Screenshot of launchrock.com
Launch day — the moment your startup, blog, business, or new idea had circled on its calendar. The process of getting to that day can be arduous, and perhaps what you launch isn’t really the finished product or service you want to display. There has to be an easier way, right? Say hello to LaunchRock.
LaunchRock is a slick web app that allows you to create a simple, clean launch page to gather email addresses, share your message, and prepare for launch day. In an appropriate manner, Launchrock was born in a brief, 54-hour period during Startup Weekend New York at the end of January. Co-founder Jameson Detweiler had the idea going into Startup Weekend and knew he had something special and just needed to execute.
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After seeing the success of the mysterious Hipster launch site, Detweiler realized startups and entrepreneurs wanted a way to prepare for launch and get the word out with a consistent, viral message. Launchrock does all this in just a few simple steps. All you need to do is determine your URL, enter some basic copy, upload a logo if desired, write some share messages to post to Facebook and Twitter, click launch, and then sit back and let your message spread.
The concept of LaunchRock is brilliant whether you’re preparing a big launch for that project you’ve spent months on, or if you simply want to test idea and see what interest you receive. Why waste time on development when you’re still trying to see if your idea sticks? Why spend money on an ad budget to generate leads when you can let interested leads share the message for you?
A look at LaunchRock’s admin screen on for our product at 9 Clouds, digsandbox.com
We’ve already started using Launchrock at 9 Clouds with our product Sandbox and have seen great results with over 60 signups in just two and half weeks. Last week, I talked by phone with Detweiler about the birth of Launchrock and what we may expect in the near future.
Silicon Prairie News: I know that Launchrock is a project that came as a result of Startup Weekend. Tell me a little bit about that process and where the idea came from.
Jameson Detweiler: It was a week before startup weekend, and I was in between projects and had just read the article about Hipster on TechCrunch. I knew I wanted an idea for startup weekend that was 1) timely and useful, and 2) I knew we could build and test within 54 hours.
(Left, photo from technicallyphilly.com)
SPN: Did you have any idea of leaving Startup Weekend with such a popular product and how has that impacted you and your co-founders other projects/jobs?
Detweiler: I came out of startup weekend thinking I was going to do this full time. It was just the right place, right time, and we had a good story.
SPN: What type of response (i.e. signups, launch pages) has Launchrock seen to date?
Detweiler: Right now we’re controlling the number of pages that are launching and keeping numbers private on how many sign ups and launches.
SPN: Explain briefly what problem Launchrock solves and why you think it has caught on so quickly by users online.
Detweiler: Putting up a landing page is an easy thing to do, but people don’t get around to actually doing it. Also, people like having a tool that helps spread message and makes that very simple.
SPN: What future features or additions may we see with LaunchRock?
Detweiler: We just announced our widget and an API, as well as email address importing. (Read more about new features on LaunchRock’s blog)
SPN: Any special SXSW promotions we may see?
Detweiler: All I can say is that we’re “launching off iPods and iPads.” Stay tuned.
