{
 "id": "15.5",
 "title": "Launch tiers and playbooks",
 "department": "Product marketing",
 "department_slug": "product-marketing",
 "direction": null,
 "branded": false,
 "status": "draft",
 "owner": "Param",
 "last_verified": "Mon Oct 26",
 "holds": "What a tier one, two or three launch gets; the playbook for each version, v1 to v4",
 "urls": {
  "html": "https://handbook.joinsquareup.com/product-marketing/launch-tiers-and-playbooks",
  "markdown": "https://handbook.joinsquareup.com/product-marketing/launch-tiers-and-playbooks.md",
  "json": "https://handbook.joinsquareup.com/product-marketing/launch-tiers-and-playbooks.json"
 },
 "other_directions": [],
 "tldr": {
  "headline": "Three launch tiers, one playbook per version, and no launch date",
  "points": [
   {
    "icon": "rocket",
    "text": "Tier one is a new version, tier two a new thing, tier three a fix."
   },
   {
    "icon": "people",
    "text": "For tier one, a founder tells each partner first, before any public word."
   },
   {
    "icon": "flag",
    "text": "A version is never announced before it is live on production."
   },
   {
    "icon": "clock",
    "text": "Reads open in small batches as partners say it works."
   },
   {
    "icon": "warn",
    "text": "No launch date, public launch day, product name or first market is decided."
   }
  ],
  "stat": {
   "value": "12",
   "label": "months customers keep price"
  },
  "decide": "Is there a public launch day at all, or do reads open in batches?",
  "mood": "waiting"
 },
 "sources": [
  "brand-directions/book/content/h.js h-6 programme, timeline, launch; h-1 gtm-versions",
  "brew origin/main a559de6: legal-pages.js:36-40; public/app.js:404; SCOPE.md:36-39; tools/promote.sh",
  "brew working tree docs/pricing.md:40, untracked",
  "handbook content/product-marketing/release-notes.md, generated; content/marketing-and-growth/go-to-market.md",
  "memory: brew-prod-backend, prod-clean-only, brew-live-stores, brew-pricing-parked, brand-directions-2026-10-25"
 ],
 "open_questions": [
  "**Is there a public launch day at all?** Proposal: no single day; open reads in small batches and treat v2 as the first tier one launch.",
  "**Who calls the tier?** Proposal: Param, at planning, in the release's first line.",
  "**Does the name come before any launch?** Proposal: yes; no tier one or two launch goes public before the name and the direction are picked.",
  "**When do reads open past the five partners?** Proposal: when two partners hand off weekly for three weeks running, the same bar as v2 planning."
 ],
 "parts": {
  "Answer": "Every change brands will notice gets one of three tiers, and each tier gets a fixed kit; each version opening, v1 to v4, has its own playbook; no launch date exists, so reads open in small batches as design partners tell us it works.",
  "Today": "### Where we are\n\n| Fact | Source |\n|---|---|\n| Brew is in a design partner preview, free, and full terms come before it opens to everyone | [src: brew/legal-pages.js:36-40] |\n| The landing says Design partner preview | [src: brew/public/app.js:404] |\n| Five design partner prospects live on production since 25 Oct; Cozy Snugglet and Zenant are our test brands | [src: memory brew-live-stores] [src: memory brew-prod-backend] |\n| Every release goes staging first, then the same image is promoted to production behind a clean gate | [src: memory brew-prod-backend] [src: memory prod-clean-only] |\n| Release notes are written from the changelog on every build | [src: handbook content/product-marketing/release-notes.md] |\n| No launch date, no public launch day, no product name decided | [src: brand-directions/book/content/h.js h-6 launch] [src: memory brand-directions-2026-10-25] |\n| The first market and the first 100 brands are not decided | [src: handbook content/marketing-and-growth/go-to-market.md] |\n\n### The openings the old book planned\n\n| Opening | What it needs first | Source |\n|---|---|---|\n| Second partner cycle | First cycle notes reviewed, the first run pieces shipped | [src: brand-directions/book/content/h.js h-6 launch] |\n| Open reads | Read cost under control, the cap lifted honestly | [src: brand-directions/book/content/h.js h-6 launch] |\n| v2 | Posting with approval and undo, tested with partners | [src: brand-directions/book/content/h.js h-6 launch] |\n| v3 | How it went per live pick | [src: brand-directions/book/content/h.js h-6 launch] |\n| v4 | Rules and budget limits set by the founder | [src: brand-directions/book/content/h.js h-6 launch] |\n\nEach opening got the same small kit in the old book: a reel in the character's voice, a founder post, an email to the waitlist and a note to partners first [src: brand-directions/book/content/h.js h-6 launch].\n\n### What may be said at each version\n\n| Version | May say | Must never say yet | Source |\n|---|---|---|---|\n| v1, today | Reads your store, drafts ideas, hands off to your team, your agency or our team | It posts, sends, schedules, launches or measures | [src: brand-directions/book/content/h.js h-1 gtm-versions] [src: brew/SCOPE.md:36-39] |\n| v2 | Posts and schedules on your accounts, after your yes | It measures results | [src: brand-directions/book/content/h.js h-1 gtm-versions] |\n| v3 | Shows how each live pick went | It runs ads alone | [src: brand-directions/book/content/h.js h-1 gtm-versions] |\n| v4 | Runs ads inside rules and a budget you set | Anything beyond the rules | [src: brand-directions/book/content/h.js h-1 gtm-versions] |",
  "Tomorrow": "### Three tiers, proposed\n\n| Tier | What earns it | Example | Kit | Version | Tag |\n|---|---|---|---|---|---|\n| One | A new version, or a new power brands must say yes to | v2 posting with your yes | Partners told first by a founder, then a release note, a founder post, a reel, an email to everyone waiting, the demo and docs updated the same day | v2 to v4 | New |\n| Two | A new thing inside the current version | The Brand Book, the viral video finder, a new connector | Release note, a line in the Friday partner note, one post, the demo updated | v1 | New |\n| Three | A fix or a change in wording | A layout fix, a healed draft | Release note only | v1 | New |\n\n### The playbook for each version\n\n| Version | Before it opens | The message | Who hears first | Never | Tag |\n|---|---|---|---|---|---|\n| v1 | Partners hand off weekly; reads cost under control | Your week's marketing, drafted. You pick, someone ships | The five partners, then reads in small batches | A countdown or a fake spot left | v1, New |\n| v2 | Posting with approval and undo tested on test brands, then partners | Your picks go out on your accounts, only after your yes | Partners who already hand off weekly | Auto posting without a yes | v2, New |\n| v3 | Results tied to the Play that made them, on real accounts | Every pick that went live comes back with how it went | Partners with posts live on v2 | A lift we did not measure | v3, New |\n| v4 | Rules, a budget cap and undo, set by the founder | Ads run inside the rules and budget you set | Partners who ask for it | Spend beyond the rules | v4, New |\n| Every version | Current customers keep their price for 12 months, then move with 30 days' notice, once pricing is live | | | | v2 to v4, New, proposed [src: brew working tree docs/pricing.md:40] |",
  "How we do it": "1. Name the tier when the change is planned, not after it ships.\n2. Ship to staging, check on the five partners, then promote:\n\n```\ncd /Users/param/Documents/ChatGPT/brew && tools/promote.sh\n```\n\n3. Tier three: the release note writes itself from the changelog. Do nothing else.\n4. Tier two: write one line for the Friday partner note and one post from the [messaging framework](/product-marketing/messaging-framework). Update the demo store.\n5. Tier one: a founder tells each partner first, by call or a personal email, before any public word. Then the full kit the same day.\n6. Check every line against [claims we can make](/product-marketing/claims-we-can-make). A version is never announced before it is live on production.\n7. Log what went out in the [campaign log](/marketing-and-growth/campaign-log).",
  "Numbers": "| Metric | Definition | Where measured | Status |\n|---|---|---|---|\n| Partners told first | Share of tier one launches where every partner heard before the public | Campaign log | Proposed |\n| Use in week one | Share of active brands that used the new thing in its first 7 days | Product events, once logged | Proposed |\n| Read requests per launch | Asks for a read in the 7 days after a tier one or two launch | Pipeline | Proposed |",
  "Open": "1. **Is there a public launch day at all?** Proposal: no single day; open reads in small batches and treat v2 as the first tier one launch.\n2. **Who calls the tier?** Proposal: Param, at planning, in the release's first line.\n3. **Does the name come before any launch?** Proposal: yes; no tier one or two launch goes public before the name and the direction are picked.\n4. **When do reads open past the five partners?** Proposal: when two partners hand off weekly for three weeks running, the same bar as v2 planning."
 }
}