First changelog tools campaign checklist

A first changelog tools campaign at founder scale. Numbered so you can stop lying to yourself about which step you skipped.

Confirm a working changelog they can email to 10 users tonight actually closes. Creators cannot fix packaging.
Write the avatar in a sentence: US English indie SaaS, 25-38, already bounced off a GitHub releases page nobody reads and a Twitter ship thread that died in 20 minutes, watches ‘nobody reads the changelog’ and ‘I shipped and Slack was silent’ videos after a release night.
Write the problem in their mouth: I shipped the thing they asked for and the only likes were other founders.
Write what they already quit: GitHub releases nobody reads, a Twitter ship thread, and a Notion page they linked once in an email.
Write what they watch: unread-changelog, silent-Slack-after-ship, ‘GitHub releases are for other engineers’, ship-thread death.
Write the reject: the launch-playbook guru selling Product Hunt templates.
Write adjacent so the phone does not smear: silent Slack, ship nights, not Series-B launch theater.
Put that sentence into the brief
Scroll as them on a fresh Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube account. Example to look for: someone posting a ship thread that gets three likes, all from other founders. Signal: the same silent-Slack face two release nights.
Keep a 50k average-view floor. Below that, $700 a post for 1k views is a money sink.
Skip #buildinpublic as a roster method.
Email. The contact is usually in a tiny SaaS footer. Name a real video. Ask for the phone number.
If they won’t give a number, move on. Launch coaches quote playbook prices.
On the call, Minimum View Guarantee. Example: $2000 / 4 posts / 1M views. Talent extra.
Send the contract while the yes is still warm. Scout $1,500 / Outreach $2,500 / Dealmaker $5,000.
Write an entry, send it, no PH playbook.
Tell them what to film: write the entry, send it, show one user reply. Stop. Do not ask them to fake a launch. Ask them to send one changelog to real users.
Give each creator their own code. Unique signup links, not a PH rank screenshot.
Do not run a launch day on the same morning if you wanted isolation.
Two follow-ups, then stop. If you do this right, ie at scale, you will have many other creators to choose from.

Doing the scroll by hand is kind of soul-crushing. Like a Product Hunt rocket video and you will leave the silent-Slack indie. No demo. No download guarantee. You approve every creator and every rate.

Silent-ship rants already have the audience; a changelog email people open is the product.

First changelog tools campaign checklist

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