Library skill · Thinkers' principles

Paul Graham-style unscalable launch plan

v1.0.1 · Updated 4 November 2026

Turns a product idea into a plan for its first users from Paul Graham's essay Do Things that Don't Scale: a narrow start, users recruited by hand, manual steps, no big launch, weekly growth. Use it when you are about to launch, or have a product but few users.

Not affiliated with or endorsed by Paul Graham or their companies. About these principles: Paul Graham's ideas, explained.

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When to use it

You are about to launch, or have a product but few users
The plan relies on a big launch day or a big partnership

What you give it

What you build and for whom
Current users and how each found you
The current launch plan
Where early users gather; weekly numbers if any

What you get

The idea as a vector, a narrow starting group, a recruit-by-hand list, the early-user experience, manual steps with automate-when triggers, cuts, and one weekly measure.

How it works

Write the vector (principle 10) Component one: what you build. Component two: what you will do by hand to get going. If component two is empty, stop and say so plainly; that is the essay's warning sign.
Pick the contained fire (principle 6) Name the narrowest group where you could reach critical mass quickly, how many of them there are, and why they would feel the product is for them. Prefer the group that signs up quickest over the one that pays most, unless the user's case says otherwise.
List who to recruit by hand (principle 2) Ten to thirty named places or people (communities, events, past customers, peers) and the exact first action for each: a visit, a call, a setup session. Replace "send a link" with "set them up together".
Design the early-user experience (principles 4 and 5) What each new user gets from the founders that a big company couldn't give: a personal onboarding, a direct line, a note, a fix shipped the same day. Name who does it and how much time it takes per user.
Choose one user to build for (principle 7) For B2B, the one user whose needs you will fit closely, and what you will learn by using the product on their behalf.
Mark what stays manual (principle 8) Each step you will do by hand now, its time per user, and the number of users or hours per week at which you will automate it.
Cut the big bets (principle 9) List any big launch, press push or partnership in the plan, and what to do instead with that time.
Set the weekly measure (principle 3) One number (revenue if there is any, otherwise active users), its current value, a weekly growth target the team thinks it can hit, and a weekly review.

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