I used to open a fresh Next.js app every time I had a small idea to validate.

Not because the idea needed React Server Components. Because I wanted a page that looked “real” — hero, pricing, FAQ, a place for an email — and Next was the hammer I already knew.

Then I’d burn two evenings on layout, fonts, a half-wired form, and a deploy that still felt like a mini product. By the time the landing was “good enough,” the urge to launch had cooled. The waitlist stayed empty. The Gumroad link never went live.

If that sounds familiar, this is the note I wish I’d written to myself a year ago.

The actual job of a launch page

For a micro-launch — a waitlist, a $19–$49 digital kit, a course teaser — the page has one job:

Get someone from “curious” to “email or payment” without making you rebuild a frontend repo.

That’s it. It does not need auth. It does not need a CMS.…