Launching Blindfolded? Why Your Product Team Shouldn't Go Solo
Cross-functional readiness is your secret weapon for turning product launches into growth machines.
Early in one of my first CMO roles, our product team was gearing up to launch an exciting new product. They nailed the market research, excelled in focus groups, and crafted something genuinely groundbreaking. Launch day arrived, the website update went live…and that was it.
Why the anticlimax? Because marketing, sales, and customer success were notified about the launch just one week beforehand. Cross-functional collaboration wasn’t prioritized, and the GTM engine wasn't even warmed up. Predictably, the product launch didn't just fall flat—it crashed face-first.
Sadly, this isn't unusual. Whether launching a brand-new product, an incremental update, or a minor bug fix, many organizations miss the chance to leverage their full GTM powerhouse. The cost of this missed opportunity? Lost momentum, lack of buzz, and disappointing results.
Throughout my career, I've witnessed launches that range from impressive triumphs to tragic fiascos. Over time, I've built a playbook to ensure the latter never happens again.
First Things First: Types of Product Launches
A product launch is the event or moment when a company introduces (or reintroduces) a product into the market. Launches can be categorized by their scope and/or target audiences but generally fall into one of three types:
Soft Launch: Releasing to a controlled, limited audience to validate an idea, gather feedback, and fine-tune before the big reveal.
Minimal Launch (MVP): Launching core features early to capture market feedback swiftly, enabling quick iterations and product improvements.
Full-Scale Launch: The big bang—a fully-baked product with complete features and a comprehensive GTM push.
Aligning your cross-functional plan to your type of launch is crucial. You don't roll out a massive GTM blitz for a soft launch, and a full-scale launch deserves more than a quiet blog post.
Cross-Functional Launch Readiness: Whose Job Is It, Anyway?
In theory, every department—marketing, sales, CS, finance, and beyond—should be perfectly aligned and ready to go on launch day. In practice, this doesn’t always happen. I recently asked my followers on LinkedIn who owned cross-functional launch readiness and 67% shared the product leader was responsible. However, I had several people reach out to me to share ownership is much more nuanced, and a bit messy.
Too often, "readiness" becomes a simple checklist item rather than a priority. Leaders say they're ready when asked, but without actual cross-functional plans or meaningful alignment, launches frequently fall short. One executive confessed, “Nobody was ready to market, sell, or service our customers effectively. We had to admit to the board our failure—and the GTM team bore that burden.”
Early in my career, I decided I'd never stand in front of a board again explaining a failure rooted in poor cross-functional alignment. While the product team owns the product itself, a GTM leader needs to step up and partner with the product team to own cross-functional readiness. It's not about taking over—it’s about genuine collaboration and ensuring every piece is in place for success.
My Go-To Launch Blueprint
I leverage the Gartner Product Launch template, augmented with insights earned the hard way.
Example: Product Launch template
Here's how it looks in practice:
Annual Alignment (12 Months Out): Collaborate closely with the product team during yearly planning to understand upcoming launches and resource requirements.
Initial Cross-Functional Kickoff (10 Months Out): Convene product, finance, and GTM leaders. Define launch type, scope, roles, and identify dependencies for tasks like audience segmentation, messaging, competitive intelligence, enablement, and more.
Agree on Success Metrics: Work cross-functionally to define clear, measurable goals. Ensure the strategy and execution plan can realistically deliver those metrics.
Ownership and Accountability: Assign clear task owners and dates. GTM and product leaders review and lock this down early.
Regular Cadence: Initiate bi-weekly meetings at least 8 months out, switching to weekly 3 months before launch. All teams update their progress proactively before meetings, highlighting roadblocks and addressing risks swiftly. The cross-functional leader is responsible for understanding any blockers and working to resolve them.
Go/No-Go Checkpoints: Plan multiple checkpoints—at midpoint and again 4 weeks pre-launch—to confirm readiness or adjust as necessary.
Detailed Final Reviews: Two weeks pre-launch, validate analyst feedback, and finalize billing and marketing elements. All training should be complete. One week out, confirm everything except final marketing pushes is complete.
Launch Day Coordination: Comprehensive final review day before launch. On launch day, provide an end-of-day summary to highlight successes and rapidly solve issues.
Post-Launch Review: Conduct a cross-functional retrospective the following week to evaluate the process, review metrics, address lingering issues, and capture learnings for next time.
Regularly revisiting launch performance against success metrics keeps the team aligned and accountable. This rigor ensures continual improvement and makes cross-functional readiness second nature.
The Bottom Line
Product launches are collaborative team sports—not solo ventures. They need proactive, engaged, cross-functional leadership. The good news? With clear ownership, regular check-ins, and a culture of genuine collaboration, your launches can become reliable drivers of growth instead of unpredictable gambles.
I’m passionate about this approach because it consistently works. The choice is yours: launch blindfolded and hope for the best—or adopt a clear, disciplined plan for cross-functional success.
Ready to Transform Your Next Launch?
Evaluate your current cross-functional launch process today. Are roles clear? Is accountability established? If not, now is the moment to take action. Don’t let another launch go sideways—own it, lead it, and watch your product soar.
And if you need a seasoned partner to guide your next product launch from good intentions to great results, I’m just a message away. Let’s talk!
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