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Launch readiness assessment

Find the one stall blocking you between demo and done

A free diagnostic for solo founders and small teams with something shipped—but not sure if the blocker is pricing, distribution, first users, or retention. Five fact-based gates, one diagnosis, no score dashboard.

Start the assessment below. Scroll further for how the gates work, common stalls, and FAQs—or jump straight in if you already know you need a read.

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Includes a ship story match + Access playbook pointer when relevant

Free diagnostic · ~2 minutes

  • Product
  • Pricing
  • Channel
  • Users
  • Retention

Swipe to see all gates →

Where are you actually stuck?

Most builders stall somewhere between a working demo and a real business. This walks the gates in order and stops at the first you haven't cleared.

Fact-based answers only. You get one stall identified, a concrete next action, and—when it fits—a path to a 30-minute call.

Opens a focused view · you can exit anytime

How it works

Five gates we check (in order)

The assessment walks these stages sequentially and stops at the first gate you haven't cleared—that's your diagnosis. No weighted scoring.

  1. Gate 1

    Working product

    Can a stranger use your product start to finish without you walking them through it? If not, we ask whether you're overbuilding (scope) or simply not there yet (pre-product).

  2. Gate 2

    Foundation fit

    If the product works, have you rebuilt core parts recently—or know the stack won't survive the next push? Rebuild risk comes before pricing.

  3. Gate 3

    Real pricing signal

    Has anyone outside friends and family paid? Without that, you have a pricing guess—not feedback.

  4. Gate 4

    Repeatable channel

    Do you have a way to find new users that has worked more than once—not one lucky post?

  5. Gate 5

    User volume

    If the channel works, have you pushed meaningful volume through it—or are you still at a handful of users?

  6. Gate 6

    Retention signal

    Do you know whether new users are still active after two weeks—and is that number healthy?

Common stalls this assessment finds

  • Scope-stalled

    Still expanding the product before anyone has finished the core job once—overbuilding before validation.

  • Foundation-stalled

    Demo works, but core parts were rebuilt or won't survive the next push—GTM before foundation is stable.

  • Pricing-stalled

    Working product, no paying customers outside your inner circle. Common for builders who shipped but never validated price.

  • Channel-stalled

    People have paid, but you can't reliably find the next user. The channel isn't repeatable yet.

  • Early-users-stalled

    You have a channel that works, but volume is still tiny. The next play is pushing throughput—not finding a new channel.

  • Retention-stalled

    You're acquiring users but don't know if they stick—or you know retention is bad. Often misread as a channel problem.

Read how real builders got unstuck in our ship stories, or ask ProductBot for a quick take.

Frequently asked questions

What is the Launch Readiness Assessment?
A free diagnostic on Product Manager Hub for indie builders and solo founders stuck between demo and done. You answer five fact-based questions about product, pricing, channel, users, and retention. The tool stops at the first gate you haven't cleared and gives one diagnosis—not a score dashboard.
Who is this launch readiness check for?
Builders with a working product—or close to one—who aren't sure whether they're stalled on pricing, distribution, early users, or retention. It's for people who want an honest read on go-to-market readiness, not generic startup advice.
How is this different from a startup readiness score?
There is no weighted score or 72/100 result. The assessment uses gate logic: an ordered sequence of stages. The first unresolved gate is your diagnosis. That matches how demo-to-done stalls actually show up in practice—one blocker at a time.
What diagnoses can I get?
Pre-product, scope-stalled, foundation-stalled, pricing-stalled, channel-stalled, early-users-stalled, retention-stalled, or cleared demo-to-done if you've passed all gates. Each result includes one concrete action you can take today, plus a next step matched to that stall.
Do I need an account?
No login required. Most paths ask for email so you can see the full diagnosis and get the report. If you're still pre-product, you see the result without email—email is optional for the write-up. Answers are stored so we can see which stalls are most common.
What happens after I get my diagnosis?
You get one stall, a do-this-today action, and a next step. Qualified GTM stalls point to a 30-minute call. Pre-product and scope stalls point to free ship stories instead. If you've cleared the gates, we invite you to share your story.

Ready to run the assessment? Jump back to the tool. Past the stall already? Read ship stories.