Blog post: How Raycast launched

Author: fmerian

p/raycast.mdx

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+---
+title: "How to launch week: Raycast"
+description: "An overview of what and how Raycast shipped during their launch week."
+---
+
+Raycast is an app that provides developers with quick access to their tools.** 
+
+It reduces context switching with a command line inspired interface and connects with GitHub, Linear, and G Suite among others.
+
+The company ran a launch week in July 2022.
+
+Below are some key takeaways — an overview of what and how Raycast shipped this week.
+
+<Card title="Raycast" href="https://lweek.dev/ray">
+    Extendable macOS launcher
+</Card>
+
+## tldr
+
+- **Announce your launch week in advance to raise awareness and start building momentum**
+- **Launch on more places like Product Hunt and Hacker News to maximize the compound effect**
+- **Post a recap to keep the momentum going.**
+
+## how Raycast launched
+
+### announcements
+
+Raycast made five announcements:
+
+1. Community Stories
+2. Look and feel
+3. Raycast for Teams
+4. Menu Bar Comments
+5. Community Swag 
+
+For the announcements, Raycast applied these tactics:
+
+- Publish a preview 1 week in advance
+- Publish 1 changelog post
+- Publish 4 blog posts — including a recap
+- Spread the news on Twitter/X
+- Launched on Product Hunt and Hacker News
+
+<Card title="Raycast Changelog" href="https://www.raycast.com/changelog/1-38-0">
+    A fresh look and feel
+</Card>
+<Card title="Raycast for Teams on Product Hunt" href="https://producthunt.com/products/raycast#raycast-for-teams">
+    Speed up internal workflows
+</Card>
+
+### results
+
+**Day 0 — Jul 11, 2022 — Preview**
+
+Prior to the launch week, Raycast posted a preview on socials to start building momentum.
+
+- Likes: 300
+- Reposts: 26
+
+**Day 1 — Jul 18, 2022 - Community Stories**
+
+- Likes: 141
+- Reposts: 28
+
+**Day 2 - Jul 19, 2022 - Look and feel**
+
+- Likes: 435
+- Reposts: 41
+
+// Raycast announced this update in a blog Post and release note. They also dropped a preview on socials.
+
+**Day 3 - Jul 20, 2022 - Raycast for Teams**
+
+- Likes: 249
+- Reposts: 36
+
+// Raycast announced Raycast for Teams in a blog post. They also launched on Product Hunt, and ranked #4 Product of the Day.
+
+**Day 4 — Jul 21, 2022 — Menu Bar Commands**
+
+- Likes: 249
+- Reposts: 36
+
+// Raycast published a technical behind-the-scenes post and submitted it on Hacker News.
+
+**Day 5 — Jul 22, 2022 — Community Swag**
+
+- Likes: 197
+- Reposts: 182
+
+<Card title="Raycast on X — Day 0" href="https://x.com/raycastapp/status/1546518075691909124">
+    Preview
+</Card>
+<Card title="Raycast on X — Day 1" href="https://x.com/raycastapp/status/1549037593655795712">
+    Introducing Community Stories
+</Card>
+<Card title="Raycast on X — Day 2" href="https://x.com/raycastapp/status/1549396551121920003">
+    Introducing a new look and feel
+</Card>
+<Card title="Raycast on X — Day 3" href="https://x.com/raycastapp/status/1549680597085347843">
+    Introducing Raycast for Teams
+</Card>
+<Card title="Raycast on X — Day 4" href="https://x.com/raycastapp/status/1550158390856409096">
+    Introducing Menu Bar Commands
+</Card>
+<Card title="Raycast on X — Day 5" href="https://x.com/raycastapp/status/1550436014350548993">
+    Introducing Community Swag
+</Card>
+
+### keep momentum
+
+To wrap up this launch week, Raycast also published a recap on their blog — and reposted it on socials.
+
+<Card title="Raycast Launch Week Summary" href="https://lweek.dev/ray/blog/launch-week-summary">
+    An overview of what Raycast shipped during their launch week
+</Card>
+
+## key takeaways
+
+Some learnings from this launch week:
+
+- Announce your launch week in advance to raise awareness and start building momentum. Raycast started 1 week in advance.
+- Launch on more places like Product Hunt and Hacker News to maximize the compound effect.
+- Post a recap of your announcements to keep the momentum going. This could still reach people who either forgot, ignored, or missed them the first time.
+
+**That's a wrap!**
+
+**Follow [@launchweekdev on X](https://x.com/launchweekdev) for more insights.**
+
+We're tracking launch weeks across the industry for product discovery and inspiration.
+
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