launch-tier

# Launch Tier Classification **The instrument is Lauchengco's RELEASE SCALE, and this skill had it wrong until 2026-09-20.** Corrected after reading *LOVED* chapter 12 directly. What the book actually says: > *"Developing a shared understanding of how a release should be categorized and what go-to-market > activities will get done is the purpose of a Release Scale. It's a simple tool whose **sole purpose > is to create shared vocabulary and expectations** between the product and go-to-market teams."* > *"**This is different from a detailed organizational plan** for every action needed for a product > launch."* **Three consequences for how this skill is used.** 1. **THE SCALE IS BUILT, NOT ADOPTED.** Her step 1: *"Decide on the calibration scale. **Be it levels, grades, names, numbers, or tiers**, I encourage using something that doesn't require a legend for people to understand."* Tiers are one of five options **the user picks** — not the instrument. Her worked example runs to **Level 5** (*"it's important for the company to have one or two Level 5 releases a year"*), not three. 2. **CALIBRATE ON YOUR OWN PAST RELEASES — she flags this as the most-skipped step.** Step 2: *"Use known past releases as examples to define the levels. **This is an important and often missed step. Don't make this an academic exercise of a potential future release.** By using known reference points, people have a known comparison to calibrate from."* **So a project with n...