Launch & PR
An AI specialist agent that plans your Product Hunt and Hacker News launches end-to-end — taglines, headline variants, hunter outreach drafts, launch-day timeline, and the post-launch lessons writeup. Draft-only on every external send.
Sample briefing
"PH launch in 9 days. Tagline locked: "The AI marketing team that ships drafts, not auto-spam." 3 HN title variants A/B-tested against your past 6 posts: top one is question-format, +18% expected CTR. 4 hunter outreach drafts ready (one each for Chris Messina, kev, Marie Lee, Bram); each opens with a specific past launch they hunted that overlaps your category. Launch-day timeline ready with hour-by-hour comment posting + IM check-ins."
What Launch & PR does
- Plans Product Hunt launches end-to-end — tagline, gallery copy, first-comment script, hunter outreach
- Plans Hacker News "Show HN" launches — title variants A/B-tested, top-comment script, response prep
- Drafts hunter outreach in your voice — references the hunter's actual past hunts, not a templated cold DM
- Builds the launch-day timeline — hour-by-hour comment cadence, IM ping schedule, response triage rules
- Writes the post-launch lessons thread + blog post once results are in (raw numbers, what worked, what didn't)
- Coordinates with Twitter/X Growth on launch-day amplification and with Cold Email Outbound on existing-list activation
- Maintains a per-tenant memory of past launches — so launch #3 builds on launch #1, not from scratch
How it works
Indie launches on Product Hunt and Hacker News are won and lost on the first 4 hours of traffic. Most founders treat launch day as a single moment — pick a date, post the link, hope for the best. Launch & PR treats it as a 14-day campaign with one explicit climax and a rigorous post-mortem after.
The 14 days before launch. Day -14 to -7: tagline iteration, gallery copy, hunter shortlist with personalised outreach drafts. Day -7 to -1: hunter confirmations, first-comment script, supporter network warming (existing customers, Twitter followers, mailing list — the role drafts the warming notes for each). Every external send (hunter DM, supporter email) is a draft you approve before it goes out.
Launch day execution. The role builds an hour-by-hour playbook: when to post the first comment, when to ping your supporter network, what to reply to common questions, how to triage feedback (acknowledge → fix-list → ignore). It does NOT auto-post comments on your behalf — every comment ships as a draft to your IM. Some founders want the role to push more aggressively; we deliberately don't, because launch-day comments need your real voice, not an AI doing voice impression under pressure.
The post-launch writeup is the leverage. Most launches are wasted because nothing gets written down — what worked, what didn't, what the supporter network looked like, which hunter messages got replies. Launch & PR drafts a complete retrospective the week after: raw metrics (votes, traffic, signups, conversion), qualitative lessons, supporter-network notes, and a follow-up action list. By launch #3 you have a real playbook; by launch #5 the playbook is yours.
What Launch & PR does not do
- Auto-post comments on Product Hunt or Hacker News on launch day — every comment is a draft
- Pitch to traditional press / TechCrunch / VentureBeat (different discipline, different role; not in Phase 1)
- Buy launch-day promotion ads or sponsorships (Paid Ads territory; we hand off if you want that)
- Run launches you can't yet ship — if the product isn't ready, the role flags it and recommends delay
- Promise a Product Hunt #1 finish — outcome depends on product, audience, and luck; we plan, not prophesy
FAQ
- Can Ceres help plan a Product Hunt or Hacker News launch?
- Yes. Ceres's Launch & PR agent plans Product Hunt and Hacker News launches end-to-end — tagline and headline variants, a hunter shortlist with personalised outreach drafts, an hour-by-hour launch-day timeline, and the post-launch retrospective. It treats launch day as a 14-day campaign. Every external send is a draft you approve, and it does not auto-post comments.
- Can it do my launch entirely autonomously while I'm asleep?
- No. Launches need real human voice in the comments + real human reaction to questions in the first 4 hours. The role builds the playbook, drafts the comments, schedules the supporter pings, and coaches you on triage — but you're the one posting and replying. We've seen founders try to fully automate launches; the resulting flatness shows in the comment quality and depresses the upvote rate.
- How does it pick hunters?
- It cross-references three signals: (1) hunters who have hunted products in your category in the last 12 months, (2) hunters whose hunted products had completion + traction (not vanity launches), (3) hunters whose past comments suggest interest in your specific angle. It then drafts a personalised DM that references their actual past hunts — not a generic "would love your support" template that hunters filter immediately.
- What about Hacker News? My past Show HN posts haven't done well.
- Show HN performance is title-driven and timing-driven, with content quality as the floor (HN punishes weak Show posts harshly). The role A/B-tests title variants against your past 6+ posts to find the best fit, picks an optimal post window for your audience timezone, drafts the top-comment seeding the discussion correctly, and prepares responses to the standard HN scepticism pattern ("why not just X?" / "how is this different from Y?"). It can't guarantee front-page; it can guarantee you don't make the avoidable mistakes.
- Will it coordinate with my other Ceres roles on launch day?
- Yes — that's the whole point of running it inside Ceres rather than a standalone tool. Twitter/X Growth ships launch-day threads on cue. Cold Email Outbound activates your existing list with a launch announcement. SEO Content has a post-launch retrospective post drafted by the time results land. Launch & PR coordinates the timing.
- What if my launch doesn't go well?
- The post-launch writeup is the more important part of the role — every launch teaches something specific. The retrospective captures what didn't work + why + what to try next time, in honest language (not the "so much love and gratitude" theatre). By launch #3 you have a real playbook tuned to your audience.
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