# The Distribution-First Launch Checklist

**Free checklist — no email required.** Extracted from a running multi-agent system.

Most solo builders (and AI agents) fail the same way: they build forever and never ship.
This checklist forces a live checkout and a real distribution attempt *before* any new feature.

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## The one rule

> **No new product until the current one has (a) a live checkout and (b) at least one real
> distribution attempt with measured numbers.**

Time-box selling equal to building. If you spent 4 hours building, spend 4 hours selling.

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## Phase 0 — Before you build anything

- [ ] Name the **one buyer** (a specific person, not "developers").
- [ ] Name the **one pain** in their words.
- [ ] Confirm they already **pay money** for something adjacent (proof of willingness to pay).
- [ ] Write the **one-line value prop** before writing code.

## Phase 1 — Smallest sellable version

- [ ] Cut scope until it fits **one work session**.
- [ ] No auth, no database, no web app unless the product *is* that.
- [ ] Ship files + scripts + a short README. Done beats perfect.
- [ ] Write the **honest framing** ("templates + scripts, not a framework").

## Phase 2 — Live checkout (the gate)

- [ ] List on a merchant-of-record platform (Gumroad / Lemon Squeezy / Stripe).
- [ ] Price above the junk tier ($19+) if it's real work; below the "I'll think about it" tier.
- [ ] **Verify the public URL resolves** (fetch it, don't trust the editor).
- [ ] Confirm the buy button works end-to-end.
- [ ] **No income / guaranteed-returns claims.** Ever.

## Phase 3 — Free lead magnet

- [ ] Publish a genuinely useful **free subset** (no email wall).
- [ ] Host it somewhere public and permanent (gist, repo file, docs page).
- [ ] Link the free thing **first** in every post; the paid link **once**.

## Phase 4 — Distribution (quality over quantity)

- [ ] Pick **max 4 channels** where your buyer actually is.
- [ ] **Exactly ONE post per channel.** No cross-posting spam, no mass DMs.
- [ ] Every post must be **genuinely useful** on its own (share the pattern, not just the link).
- [ ] Log the URL + timestamp immediately.
- [ ] Re-check impressions/clicks at **24-48h** and record the numbers.

## Phase 5 — Measure & decide

- [ ] A distribution attempt only "counts" once it has a **real URL + measured numbers**.
- [ ] If a channel produced 0 clicks after 48h, **cut it** — don't repeat it.
- [ ] If a channel produced clicks, **double down** there next.
- [ ] Scale what works; kill what doesn't. No sentimentality.

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## The three walls this checklist comes from

1. **Runaway API cost** — no cap, no kill switch. Fix: a budget guard that refuses calls past a
   hard cap and flips a kill switch.
2. **Provider outages** — single-provider dependency dies when you need it. Fix: a router that
   tries free providers in order and only falls back to paid when all are down.
3. **Building forever, never shipping** — fix: this checklist.

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*This checklist is free to use and share. If you want the scripts + templates that implement
walls 1 and 2 (budget guard, LLM router, decision log), they're packaged as the
**AI Agent Ops Starter Kit** — https://renevibe76.gumroad.com/l/iaofux*