How do you write a launch post that doesn't sound like an ad?
Every time I write a launch post it starts sounding like a press release. "Excited to announce..." and so on.
The launch posts I actually read are the ones that tell a story or share a real problem.
What's your approach? Do you lead with the problem, the backstory, a number, a demo?
If you have a launch post you were proud of, what made it work?
Two tests I'd add to the "read it out loud" one:
Would it still be worth reading if the product didn't exist? If the post only works as a pitch, it's an ad. If it teaches one thing the reader can use today (a number, a mistake, a method), the product becomes the footnote people click on their own.
End with a real question instead of a CTA. "Try it here" closes the conversation; "has anyone solved X a different way?" opens it, and on communities like this the replies are what keep a post visible.
A cheap trick for the first line: steal it from how your users describe the problem in their own words (support emails, reviews of competitors, forum complaints). Their phrasing never sounds like marketing because it isn't.
I stopped opening with the product name. First line is the dumb mistake, second is what I changed, and the product only shows up if someone is still reading.
The press-release voice sneaks in when I try to cover features. One specific failure is enough. If I can't name a real number or a real screwup, I wait. A short demo beats a feature list, but only after the problem is obvious.
I also read it out loud once. If it sounds like something I'd say to another founder, it ships. If it sounds like the landing page, I cut the first paragraph.