, or relevant communities
5. Monitor error tracking for any spikes

First 48 Hours Post-Launch

1. Watch error monitoring like a hawk
2. Respond to every support request within 2 hours
3. Track sign-up numbers and conversion rates
4. Note user feedback — what confuses people?
5. Fix critical bugs immediately, log everything else for next sprint

What to Do When Things Go Wrong

They will. Something will break on launch day. Here's your emergency playbook:

After Launch: The First 30 Days

Launch isn't the finish line — it's the starting line. Your first 30 days should focus on:

Week 1: Fix critical bugs, respond to all feedback, improve onboarding based on user confusion Week 2: Analyze user behavior data, identify drop-off points, prioritize improvements Week 3-4: Ship the top 3 improvements based on real user feedback

The best MVPs evolve rapidly after launch. Ship fast, learn faster.

Need help launching your MVP? Talk to our team — we handle everything from development to launch prep, so you can focus on your users.