Last updated: Jul 25, 2025, 10:08 AM UTC

Commercial Launch Strategy & Todo List

Overview

This document outlines the comprehensive strategy and todo list for launching Convert To Markdown as a commercial SaaS product. The strategy covers pricing, marketing, technical infrastructure, and business operations.

Launch Timeline

Target Launch Date: Q1 2025
Soft Launch: Q4 2024 (Beta with select customers)
Public Launch: Q1 2025 (Full commercial availability)

1. Product & Technical Requirements

Core Product Enhancements

  • Add Authentication System

    • Implement user registration/login
    • API key management via API
    • Usage tracking per user
    • OAuth integration (Google, GitHub)

  • Build Usage API

    • Real-time conversion statistics
    • File history and re-download
    • API usage analytics
    • Billing integration

  • Implement Rate Limiting

    • Per-user/API key limits
    • Tiered rate limits by plan
    • Burst handling
    • Queue system for high-volume users

  • Add Batch Processing

    • Multiple file uploads
    • ZIP file processing
    • Async job queue with webhooks
    • Progress tracking

  • Enhanced File Support

    • PowerPoint (.pptx, .ppsx, .potx) to Markdown
    • Older Office formats (.doc, .ppt)
    • Google Docs integration
    • OCR for scanned PDFs

Infrastructure & Scaling

  • Multi-Region Deployment

    • Deploy to US-East (primary)
    • Deploy to EU-West (GDPR compliance)
    • Deploy to Asia-Pacific
    • CDN for static assets

  • Production Database

    • Set up Cloud SQL/Firestore
    • User management schema
    • Usage tracking tables
    • Backup and recovery plan

  • Monitoring & Alerting

    • Google Cloud Monitoring setup
    • Error tracking (Sentry)
    • Performance monitoring
    • Uptime monitoring (99.9% SLA)

  • Security Hardening

    • Security audit
    • Penetration testing
    • SOC2 compliance roadmap
    • GDPR compliance implementation

2. Pricing Strategy

Recommended Pricing Tiers

Free Tier (Freemium)

  • Price: $0/month
  • Conversions: 10/month
  • File Size: 2MB max
  • Features: Basic conversions, watermark
  • Purpose: Lead generation, trial

Starter Plan

  • Price: $29/month
  • Conversions: 500/month
  • File Size: 5MB max
  • Features: All formats, no watermark, email support
  • Target: Individual developers, small teams

Professional Plan

  • Price: $99/month
  • Conversions: 5,000/month
  • File Size: 10MB max
  • Features: Priority processing, API access, webhooks
  • Target: Growing businesses, agencies

Enterprise Plan

  • Price: Custom (starting $499/month)
  • Conversions: Unlimited
  • File Size: 50MB max
  • Features: SLA, dedicated support, custom integrations, On-Premise deployment option
  • Target: Large organizations requiring data sovereignty

Pricing Implementation Tasks

  • Payment Integration

    • Stripe integration
    • Subscription management
    • Invoice generation
    • Usage-based billing system

  • Billing Management via Stripe

    • Stripe Customer Portal for subscription management
    • Payment method updates via Stripe
    • Invoice history in Stripe
    • Usage reports via API

3. Marketing Strategy

Content Marketing

  • Technical Blog

    • "Excel (.xlsx, .xls, .xlsm) to Markdown for Data Scientists"
    • "Building RAG Systems with Clean Data"
    • "Document Conversion Best Practices"
    • Weekly publishing schedule

  • Documentation Site

    • Comprehensive API docs
    • Integration guides
    • Video tutorials
    • Code examples in 5+ languages

  • Comparison Pages

    • vs. Pandoc (highlight ease of use)
    • vs. Manual conversion
    • vs. Other cloud converters
    • Feature comparison matrix

SEO Strategy

  • Keyword Targeting

    • "excel to markdown converter"
    • "pdf to markdown api"
    • "document conversion api"
    • "xlsx to json converter"

  • Landing Pages

    • Format-specific pages (Excel .xlsx/.xls/.xlsm→Markdown, PDF→Markdown)
    • Use case pages (AI/ML, Documentation, Data Pipeline)
    • Industry pages (Finance, Healthcare, Education)
    • Integration pages (Python, Node.js, REST API)

  • Technical SEO

    • Schema markup implementation
    • Site speed optimization
    • Mobile responsiveness
    • XML sitemap generation

Developer Marketing

  • Open Source Strategy

    • Release core converter libraries
    • Maintain npm package
    • Python SDK development
    • Community contributions

  • Developer Relations

    • Hackathon sponsorships
    • Conference talks
    • Developer newsletters
    • Stack Overflow presence

  • Partner Integrations

    • Zapier integration
    • Make (Integromat) integration
    • n8n workflow templates
    • IFTTT recipes

Launch Marketing

  • Product Hunt Launch

    • Prepare assets and copy
    • Build launch team
    • Schedule for Tuesday
    • Follow-up campaign

  • Social Media Campaign

    • Twitter/X announcement strategy
    • LinkedIn thought leadership
    • Reddit (r/programming, r/webdev)
    • Hacker News submission

4. Sales & Customer Success

Sales Infrastructure

  • CRM Implementation

    • HubSpot or Pipedrive setup
    • Lead scoring system
    • Email automation
    • Sales pipeline tracking

  • Sales Materials

    • Product demo video
    • Sales deck
    • ROI calculator
    • Case studies (3-5)

Customer Success

  • Onboarding Flow

    • Welcome email series
    • Getting started guide
    • API quickstart wizard
    • Sample code repository

  • Support System

    • Help desk (Intercom/Zendesk)
    • Knowledge base
    • Community forum
    • Office hours/webinars

  • Customer Feedback Loop

    • NPS surveys
    • Feature request board
    • Quarterly business reviews
    • Churn analysis system

5. Legal & Compliance

Legal Requirements

  • Terms of Service

    • Service agreement
    • Acceptable use policy
    • SLA documentation
    • Refund policy

  • Privacy & Security

    • Privacy policy
    • Cookie policy
    • Data processing agreement
    • Security whitepaper

  • Business Setup

    • Trademark registration
    • Business insurance
    • Contracts templates
    • IP assignment agreements

Compliance

  • Data Protection

    • GDPR compliance audit
    • CCPA compliance
    • Data retention policies
    • Right to deletion implementation

  • Industry Certifications

    • SOC2 Type 1 (Year 1)
    • ISO 27001 roadmap
    • HIPAA compliance assessment
    • PCI compliance (for payments)

6. Analytics & Metrics

Key Metrics to Track

  • Product Metrics

    • Conversion success rate
    • Average processing time
    • Error rates by format
    • API latency (p50, p95, p99)

  • Business Metrics

    • MRR/ARR growth
    • Customer acquisition cost (CAC)
    • Lifetime value (LTV)
    • Churn rate by tier

  • Marketing Metrics

    • Website conversion rate
    • Cost per acquisition by channel
    • SEO rankings for target keywords
    • Content engagement rates

Analytics Implementation

  • Analytics Setup
    • Google Analytics 4
    • Mixpanel for product analytics
    • Segment for data pipeline
    • Custom dashboards

7. Team & Resources

Immediate Hiring Needs

  • Technical Roles

    • Senior Backend Engineer (scaling)
    • DevOps Engineer (infrastructure)
    • Frontend Engineer (dashboard)

  • Business Roles

    • Head of Marketing
    • Customer Success Manager
    • Technical Writer

Advisors & Partners

  • Advisory Board

    • SaaS growth advisor
    • Enterprise sales advisor
    • Technical/security advisor

  • Strategic Partnerships

    • Cloud credits programs
    • Startup accelerators
    • Industry associations

8. Financial Planning

Revenue Projections

  • Financial Model
    • 3-year revenue projection
    • Cost structure analysis
    • Break-even analysis
    • Funding requirements

Investment Strategy

  • Funding Options
    • Bootstrap vs. funding decision
    • Angel investor outreach
    • VC pitch deck preparation
    • Revenue-based financing options

9. Risk Mitigation

Technical Risks

  • Scaling Challenges
    • Load testing at 10x capacity
    • Failover procedures
    • Data backup strategy
    • DDoS protection

Business Risks

  • Competitive Analysis
    • Monitor new entrants
    • Patent search
    • Differentiation strategy
    • Pricing elasticity testing

Market Risks

  • Market Validation
    • Customer interviews (50+)
    • Beta program feedback
    • Competitor customer analysis
    • Market size validation

10. Launch Checklist

Pre-Launch (T-30 days)

  • Beta testing with 50+ users
  • Load testing completed
  • Security audit passed
  • Documentation complete
  • Pricing page live
  • Support system operational

Launch Day

  • Product Hunt submission
  • Press release distribution
  • Social media blast
  • Email to waitlist
  • Team on standby

Post-Launch (T+7 days)

  • Gather initial feedback
  • Fix critical bugs
  • First week metrics review
  • Customer success calls
  • Iterate on messaging

Success Metrics for Launch

Month 1 Goals

  • 100 registered users
  • 10 paying customers
  • $1,000 MRR
  • 99.9% uptime

Quarter 1 Goals

  • 500 registered users
  • 50 paying customers
  • $5,000 MRR
  • 2 enterprise pilots

Year 1 Goals

  • 5,000 registered users
  • 500 paying customers
  • $50,000 MRR
  • Break-even achieved

Next Immediate Steps

  1. Week 1: Set up authentication system and API key management
  2. Week 2: Implement Stripe integration and billing
  3. Week 3: Deploy multi-region infrastructure
  4. Week 4: Begin beta program recruitment
  5. Month 2: Launch closed beta with 50 users
  6. Month 3: Iterate based on feedback and prepare for public launch