What No One Tells You About Launch Week

One week post-launch. Here’s the real story.

Hey everyone,

It’s been one week since Sleep or Die officially launched, and I wanted to share the real, behind-the-scenes reflections from launch week. The part you don’t see on Instagram. The late-night thoughts. The wins that felt amazing. The stuff no one tells you about launching a brand.

Let’s get into it.

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That First Order Hit Different

10 a.m. on launch day. We sent out the password.

Overwhelming doesn’t even begin to describe it. Watching so many people on the website, checking out immediately, the conversion process was seamless.

But what surprised me the most?

It wasn’t just names I recognized. We had so many new people join our community, and converting right out of the gate. What was surprising was that we had only announced we were launching sleep tape seven days before launch. Somehow, through all the organic buzz and word-of-mouth, people stumbled across Sleep or Die and decided to trust us.

That’s when it clicked: trust the process.

Because leading up to launch, the mind spirals: Did I miss something? Should I have done more? How many more tests could I run? But seeing how many people showed up and believed in this brand? It was overwhelming, in the best way. I’m beyond grateful.

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The DM

We had a holiday in Canada right after launch, so we didn’t start shipping until Tuesday. Later that week the DMs started rolling in.

One stood out:

We’re building this to create products to help you sleep harder. A main issue with sleep tape is wanting to rip it off in the middle of the night because it can be really uncomfortable. To me, this was an early indicator that we are on the right track.

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Behind the Scenes: What Actually Kept Me Up

Let’s get real: keeping the brand voice alive, the product clear, and the tech running? It’s the thing that always feels like an impossible balance.

The three things I am keeping in mind:

1. Brand Voice vs. Product Push: I never want Sleep or Die to feel like a product-first brand. The positioning comes first: sleep hard, die older. The product supports the mission, not the other way around.

2. Tech That Converts: You can have the best branding in the world, but if your website doesn’t convert, you don’t have a business. Making sure Shopify hummed along smoothly wasn’t glamorous, but it was non-negotiable.

3. Shipping Experiments: Here’s a fun one, we took a shipping risk. We decided to ship all BC packages using oversized letter mail (lowest shipping rates possible). Total gamble. But it worked. People got their orders faster than when we tested against standard rates. A huge win.

   

   One Week Later: What I’m Proud Of

   Honestly? I’m proud of myself.

   It’s taken guts to launch something new and bet on a bold narrative like Sleep or Die. The feedback we’ve had through Instagram, Substack, and DMs has been insanely motivating.

   Every message. Every order notification. Every person who’s now sleeping better because of what we’re building.

   It’s giving me the confidence that this is going to be bigger than I imagined.

   

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   My Ask (Because I’ll Always Have One)

   This is the part where I ask for something, and today it’s simple:

   👉 Order the product. Try it. Let me know what you think. This isn’t a sales push, it is a feedback loop.

   

   I need your feedback. The good, the bad, the surprising. What worked? What didn’t? This feedback will shape how we grow, improve, and scale.

   Thanks for being here. 💀😴

   Lo