Launch Systems: funnels, partners and post-launch

01

From one launch to a launch system

In simple words

One birthday party is an event. A party planner who runs a party every month needs a map, a checklist and a way to see what went wrong. A launch system is that map.

Key facts

Before this course: Launch Basics (course 3.13.1) and Launch Marketing: Hype, Waitlists, Drops (course 3.13). You should already know the three phases (before, during, after), how to build a waitlist with consent, how to write true hype, how to run a drop and how to do a simple debrief. This course connects all of that into a system you can repeat.

A funnel is the path people follow from "never heard of it" to "bought and happy". Each step loses some people. Seeing the steps lets you fix the right one.
A simple launch funnel has these stages:

Reached: saw your launch message.
Joined: gave you their email (waitlist).
Opened / clicked: showed interest in a launch email.
Visited: arrived on the sales page.
Bought: paid.
Delivered and happy: received what you promised, and might tell others.

The conversion rate of a step = people who reached the next step ÷ people who were at this step. Example: 1,000 visitors and 50 buyers = 50 ÷ 1,000 = 5%.
Overall conversion is the product of the steps. Example: 20% join × 40% click × 25% buy = 0.20 × 0.40 × 0.25 = 2% of those reached.
The biggest leak is usually the step with the lowest rate compared with what you expected, not always the smallest number. Fix one leak at a time.
A launch system has four parts: a map (the funnel), numbers (tracking), a runbook (who does what, when) and a post-mortem (what you learn).
Small numbers are noisy. 3 buyers out of 40 visitors (7.5%) can easily become 2 or 5 next time. Do not rebuild your launch because of a few people.

Step by step

Write the six funnel stages as six boxes in a row.
Under each box, write where you will count it (for example: ad dashboard, email tool, website analytics, payment page).
Write a guess for each step's conversion rate and label the guess "guess".
Multiply your guesses to get the overall rate.
Pick your goal number of buyers and work backward: buyers ÷ overall rate = people you must reach.
Circle the step you think will leak most.
Check: you have six boxes, six counting places, six guesses and one goal worked backward.

Watch on YouTube

Get ready to go to market with the product launch checklistGo-To-Market Alliance · YouTube · youtube.com

Videos by other creators on YouTube, for reference. They are not made by or affiliated with The Future Market.

LESSON 01From one launch to a launch system

LESSON 01 / ANIMATED LESSON / AI VOICE00:00 / 01:05

Voice

Read the video script

[Host] "One launch is an event. Many launches are a system."
[Text on screen: Reached → Joined → Clicked → Visited → Bought → Delivered] "Draw the path from stranger to happy buyer. Every step loses some people."
[Text on screen: 20% x 40% x 25% = 2%] "Multiply the steps and you know how many people you must reach."
[Host] "Then find the biggest leak and fix that first. Not everything. One leak."

Try it now

Draw your funnel with six stages, a counting place for each, a guess for each rate and a goal worked backward into "people to reach".

ClaudeStuck? Copy a ready-made prompt for Claude

Copy this, open Claude, paste it, and Claude will walk you through the lesson step by step.

For a grown-up: Claude is for adults (18+). Copy this, paste it into Claude, and use the answer to explain the lesson to your child.

I'm learning "Launch Systems: funnels, partners and post-launch" on The Future Market. Lesson 1: "From one launch to a launch system".

What the lesson teaches:
- A funnel is the path people follow from "never heard of it" to "bought and happy". Each step loses some people. Seeing the steps lets you fix the right one.
- A simple launch funnel has these stages:
- The conversion rate of a step = people who reached the next step ÷ people who were at this step. Example: 1,000 visitors and 50 buyers = 50 ÷ 1,000 = 5%.
- Overall conversion is the product of the steps. Example: 20% join × 40% click × 25% buy = 0.20 × 0.40 × 0.25 = 2% of those reached.
- The biggest leak is usually the step with the lowest rate compared with what you expected, not always the smallest number. Fix one leak at a time.
- A launch system has four parts: a map (the funnel), numbers (tracking), a runbook (who does what, when) and a post-mortem (what you learn).
- Small numbers are noisy. 3 buyers out of 40 visitors (7.5%) can easily become 2 or 5 next time. Do not rebuild your launch because of a few people.

The exercise I'm working on:
Draw your funnel with six stages, a counting place for each, a guess for each rate and a goal worked backward into "people to reach".

I'm stuck. Please:
1. Explain the main idea in plain, simple words with one everyday example.
2. Walk me through the exercise one small step at a time. Ask me what I've done so far before giving the next step.
3. Don't just give me the final answer. Help me do it myself, and check my work when I share it.

I'm a parent helping my child (about 8 years old) with a lesson called "From one launch to a launch system" from the course "Launch Systems: funnels, partners and post-launch".

Here's what the lesson says:
One birthday party is an event. A party planner who runs a party every month needs a map, a checklist and a way to see what went wrong. A launch system is that map.

The activity:
Draw your funnel with six stages, a counting place for each, a guess for each rate and a goal worked backward into "people to reach".

Please explain this so an 8-year-old understands: short sentences, a fun everyday example, and no hard words.
Then give me 3 simple questions I can ask my child to check they understood, and a way to do the activity together, one tiny step at a time.

Open Claude

Sources

Funnel stages and conversion rate are standard marketing definitions; the examples are simple arithmetic.
Earlier courses: 3.13.1 and 3.13 in this track.

My notes

I learned this

02