Run · beginner · 15 min read

The Post-Launch Checklist: 15 Things to Set Up After You Ship

Domain, analytics, payments, email, CRM, SEO, social — the complete operational checklist for non-technical founders.

Published March 15, 2026 ·
launchchecklistoperationsdeploymentanalyticspayments

You shipped. The app works. Congratulations — you’ve done what 90% of people who say “I have an idea for an app” never do. Now comes the part nobody talks about: everything that happens after.

Building the product was the first mountain. Running the business around it is the second, and it’s bigger than it looks. There’s infrastructure to set up, tools to configure, channels to establish, and operational foundations to lay. Skip these and you’ll scramble to set them up later while simultaneously trying to grow — a miserable experience.

This checklist covers the 15 things you should set up in the first two weeks after launch, organized in the order you should tackle them. Each item links to a detailed guide where relevant. Plan to spend 2-3 hours per day for about a week, and you’ll have a fully operational business foundation.

Week 1: The Foundation

1. Deploy to Production

Your app needs to be on the internet, running reliably, with automatic redeploys when you push code. If you’re still running locally or on a preview URL, this is step zero.

Action items:

  • Choose a hosting platform (Vercel for frontend apps, Railway for backend-heavy apps, Netlify for static sites)
  • Connect your GitHub repository for automatic deploys
  • Verify the app works on the production URL
  • Set up environment variables for production (API keys, database URLs, secrets)

Time: 30 minutes

Detailed guide: How to Deploy Your App

2. Set Up Your Custom Domain

A .vercel.app or .railway.app URL signals “this isn’t a real business.” A custom domain costs $12/year and takes 20 minutes to set up.

Action items:

  • Buy a domain from Cloudflare Registrar (cheapest, best DNS)
  • Add DNS records pointing to your hosting platform
  • Configure HTTPS (automatic on all major platforms)
  • Set up www-to-root redirect (or vice versa)
  • Update all links and references to use the new domain

Time: 20 minutes (plus up to 48 hours for DNS propagation)

Detailed guide: How to Buy a Domain and Point It at Your App

3. Install Analytics

You cannot improve what you don’t measure. Install analytics before you start marketing, not after. Every day without tracking is data you’ll never recover.

Action items:

  • Choose your analytics tool (Plausible for simplicity, PostHog for product analytics, GA4 for free advanced features)
  • Add the tracking script to your site
  • Verify data is flowing by visiting your site and checking the dashboard
  • Set up one goal/conversion event for your primary action (signup, purchase, etc.)

Time: 15 minutes

Detailed guide: Set Up Analytics in 30 Minutes

4. Set Up Error Monitoring

Your app will break in production. The question is whether you find out from an error monitoring tool or from an angry customer email.

Action items:

  • Sign up for Sentry (free tier covers most startups)
  • Install the Sentry SDK for your framework
  • Configure alerts to notify you via email or Slack when errors occur
  • Test by triggering a deliberate error and confirming you receive the alert

Time: 20 minutes

5. Accept Payments

If your product costs money, start accepting payments immediately. Every day you offer something for free “until payments are set up” is a day you’re training users to expect free.

Action items:

  • Choose your payment platform (LemonSqueezy for simplicity and tax handling, Stripe for maximum control)
  • Create your products and pricing
  • Integrate checkout into your app (Stripe Checkout or LemonSqueezy overlay)
  • Set up webhook handlers for payment events
  • Test the entire flow with test cards
  • Go live and process your first real payment

Time: 1-2 hours

Detailed guide: Start Accepting Payments

Week 1-2: Growth Infrastructure

6. Start Building Your Email List

Your email list is the most valuable marketing asset you’ll own. Start collecting addresses from day one, even if you don’t send emails yet.

Action items:

  • Choose your email platform (Beehiiv for newsletters, ConvertKit for product-focused businesses)
  • Create a signup form with a compelling value proposition
  • Add the form to your site’s homepage and footer
  • Create a welcome email that sends automatically to new subscribers
  • Optionally create a lead magnet (checklist, template, or guide) to incentivize signups

Time: 45 minutes

Detailed guide: Email Marketing from Zero

7. Set Up SEO Basics

SEO takes months to produce results, which is exactly why you should start now. The technical foundation takes 30 minutes and pays dividends for years.

Action items:

  • Create a Google Search Console account and verify your domain
  • Submit your sitemap
  • Ensure every page has a unique title tag and meta description
  • Verify your site is mobile-friendly
  • Install a basic SEO tool (Ubersuggest free tier) and identify 10 target keywords

Time: 30 minutes

Detailed guide: SEO for Non-Technical Founders

8. Create Social Media Profiles

Even if you’re not posting daily, claim your brand name on the platforms your customers use. An empty profile is better than a missing one.

Action items:

  • Create profiles on your two primary platforms (pick based on where your customers are)
  • Add your logo, description, and website link
  • Post an announcement about your launch
  • Follow 20-30 accounts in your space
  • Set up a scheduling tool (Buffer or Typefully)

Time: 30 minutes

Detailed guide: Social Media Management When You’re the Whole Team

9. Set Up a CRM (If Applicable)

If your business involves talking to customers individually — B2B sales, high-touch onboarding, partnership outreach — set up a CRM now, before you lose track of conversations.

Action items:

  • Sign up for HubSpot (free) or Pipedrive (14-day trial)
  • Import existing contacts
  • Set up your deal pipeline with 4-5 stages
  • Configure email integration to auto-log conversations
  • Create your first deals for active conversations

Time: 30 minutes

Detailed guide: Your First CRM: HubSpot vs Pipedrive

10. Create Your Visual Brand Assets

You need a minimal set of visual assets for your profiles, social content, and marketing materials. AI tools make this a 30-minute task instead of a week-long design project.

Action items:

  • Generate a hero image for your website using Midjourney or DALL-E
  • Create social media profile images and banners in Canva
  • Set up a Canva brand kit with your colors and fonts
  • Create 2-3 social media post templates you can reuse
  • Generate a few generic brand images for future use

Time: 30 minutes

Detailed guide: AI Image Generation for Founders

Week 2: Operational Excellence

11. Record a Product Demo Video

A product demo video on your landing page increases conversion rates dramatically. With AI video tools, you can create one in 15 minutes.

Action items:

  • Write a 150-word script covering what your product does and a quick walkthrough
  • Screen-record the core product flow
  • Add narration (HeyGen avatar, Descript self-recording, or CapCut text-to-speech)
  • Add captions
  • Embed on your landing page

Time: 30 minutes

Detailed guide: Create Marketing Videos with AI

12. Establish a Content Pipeline

Content marketing is a long game. The sooner you start publishing useful content consistently, the sooner you build organic traffic and audience trust.

Action items:

  • Create a content ideas list (10 topics your customers would find useful)
  • Write and publish your first article using the AI content pipeline
  • Schedule social media distribution for the article
  • Set a recurring calendar reminder for weekly content creation

Time: 45 minutes for the first article

Detailed guide: The AI Content Pipeline

This isn’t the most exciting item, but skipping it creates real risk.

Action items:

  • Add a Privacy Policy to your site (Termly or iubenda generate free, compliant policies)
  • Add Terms of Service (same tools)
  • If you use cookies or analytics that require consent (GA4), add a cookie consent banner
  • If you’re in the EU or serving EU customers, ensure GDPR compliance
  • Consider forming an LLC or equivalent entity (consult a local resource)

Time: 30 minutes for policies, longer for entity formation

14. Set Up Backup and Recovery

If your database disappears tomorrow, can you recover? Most founders don’t think about backups until it’s too late.

Action items:

  • Verify your hosting platform’s backup policy (Railway and most managed databases include daily backups)
  • If using a self-managed database, set up automated backups to cloud storage
  • Test a restore from backup — an untested backup is not a backup
  • Ensure your code is version-controlled in GitHub (it should be already)

Time: 20 minutes

15. Create a Launch Announcement

You’ve set up the infrastructure. Now tell people. A proper launch announcement amplifies your reach and establishes your presence.

Action items:

  • Write a launch post for your two primary social platforms
  • Send an email to your existing list (even if it’s 10 people)
  • Post on Product Hunt (schedule for Tuesday-Thursday for best visibility)
  • Post on IndieHackers and relevant communities
  • Email friends, former colleagues, and anyone who might spread the word
  • Create a short launch video to accompany the posts

Time: 1 hour

The Two-Week Timeline

Here’s how to sequence everything without overwhelming yourself:

Day 1: Deploy to production (#1) + Custom domain (#2)

Day 2: Analytics (#3) + Error monitoring (#4)

Day 3: Payments (#5) — this takes the longest, give it a full session

Day 4: Email list (#6) + SEO basics (#7)

Day 5: Social media profiles (#8) + CRM (#9, if applicable)

Day 6: Visual brand assets (#10) + Product demo video (#11)

Day 7: Content pipeline (#12) — publish your first article

Day 8: Legal basics (#13) + Backups (#14)

Day 9-10: Launch announcement (#15) + catch up on anything you missed

After the Checklist

Once these 15 items are in place, you have a fully operational business. Not a finished business — a business with the infrastructure to grow. The next phase is iteration:

  • Publish content weekly using your pipeline
  • Monitor analytics and double down on what works
  • Talk to customers constantly and feed insights back into the product
  • Review your CRM weekly and follow up on every lead
  • Check your SEO dashboard monthly and adjust your content strategy
  • Experiment with one new marketing channel per month

The checklist is the foundation. What you build on it determines whether your product becomes a business. The tools are set up. The channels are live. The infrastructure is running. Now the real work begins — the daily, unglamorous work of serving customers, creating content, and iterating on your product.

Ship the checklist. Then get back to building.

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