Tool

LaunchList: Viral Pre-Launch Waitlist Software with Referrals

LaunchList Freemium Beginner

If you do decide a waitlist earns its place, this is a clean, concrete way to run one well without building it yourself: a hosted landing page, a signup form, and a referral leaderboard so people move up by inviting friends. It is free for the first 100 signups and then a small one-time fee per project, so it is easy to try before you commit. Use the referral mechanic to actually grow reach, not just to slap a fake position number on people.

  • Hosted waitlist page plus built-in referral leaderboard, no code, with embeds for Webflow, WordPress, React, and plain HTML.
  • Free for the first 100 submissions and a one-time (not monthly) fee after, which suits a pre-launch budget.
  • Real analytics on signups and referral sources, so you can see whether the waitlist is genuinely spreading or just sitting still.
Open on getlaunchlist.com ↗

The question it answers

  1. How do I build up an audience before I launch so it's not just crickets?

Read with it

  1. The permission slip to recruit users by hand, do things manually, and deliver 'insanely great' experiences to your first few... paulgraham.com Essay · ~15 min read Do Things That Don't Scale Paul Graham
  2. The definitive talk that reframes launching from a one-shot event into a repeatable tactic, exactly this category's thesis. YC... YC Startup Library Video · ~25 min How to Launch (Again and Again) Kat Manalac (Y Combinator)
  3. From the founder of CMX and author of The Business of Belonging, a practical framework for deciding whether to build community... Lenny's Newsletter Article · ~25 min read A Founder's Guide to Community David Spinks
  4. Arvid Kahl bootstrapped and sold a SaaS solo, and now publishes the most practical ongoing guidance for one-person and... thebootstrappedfounder.com Podcast · long The Bootstrapped Founder (blog & podcast) Arvid Kahl
  5. This is the canonical argument that you do not need a mass market to build something real, you need a small number of people... The Technium (kk.org) Essay · ~15 min read 1,000 True Fans Kevin Kelly
  6. This is the most concrete walkthrough of how to test a niche when you have nothing built yet: put up a page describing the... kromatic.com Essay · ~15 min read Fake Door / Smoke Test Kromatic (The Real Startup Book)
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