I have found it problematic to couple the construction of something with a launch date. For contrast, I’ve found it advantageous to launch something when it’s ready and then promote it when it’s stable.

A couple exceptions:

1. externally imposed deadlines, eg security issues, GDPR and Transfer Service Agreements
2. cadence meetings, eg demonstrating the latest work at the end of the week

I commonly see teams saying development is not deadline driven, but then doing it anyway. I think it’s common because it’s easy to see the value of having something to show at, say, a conference, but hard to estimate the completion date of a project.

When conferences were cancelled wholesale for the Covid 19 pandemic, all deadlines relaxed, to what seemed like universal relief and no reduction in shipping, but once conferences seemed plausible again, deadlines returned without a thought 🤦‍♂️

I’ve found a couple tools help with launch planning:

1. Listing tasks required for launch
2. Agreeing to launch stages

Making shipping a priority is more fun, too. Deadlines feel like work, shipping feels like a challenge.

https://signalvnoise.com/posts/2486-bootstrapped-profitable-proud-github