Founder's Guide
The Complete SaaS Development Checklist
A stage-by-stage guide to building, launching, and scaling your SaaS product—from initial validation to exit-ready. Built from 50+ real-world checklists and Reddit war stories.
192 items • 7 stages
Stage 5 / 31 items
Launch Readiness
Everything that needs to be true before you tell the world. Infrastructure, legal, analytics, and a real launch strategy—not just 'post everywhere.'
Verify production environment is separate from staging
Ensure staging mirrors production configuration
Automate database backups
Test database restore process
Configure uptime monitoring
Verify alerts reach you (SMS/Slack/email)
Configure SSL certificate auto-renewal
Serve static assets via CDN
Automate deployment to one command or push
Track page views
Track key events (signup, payment, core actions)
Enable funnel visualization
Identify users in analytics
Track revenue metrics (MRR, churn)
Segment analytics by paying vs free users
Monitor error rates
Publish privacy policy
Publish terms of service
Implement cookie consent (if applicable)
Define data retention policy
Document data deletion process
Document data export process
Identify industry-specific compliance requirements
Set up support channel
Define and communicate response time expectation
Create FAQ covering obvious questions
Set up status page for incidents
Document known issues
Launch to one specific community first
Plan for ongoing launch iteration, not one-time event
Have pricing live from day one