10 Product Launch Pitfalls PMs & PMMs Must Avoid (video episode with Ibrahim Bashir)
I recently sat down with Ibrahim Bashir to unpack 10 critical mistakes product teams make when planning a launch.
More products in the future will die a silent death.
Not because they weren’t innovative enough, but because they failed to capture a sufficient piece of the attention pie.
Building a great product is table stakes now. But it’s just not enough.
Ask the plethora of products on G2 that get buried in a never-ending list of alternatives.
However, a solid product launch (and GTM) can cut through the noise. In a future that’ll be riddled with AI-generated copycats and vibe-coded alternatives, this will be the key differentiator to get noticed.
Also, quality launches aren't just marketing events.
They're strategic inflection points that establish your product's (and brand’s) position in the customer's mental map.
“OK. But I’m a PM. Aren’t launches a Product Marketing thing?”
When PMs “delegate” launches to PMMs, they create a dangerous knowledge gap where technical capabilities get lost in translation, resulting in promises the product can't fulfill or strengths that remain completely unhighlighted.
Conversely, when PMMs are sidelined until post-development, they're forced to retrofit messaging onto a product that might not have been built with the right differentiators or customer stories in mind.
The hidden danger here isn't just misalignment. It’s creating confusing signals for prospects to understand why they should consider your product.
But when organizations finally pair Product Managers and Product Marketers to coordinate launches, they STILL don’t see results.
That’s usually because launches are seen as a checklist item, rather than a creative endeavor. And there are several mistakes that the PM-PMM alliance makes when architecting their launch game plan.
To unpack this topic further, I sat down with the amazing
and jammed on 10 critical mistakes PMs and PMMs should avoid to make way for better launches.Ibrahim is a veteran in the B2B SaaS product space. He was a former VP of Product Management at Amplitude and Box and also led product and engineering teams at Amazon and Twitter. Ibrahim regularly pens a fantastic newsletter by the name of
as well where he talks about product leadership and B2B products. Subscribe if you haven’t already.This edition includes a video recording of our conversation and a textual summary.
But before we dive in, here is a word from our sponsor today (super relevant for folks launching AI products these days):
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Full video episode
If you’d rather see the video episode we recorded, check it out below:
Here’s a summary of the top 10 mistakes below:
#10: Mistiming the launch
When it comes to launching, timing is everything. And the mistake can swing both ways:
Launching too soon: The product might be functionally complete, but it is missing table-stakes features that your audience expects.
For example, at vFairs, we were planning to launch a CRM integration capability. We had the Salesforce integration in place, but the HubSpot piece wasn't ready yet. Data showed that a significant portion of our customer base used Hubspot, and had we campaigned without that part, it would have diminished the launch's impact.
Sure, there can be arguments for both choices. But it’s essential to have the debate.
Ex: Would you launch a task management system without the email triggers?
Launching too often: Not every release needs to be launched. There's only limited attention customers can give you. Sometimes it's better to consolidate features and batch them together for a more impactful launch rather than constantly "shouting from rooftops."
#9: Making it just a PR launch
Ibrahim highlighted how some launches are more about signaling to analysts and investors than giving users something tangible to try or buy.
When you create launch buzz, you're bringing energy and momentum to your product. It's a waste not to give users something concrete to experience. As Ibrahim puts it, these kinds of launches "fall flat" and generate buzz without substance.
#8: Skipping enablement for sales and CS teams
When product, sales, and CS operate in silos, information gaps occur. The product team might launch something new, but sales and customer success only learn about it months later.
This leads to:
Sales reps being caught off-guard: "When did we launch that?"
Inconsistent messaging: Different reps pitch the same feature in completely different ways
Inaccurate positioning: Teams may oversell or undersell capabilities
For example, a recruitment SaaS product may launch a new dashboard of HR reports. If sales and CS teams aren’t educated on how, say, the time-to-hire report is calculated, the use case it’s used for, and who it’s typically pitched to, then you’ve got a problem.
#7: Not leveraging external advocates
Ibrahim emphasized the importance of external enablement – priming the market through proxies working on your behalf:
"Depending on your product and category and domain, there are definitely going to be people outside your company, outside your buyers who are intermediaries who can bring legitimacy and credibility to your offering."
In the enterprise space, this means engaging with analysts like Gartner, Forrester, and IDC. However, niche influencers can be equally powerful depending on your domain.
Two excellent examples of influencer marketing launches:
Miro's innovation workspace launch, where they rallied influencers in the marketing space with a meticulous messaging strategy
Clay's approach of having users share screencasts of how they create Clay tables
#6: Focusing only on the "how" and not the use cases
Product launches often emphasize capabilities over context. You'll see announcements like "Users can now create custom forms" or "You can now customize email communications with AI," but they leave it to the audience to figure out how to apply these features.
A better approach is to wrap features in use cases and stories. For example, rather than just announcing "Project Templates" like Asana might, show how HR teams can use them to create consistent employee onboarding experiences.
As Ibrahim put it, "there's a difference between a launch and a land." A launch is your view of your product's capabilities, but for it to land, it must be framed in terms of workflows and jobs to be done that customers understand.
Rand Fishkin from SparkToro exemplifies this approach by always starting with a story about a marketer's challenge, then showing how SparkToro naturally fits into that workflow.
#5: Lack of differentiation
Many product launches fail because they lack a unique point of view on how a problem should be solved. Without tangible, articulable differentiation, it isn't easy to:
Create effective enablement
Get influencers to champion your product
Generate buzz around the announcement
As Ibrahim says, "When you don't have tangible differentiation, all the points we made until now are exacerbated."
This resonates especially in competitive spaces where customers ask, "Why you? How is this different from other solutions?"
PMs and PMMs need to come together on what that differentiator is. But it doesn’t always have to be a feature capability.
It could be a better UX, non-functional performance parameters, the quality of data the product is trained on, pricing, etc. Know your stand-out aha moment.
#4: Rolling out to all customers at once
Launching to your entire customer base simultaneously creates unnecessary risk. A phased approach allows you to:
Iron out issues after QA
Gather iterative feedback
Test with power users before affecting everyone
At Bayt.com (a job site in the Middle East), we used geo-fenced launches – testing in UAE first, then Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and so on. This approach helped validate multilingual functionality and local integrations before a full rollout.
HubSpot exemplifies this approach. When they revamped the backend interface of Sales Hub years ago, they offered an opt-in program where admins could enable the new layout for their account. This gave HubSpot valuable early feedback from power users before the gradual rollout.
#3: Solving problems your customers don't prioritize
Sometimes teams launch products that don't address priority problems for their customer base. This typically happens due to:
Executive interest in entering a new category
Overestimation of TAM (Total Addressable Market)
Being distracted by competitors with high valuations
The result is a product that's hard to position, difficult to cross-sell to existing customers, and challenging for the field to understand. As Ibrahim explains, "It's like, why this is, you know, billion dollar category, why are we unable to sell this? And it's like, because our customer base doesn't value this problem."
#2: Using the same GTM motion for every launch
Not all product launches should follow the same go-to-market playbook. Different customer segments respond to other channels and messages.
For instance, at vFairs, our general event management platform targets event organizers through LinkedIn, organic channels, and paid ads.
However, when launching features specific to food shows (a type of trade show), we realized those personas rarely use LinkedIn. Instead, we pivoted to an account-based marketing approach with direct outreach and referral marketing.
As Ibrahim puts it, "You need to basically think about every launch independently and separately, as opposed to just having a checklist that you're just ticking off every single time."
#1: Inaccessible target audience
Even with the best product and compelling messaging, if you can't reach your target audience, the launch will fail. This goes beyond just choosing the wrong channels – it's about understanding how different products are sold in different contexts.
Ibrahim shared valuable insights about this challenge:
Different regions require different approaches (e.g., Japan heavily relies on partner reseller models)
Jumping personas is challenging (e.g., if you've historically sold to persona X but now target persona Y)
Creating a "mix shift" from your current audience to a new one requires a strategic GTM approach
Honorable Mentions
Beyond our top 10, several other launch mistakes deserve recognition:
Ignoring the competition: While "copy the competition" is a poor strategy, competitive intelligence is crucial, especially in B2B SaaS. As I wrote in a previous newsletter, prospects often ask, "How do you compare with [competitor name]?" Having concrete, specific answers is essential.
Treating the launch as the finish line: The real work often begins after launch. Teams that don't plan for iterations, feedback loops, and quick fixes post-launch often see their hard work go to waste.
Disconnected pricing strategy: Your pricing should reflect your positioning. A mismatch here creates confusion in the market and internal tension between sales and product teams.
Quick Recap
Timing matters: Don't launch too early or too frequently
Make it tangible: Ensure users have something to try, not just PR
Enable internal teams: Equip sales and CS with consistent messaging
Leverage external advocates: Enlist influencers and analysts
Tell stories with use cases: Don't just focus on features
Differentiate clearly: Have a unique point of view
Phase your rollout: Test with segments before full deployment
Solve priority problems: Ensure your solution addresses customer needs
Customize your GTM: Different audiences need different approaches
Ensure audience accessibility: Have a clear route to market
What you can do now:
For PMs: Involve your PMM counterparts early in the discovery process, not just before launch.
For PMMs: Shadow discovery calls and participate in solution design discussions.
For both: Create a joint launch framework that clarifies roles, timeline, and dependencies.
For leaders: Structure teams to encourage PM-PMM collaboration, possibly with squads or paired assignments.
Are there other common pitfalls you've observed? Tell me in the comments.
Special thanks to
for partnering with me on this. You’ll also find Ibrahim’s take on this episode on his newsletter, Run the Business.Until next time,
Aatir
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