URL: /strategy/launch-and-search · Id: `page:/strategy/launch-and-search`

# Launch and search

> Thread answers, one launch and pages that rank: replies in days, launch signups in week 4, and search signups that build from month 6.

Only for search, which brings its first customers around month 6 on a new domain. Until then, your agents answer buyers’ questions where they ask them, and one launch you show up for brings the first users.

```text title="Your first three moves · Ask"
No cash, about an hour a week, and months to wait. Get our first 10 paying customers from threads, one launch and search.
Show me my first three moves.
```

```ts title="Your first three moves · SDK"
import { $ } from 'startup-builder'

const budget = await $.try.DemandBudget.create({
  amount: 0,
  target: 'first 10 paying customers',
  stopRule: 'week 8 readout',
})
const icp = await $.try.ICP.create({
  description: 'US landlords and property managers who still track rent in a spreadsheet',
})
const terms = await $.try.Keyword.measure({
  keyword: 'rent tracking app for landlords',
  locale: 'en-US',
  venue: 'google-search',
})
const result = await $.try.PlayMix.compile(
  { budget, icp, goal: 'first 10 paying customers' },
)
console.log(result)
```

```json title="Your first three moves · Response · sample"
{
  "$id": "https://api.sb/leaseline.app/play-mixes/play_mix_Icxs7GL1jm",
  "$type": "PlayMix",
  "mode": "try",
  "stored": false,
  "approach": "Community answers, listings and one launch you show up for bring the first 10; search and AI answers keep them coming.",
  "firstMoves": [
    {
      "move": "Answer the threads where buyers ask",
      "who": "you",
      "minutes": 10,
      "cost": "about 2¢ a step"
    },
    {
      "move": "Approve the product kit once",
      "who": "you",
      "minutes": 15,
      "cost": "free"
    },
    {
      "move": "Connect your domain",
      "who": "you",
      "minutes": 5,
      "cost": "free"
    }
  ],
  "kickstart": [
    {
      "play": "community-answers",
      "status": "running"
    },
    {
      "play": "directory-listings",
      "status": "running"
    },
    {
      "play": "launch-sites",
      "status": "gated",
      "gate": "launch week, week 4"
    }
  ],
  "engine": [
    {
      "play": "editorial-seo",
      "status": "gated",
      "gate": "approved terms"
    },
    {
      "play": "aeo",
      "status": "gated",
      "gate": "approved terms"
    }
  ],
  "sample": {
    "term": "rent tracking app for landlords",
    "volume": 590,
    "cpc": 9.1,
    "difficulty": 22,
    "captured": "sample"
  },
  "version": 1,
  "plays": [
    {
      "play": {
        "play": "community-answers",
        "status": "running"
      },
      "state": "running"
    },
    {
      "play": {
        "play": "directory-listings",
        "status": "running"
      },
      "state": "running"
    },
    {
      "play": {
        "play": "launch-sites",
        "status": "gated",
        "gate": "launch week, week 4"
      },
      "state": "running"
    }
  ],
  "compiledAt": "2026-11-02T09:00:00Z"
}
```

1. **Answer the threads where buyers ask.** You · 10 min a week · about 2¢ a step
2. **Approve the product kit once.** You · 15 min · free
3. **Connect your domain.** You · 5 min · free

| Fits when | You spend | First customer | Number to watch |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Buyers search for the problem or ask about it in public, and the product sells self-serve at around $20 a month: a $19-a-month notes app for freelancers launches here; Leaseline at $149 leads with Hands-on. | Under an hour in week 1, then about an hour a week, more in launch week. About $3 to $6 of data and sends in month one. | Weeks 4 to 8, from threads and the launch; search signups from month 6 to 12 on a new domain | Signups a week from threads, the launch and search. |

**The math.** One launch at 1,000 visits and 2% signup gives 20 signups; at 10% trial-to-paid, 2 customers. At $19 a month that is a launch-day result, not a business, which is why threads add a few signups a month from week 1 and search adds its first from month 6 on a new domain.

## Week by week
Community answers, listings and one launch you show up for bring the first 10; search and AI answers keep them coming.

### Get the first 10
| When | Step | The job | Who | Your time | Cost |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Week 1 | Find who is asking about the problem | [Problem posts](/capabilities/research-demand#problem-posts) | Agent | none | under 20¢ per 100 searches |
|  | Answer the threads where buyers ask | [Post by browser agent](/capabilities/publish-and-post#post-by-browser-agent) | **Approve** | 10 min a week | about 2¢ a step |
|  | Approve the product kit once | [Product kit](/capabilities/earn-first-links/directory-submissions#product-kit) | **Approve** | 15 min | free |
| Week 2 | List the product, 5 to 10 places a day | [Submissions](/capabilities/earn-first-links/directory-submissions#submissions) | Agent | 2 min a day | free on the free path |
| Week 3 | Line up the people who will look on launch day | [People who will look](/capabilities/earn-first-links/launch-circuit#launch-list) | **Approve** | 10 min | free |
| Week 4 | Launch on Product Hunt at 12:01am PT, Tuesday to Thursday | [Main launch](/capabilities/earn-first-links/launch-circuit#main-stop) | **Approve** | 20 min | free |
|  | Post Show HN the next morning, 8 to 10am ET | [Main launch](/capabilities/earn-first-links/launch-circuit#main-stop) | **Approve** | 20 min | free |
|  | Post to r/SideProject and Indie Hackers on the days after | [Main launch](/capabilities/earn-first-links/launch-circuit#main-stop) | **Approve** | 10 min | free |

### Keep them coming
| When | Step | The job | Who | Your time | Cost |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Week 1 | Approve 20 to 40 terms worth winning | [Keyword volume](/capabilities/research-demand#keyword-volume) | **Approve** | 15 min | about 5¢ per 100 terms |
|  | Connect your domain | [Add site to Google](/capabilities/get-indexed#add-site-to-google) | You | 5 min | free |
|  | Push every page you publish to Bing | [Submit to search engines](/capabilities/get-indexed#submit-to-search-engines) | Agent | none | free |
|  | Ask Google for your five key pages | [Request indexing](/capabilities/get-indexed#request-indexing) | Agent | none | free |
| Week 2 | Publish the first five pages | [Draft](/capabilities/make-content#draft) | **Approve** | 3 min a page | about 3¢ a draft |
|  | Check what the answer engines say, every week | [Answer watch](/capabilities/check-ai-answers#answer-watch) | Agent | none | about 0.35¢ a check |
| Week 4 | Ask the sites that link to your rivals | [Link asks](/capabilities/earn-first-links#link-asks) | **Approve** | 10 min | free from your inbox |
|  | Read which key pages are in | [Index check](/capabilities/get-indexed#index-check) | You | 10 min | free, 2,000 checks a day |
| Week 6 | Rewrite the pages ranking 8 to 30 | [Draft](/capabilities/make-content#draft) | **Approve** | 10 min | about 3¢ a draft |
| Week 12 | Turn a working page pattern into many | [Page audit](/capabilities/publish-and-post#page-audit) | **Approve** | 20 min | about 1.5¢ per 100 pages |

**When to switch.** No customer from threads and the launch by week 8? Keep publishing and add Hands-on.

Month one costs about $3 to $6 of data and sends. Nothing sends until you approve it; a standing approval you grant once takes that approval off your week.

Launch day is three posts on three days, so you answer every comment yourself. Tuesday to Thursday, the Product Hunt listing goes up at 12:01am PT with a maker comment on why you built it, 4 gallery images and a 30-second demo. The next weekday, Show HN goes up between 8 and 10am ET, titled `Show HN: {Product} – {what it does in 8 words}`, with a first comment on how you built it and no request for votes. On the days after, the same story goes to r/SideProject and Indie Hackers, told for each room.

This fits a cheap self-serve product, like a notes app for freelancers, because nobody books a call about a tool that costs less than lunch. Leaseline sells per portfolio, so it leads with [Hands-on](/strategy/hands-on), where one customer pays for the call.

## Plays it runs
| Play | Your time | What it costs | What it does |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Community answers](/plays/community-answers) | 10 min a week | Under $3 in its first month | Finds people asking about the problem you solve, and gets a sourced answer up from your account within hours. |
| [Directory listings](/plays/directory-listings) | 15 min in week 1 | $0 in its first month | Keeps one accurate listing on every directory and review site your buyers read, and fixes any field that drifts within a week. |
| [Launch sites](/plays/launch-sites) | 15 min in week 1, then 60 min more by week 4 | $0 in its first month | Launches your product where your buyers already read, one place at a time; your agent builds the kit, you write every post and reply. |
| [Editorial SEO](/plays/editorial-seo) | 20 min in week 1, then 3 min a page from week 2 | About 25 to 50¢ in its first month | Writes the guides and honest comparisons your buyers search for, each with a fact only you hold, then rewrites or retires each page that slips. |
| [Answer engine optimization](/plays/aeo) | 15 min in week 1 | 40 questions × 5 engines × 4 weeks = 800 checks at about 0.35¢ each, about $3 a month | AI answers name you only when the pages they cite do, so your agent finds those pages and gets you onto them. |
| [Programmatic SEO](/plays/programmatic-seo) | 20 min in week 12 | About 1 to 8¢ in its first month | Turns public records nobody has compiled into one search page per city or product, in batches that stop when search ignores them. |

## Reference
| Call | What it does | Path | Price |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [`Keyword.measure`](/code/reference#keyword-measure) | Measures each term: searches, cost of a click, difficulty and trend. | `POST /keywords/{keyword}/measure` | About 5¢ per 100 terms |
| [`Domain.connect`](/code/reference#domain-connect) | Connects the domain you already own. | `POST /domains/connect` | Free |
| [`Domain.verify`](/code/reference#domain-verify) | Verifies your domain with Google and Bing, and reads what each has indexed. | `POST /domains/{domain}/verify` | Free |
| [`Post.publish`](/code/reference#post-publish) | Publish sends a Post from your account once every claim it states resolves to a live record. | `POST /posts/{post}/publish` | Free, and 1.5¢ a post on X |
| [`PlayMix.compile`](/code/reference#play-mix-compile) | Plans next week’s Plays from your budget and what worked last week. | `POST /play-mixes/compile` | Free |