Most first products die in one of two ways: they are never finished, or they are finished and launched into silence. Both deaths come from the same mistake - treating the launch as a single heroic act instead of six small, checkable steps. This is the checklist, in the order that ships.
1. Pick the smallest complete thing
One problem, one audience, one format. Not a course with twelve modules - the single artifact that solves the problem completely. "A spreadsheet that tracks X", not "everything about X". The test: a stranger can tell you what it does in one sentence, and nothing in that sentence needs a demo call.
2. Prove someone wants it
Ten real people, asked directly - not "do you like this idea" but "would you pay $X for this".
Count only specifics. "Sounds cool" is a no. "Can I have it this week?" is a maybe.
No takers at ten? The problem is the pick, not the pitch. Return to step 1 - this is the cheapest failure you will ever buy.
The pre-sell test, if you can bear it: offer it for sale before it exists, with a ship date. Three real orders before you build is worth more than three hundred likes.
3. Build it in a day
The first version gets built with tools you already know, in one sitting, scoped to the promise - the promise and nothing else. Every extra feature is a reason to not ship. Polish pass two, ship pass one. Version two is earned by buyers, not imagined in advance.
4. Price above the fee floor
Marketplaces take roughly 10-30% plus payment fees. At low prices the fee eats the product: a $3 product pays about $2.20, so a $100 month needs 46 sales. Price to survive, not to be liked. The honest range for a working tool or playbook that saves real hours: $12-40. Cheap signals cheap; a fair price signals that you will still be here in six months to fix it.
5. Publish like the listing is the product page
Summary: one line, the outcome, no adjectives that need proving.
Description: answer the three real questions - what is it, what do I get, what happens if it is not right.
Proof: one screenshot or sample beats a paragraph of claims.
6. Launch week: quiet, honest, daily
Tell the ten people from step 2 first. They asked; they get the link.
One post per channel per day - value first, link where the platform allows.
A real discount has a real expiry you keep. Fake countdowns get listings reported and trust burned.
Answer every question within the day. The first buyer's experience is the second buyer's research.
What this checklist does not include
No launch video. No landing page builder. No 47-email sequence. The first launch is a test of the system: can you pick, prove, build, price, publish, and tell people? A system that produces its first sale is worth more than a perfect launch that produces applause.