A startup launch video checklist (30 to 90 seconds)

A launch video is the 30 to 90 seconds that says "it's here." It goes on your home page, in your launch post and in your first ads. This is the checklist we built our storyboard around: what to decide before you write, the seven beats, the files to collect, the shapes to deliver, the legal checks and the launch-day list. Our product videos page explains how we make launch videos; this post is everything to have ready first.

What a launch video is for, and what it isn't

A launch video makes a stranger want to try something new. It runs 30 to 90 seconds, shows the old way, reveals the product, shows up to three things it does, says who it is for and where to get it, and ends on an end card (the last screen, with your logo and what to do next).

It is not a demo. A demo shows every feature with the cursor moving and belongs in your help center for people who already signed up. A launch video shows three features at most, each in two or three shots. If you cannot cut the list to three, you have not decided what the launch is about.

Before you write: the seven answers

Write these down before anything else. Every shot comes from one of them.

1. The product in one sentence. What it is, for whom.
2. Who it is for. A job, an age range, a day in their life, not a market segment.
3. Their problem. What hurts before your product. This is the opening.
4. The one thing to remember. One sentence. An ad with three messages lands none.
5. Up to three proofs. Facts you can show: a number, a quote, a result. None invented.
6. The offer. Free trial, launch price, early access. Exact.
7. The call to action and where to go. The call to action is what you ask people to do, in exact words, plus the address: a URL, an app store, a shop.

The seven beats with timings

The timings below are practice, the way agencies and platforms describe the shape of a launch video, not a rule. Stretch or shrink them to your length.

1. The old way, 0 to 5 seconds. Three fast shots of the problem. Handheld, quick cuts.
2. The statement, 5 to 8 seconds. A short line of moving type: "What if..." or "Introducing."
3. The reveal, 8 to 14 seconds. The product appears out of darkness with a slow pull-out (the camera moving slowly away) and a sweep of light, and its name on screen.
4. Up to three features, 14 to 50 seconds. For each: a name card, then two or three shots of it working.
5. Who it is for, 50 to 60 seconds. People using it, in a quick montage.
6. Availability, 60 to 70 seconds. Date, price, platforms, on screen in plain type.
7. The end card, the last 3 to 5 seconds. Logo, call to action, web address.

For a 30-second version, keep the old way, the statement, the reveal, one feature and the end card.

Assets checklist

AI video cannot draw your real product, and a model will garble your logo, so the files you supply are the parts of the video that are exactly right. Collect them before the brief.

• Your logo as an SVG or a transparent PNG, for the end card.
• Two or three brand colors as hex codes.
• One product photo, front on and on a plain background, or a short clip of the product in use. The brief takes one, and it becomes the product shot.
• For software: a short screen recording of the main flow, or one key screen, because generated footage cannot draw your real interface.
• The exact words of the offer, the call to action and the web address.

Script checklist

• One message, said once in words and once in pictures.
• The product on screen at least twice: at the reveal, and big and close just before the end card.
• About 2.5 words a second of speech, with gaps. A 60-second video holds about 150 spoken words if someone talks the whole time; use fewer.
• Every number and quote is one you can back.
• The call to action in exact words, matched on the end card.

Our post on how to write a 30-second commercial script has the two-column format and a full example.

Shapes and cut-downs

One launch video has to live in several places, so plan the shapes first: wide 16:9 for your home page and YouTube, vertical 9:16 for Reels, TikTok and Shorts, square 1:1 for feeds, and a 15-second teaser, which is a cut-down (a shorter version of the same ad) that keeps the reveal and the call to action. A short ad is built, not trimmed: write it as its own piece.

At customcommercials.ai every commercial is delivered in all three shapes from one approval. A teaser is its own commercial: ask for it in a second brief. The shortest length we bill today is listed on the pricing page, and a cut shorter than that costs the same as that length.

Where it runs and what each place needs

Each place has its own rules for length, shape, captions and file format, and they change often. Rather than quote pixel sizes that will be out of date by spring, check each platform's current specification page the week you launch.

• Your website. The wide version, with a poster image so the page does not jump while it loads, and no autoplay with sound.
• YouTube. The wide version, 1080p, with a thumbnail you chose. Google publishes its recommended upload settings: https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/1722171
• X and LinkedIn. Upload the file itself rather than pasting a link; native video plays in the feed, mostly muted, so captions matter.
• Product Hunt. Check its current guidance; a short wide version with a strong first frame is the safe choice.
• TikTok and Reels. The vertical version with captions on from the first frame. TikTok's creative guidance asks for the proposition in the first three seconds: https://ads.tiktok.com/help/article/creative-best-practices?lang=en

Legal checklist

• You have the right to use every piece of music, footage and logo in the video. A song you like is not a song you may use.
• Every claim is one you can prove, and you name no competitor you cannot back a claim about.
• Required disclaimers appear on screen, readable, for long enough to read.
• Anyone recognizable in the video has agreed to be in it.
• If the video was made with AI, you have read the labeling policy of each platform it runs on.

Launch-day checklist

• Upload everything a day early, so a failed upload is not a launch-day problem.
• Captions on, on every platform that supports them.
• Thumbnail or poster frame chosen, not left to chance.
• The link in your bio and your launch post point at the same page the video's end card names.
• The page the video points at is live, loads fast and shows the offer the video promised.
• A how-to video is ready for day-one users: the first thing new users need after the launch video is help getting started, and that is a different kind of video. Our sister product howtovideos.ai makes how-to videos, written guides and help centers from a screen recording. Our post on commercial or how-to video explains the difference.

The printable checklist

• Seven answers written: product, audience, problem, one message, proofs, offer, call to action and address.
• Seven beats drafted with timings.
• Logo file, brand colors, and one product photo or screen recording collected.
• Script read aloud with a timer; one message; product on screen twice; facts checked.
• Three shapes planned; teaser written as its own piece.
• Platform specs checked the week of launch; rights and disclaimers confirmed.
• Uploads done a day early, captions on, thumbnails set, links matched.
• How-to video ready for new users.

To have the video made from this checklist, write it into a brief and you will get a storyboard (the shot-by-shot plan with a preview picture for most shots) to approve for free, with the exact price shown before you pay. Our post on what a commercial costs in 2026 shows where that price sits against a shoot.

FAQ

How long should a launch video be?

Thirty to ninety seconds. Sixty is the common middle: enough for the old way, the reveal, three features, who it is for and where to get it. Make a 30-second version for ads and a 15-second teaser as its own piece, because a short ad is built, not trimmed.

Should the founder be in it?

Only if the founder is good on camera and will still be the face of the company in a year, because a launch video gets reused for months. A voice-over with the product big and close ages better, and an AI spokesperson is an option when you want a presenter without filming one.

What is the difference between a launch video and a demo?

A launch video makes a stranger want to try the product: 30 to 90 seconds, three features at most, a reveal and a call to action. A demo shows someone who already signed up how it works, feature by feature, for as long as it takes. The first goes on your home page; the second in your help center.

When should I make it?

Start when the product is close to final and the three launch features will not change. Collect the assets first, since the logo file and the product photo take longer than people expect. Leave time for a round of changes after the first version, and finish uploads a day before launch.

What does a launch video cost?

From a few dollars of AI credits if you drive the tools yourself to $5,000 and up from an agency for a 60-second spot, with freelancers and done-for-you services in between; the ranges with sources are in our cost post. At customcommercials.ai the storyboard is free and the price of each format and length is on the pricing page.

Sources

• The brief fields and the launch beats are our own synthesis of how agencies structure a launch spot, informed by Google's creative guidance for YouTube ads (https://business.google.com/us/think/future-of-marketing/creative-best-practices-youtube-ads/) and TikTok's creative best practices (https://ads.tiktok.com/help/article/creative-best-practices?lang=en). They are practice, not platform rules.
• Google, recommended upload encoding settings for YouTube: https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/1722171
• The 2.5 words a second pace is industry practice.
• Product photo requirements and the limits of generated footage come from our own production notes; no AI video model today reliably reproduces a real product's label or a real software interface.
• howtovideos.ai: https://howtovideos.ai