Field Note #005: The MVP → GA Speed Trap

Shipped it. Now, why did adoption flatline?

This field note came out of a few conversations with founders, PMMs, and growth leads. It’s not a critique. It’s an observation. One that keeps surfacing, even inside highly capable orgs.

In many launches, PMMs are asked to lead but start without full context. They’re handed documents, maybe sit in on a few PM meetings, and are expected to make sense of it all. What often follows is a sequence of deliverables: blog post, press pitch, email, one-pager. All intended to position the feature externally. But without a clear model of what adoption looks like after launch, it turns into a checklist, not a system.

The result often looks like this:

Spike on launch
Flatline by week two
No sustained usage. No movement in retention.

Code shipped. Announcements made. But nothing stuck.

Familiar? Read on.