What a realistic product launch timeline looks like
A small team launching a new software product usually needs two to three months from launch goals to launch day; a feature launch to existing customers can be shorter. This template runs about 12 weeks: ten weeks of preparation, launch day on the Tuesday of week 11, then two weeks of follow-up and a retro.
Engineering sets the pace. The beta build, a three-week private beta, beta fixes, feature freeze, QA, and a final week for launch-blocking bugs form one chain that ends at launch day. Around that chain, positioning and pricing wrap up in the first three weeks, the landing page is built by week six, and the press list is ready before anyone sends a pitch.
The assets that show the product wait for feature freeze on purpose. Screenshots, the demo video, and the help center should match what people get, so they start the day the scope stops changing. If your team works in another order, drag the bars to match it.
How to work backward from a fixed launch date
Put launch day where it has to be, then check that the engineering chain before it fits: beta build, private beta, beta fixes, feature freeze, QA, and a week for launch-blocking bugs. In this template that chain has no slack at all, so it decides the date.
Most other work has a little room. The docs finish the Thursday before launch week, and the announcement, launch email, and press pitches finish that Friday. Billing and the landing page are done weeks early.
So when QA runs a week long, go/no-go and launch day move a week on the chart as soon as you stretch the bar. Then you choose: cut scope, shorten the bug-fix week and accept more risk, or move the date. Making that call in week nine, with the whole team looking at the same chart, costs far less than finding out at the go/no-go meeting. That's why a live plan beats a weekly status report: bad news shows up while you can still act on it.
How to adapt this launch template to your team
Delete the tasks your launch doesn't need; stretch a bar and the linked tasks move later with it. For a feature launch to existing customers, delete the pricing and billing tasks if your plans don't change, shorten the beta to a week or two, and drag the later phases back to close the gap. For a brand-new product, stretch the beta instead.
If press isn't part of your plan, delete the press list and pitches, or rename them for the communities where you'll post.
Hours are set only on Marketing's late tasks, with a 20-hour weekly cap, which fits one person doing marketing alongside other work. In weeks 10 and 11, the announcement, pitches, launch day, and follow-up fill that cap exactly. Add a launch webinar or a second email in those weeks and EverGantt marks every task in the week that goes over. Set the cap to your marketer's actual hours; capacity planning for small teams covers how to pick the number.
Make it yours
Drag the first task to your real start date and everything linked to it moves along. Rename the roles to your people, then export a PNG, PDF, or SVG when you need to share it. No template fits? Start from a blank plan with the project schedule maker. Saving to the cloud starts at Pro; sharing with teammates is on Team and Business.
