> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.highailabs.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Execution Plan (Aug 2026 – Jan 2027) > Week-by-week sprint plan from pre-production to App Store launch and the first 100 paying subscribers. # Execution Plan — August 2026 to January 2027 **Created:** August 3, 2026 · **Owner:** Founder (solo) · **Horizon:** 26 weeks This page is the **week-by-week operating plan**. It supersedes the timeline language in [Launch Readiness Overview](/planning/launch-readiness/overview) and the phase table in [Roadmap](/planning/roadmap), both of which describe *what* ships. This page describes *when* and *in what order*. ## The three dates | Milestone | Target | Definition of done | | -------------------------- | ----------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Production-ready build** | **End of August** | A production-profile build with payments working, notebooks generating, and the hard paywall live — installed and exercised on a real device | | **Friends & family** | **September** | App live in the App Store behind an invite gate; 15–30 real people using it; feedback loop running | | **Public launch** | **October** | Invite gate removed, marketing push begins, first paying strangers | Everything below serves those three dates. If a task does not move one of them, it is not in this plan. ## Standing decisions this plan assumes Decided August 3, 2026. See [Pricing Strategy](/planning/pricing/strategy) for the full model of record. * **Hard paywall, full price, no trial and no intro offer.** Pro is $12.99/mo or $99.99/yr. The point is to learn whether the product is worth full price, not to buy conversions with a discount. * **The website is the free tier.** `thisiswhyimhigh.com` serves 2,525 strains publicly. The app does not duplicate a free experience. * **Guest access in the app is browse-only.** Strain browse, search, detail, High Families, music, capped label scanner. Nothing is saved. No AI. * **Everything personal or AI-powered is Pro.** Stash, orders, collection, notebooks, stats, Gmail, imports, dispensaries, rankings, badges. * **Unsubscribed accounts have 30-day data retention. Lapsed subscribers have 12 months, read-only.** * **iOS only.** No Android, no web app, no Safari extension in this window. ## Weekly operating rhythm One shipping lane per week. The plan collapses if this is not respected. | Day | Block | | ------- | ---------------------------------------------------------- | | Mon | Review last week's metrics; pick the week's single lane | | Tue–Thu | Build the lane | | Fri AM | TikTok batch (5–7 videos, pipeline-drafted, human-shipped) | | Fri PM | Ship, verify, update this page's checkboxes | *** # Phase 1 — Production Ready (August, W1–W4) **Goal:** a production build that takes real money and delivers real value. **Exit gate:** a sandbox purchase completes, a notebook generates in a production-profile build, and the paywall is legally compliant. ## W1 — Aug 3: Money plumbing The longest external lead times start this week. Nothing else matters if these are not moving. * [ ] Enroll in the **App Store Small Business Program** (15% vs 30% commission) * [ ] Complete App Store Connect: **Paid Apps agreement, banking, tax forms** * [ ] Create the App Store Connect app record (bundle `com.highiq.app`) * [ ] Create subscription products in **one subscription group** so users can switch monthly ↔ annual without double-paying: `highiq_pro_monthly` ($12.99), `highiq_pro_yearly` ($99.99) * [ ] Link App Store Connect ↔ RevenueCat; configure the `pro` entitlement and the `default` offering * [ ] **Google OAuth:** open the Cloud Console, confirm which project owns the client behind Clerk's Google connection, and determine exactly what the `gmail.readonly` restricted-scope verification requires and whether the security assessment can start before App Store listing * [ ] Retire the `highiq_historical_import` SKU — Historical Import is Pro-included, not a separate purchase **The restricted-scope assessment is the longest pole in the entire plan.** `gmail.readonly` is a Google restricted scope; production use beyond a small test-user cap requires OAuth verification plus a security assessment whose turnaround is measured in weeks to months. Final approval may require a live App Store listing, but do not let that become a reason to start late — establish this week which parts can proceed now and start them. ## W2 — Aug 10: Re-tier to the hard paywall * [ ] `apps/mobile/src/_config/featureFlags.ts` — move to `requiredTier: 'pro'`: `stash`, `favorites`, `addStrain`, `collection`, `profile`, `preferences`, `rankings`, `badges`, `historicalImport` * [ ] Confirm guest-only (`requiredAuth: false`): `strainBrowsing`, `strainSearch`, `strainDetail`, `highFamily`, `music`, `labelScanner` * [ ] Update `useAccessPolicy` tests for the new tier map * [ ] Update `docs/testing/feature-flag-qa-matrix.md` * [ ] Implement **30-day retention for never-subscribed accounts** (warn at day 23, export offered) and **12-month read-only retention for lapsed subscribers** * [ ] Verify a guest cannot reach any Pro route by direct deep link ## W3 — Aug 17: The paywall The highest-stakes screen in the app. `SubscriptionBillingScreen` is a billing screen; this is a sales screen. Different job, different surface. * [ ] Build the post-onboarding paywall: value framing, annual pre-selected and shown as "\$8.33/month, billed annually", monthly secondary * [ ] **Apple-required disclosures on the paywall itself** — subscription length, price per period, auto-renewal terms, and functional links to Terms of Use (EULA) and Privacy Policy * [ ] **Restore Purchases** control on the paywall, not only in settings * [ ] Route every Pro-gated surface to this paywall instead of a generic lock * [ ] Onboarding delivers **one real personal moment before the ask** — a High Family result or a label scan, something about *them* * [ ] Lapsed-subscriber recovery state (data visible, read-only, resubscribe CTA) Missing auto-renewal disclosure or a missing Restore Purchases control is one of the most common subscription-app rejection reasons. Treat these as blocking, not cosmetic. ## W4 — Aug 24: Turn on notebooks and prove the money * [ ] Set `EXPO_PUBLIC_NOTEBOOK_GENERATION_ACTIONS_ENABLED=true` for the production profile; keep `notebookOrderGeneration` and `notebookStashGeneration` on, every companion executor off * [ ] Certify order → notebook → readable result on a real device, including the failure states: unknown strains, partial orders, failed research, cancel mid-generation, background/foreground, cold reopen (see [Notebook Launch Runbook](/planning/notebooks/launch-runbook) Phase 7) * [ ] **Sandbox purchase → restore → RevenueCat webhook → Convex entitlement sync**, recorded as evidence * [ ] Verify the remote feature-flag kill switch works on a production bundle (Convex `featureFlagOverrides` → live within seconds) * [ ] Revyl smoke to green (last recorded run: 7/8) * [ ] Sentry alerting configured for production crashes * [ ] **Build the invite-gate mechanism** (see below) **Also this month, in the Friday blocks:** TikTok account live, first video batches shipping, target 20–25 videos by Aug 31. Reddit accounts warming with comment-only value, zero links. *** # Phase 2 — Friends & Family (September, W5–W9) **Goal:** 15–30 real humans use the app; you fix what embarrasses you. **Exit gate:** no embarrassing gaps remain, and at least one person who is not obligated to be nice says the notebook was worth money. ## The invite-gate approach You are releasing to the App Store in September rather than using TestFlight, because non-technical friends bounce off TestFlight. That works, with rules: * The app ships **live but gated**: a valid invite code is required to create an account. Guest browse stays open so the app is never a blank wall. * **App Review notes must contain a working invite code** and a seeded production reviewer account with Pro granted via a **RevenueCat promotional entitlement**. Do not use `+clerk_test` credentials — production ships `pk_live_...` keys and reviewers would be unable to sign in. * Friends & family get Pro via **promotional entitlements**, not a free tier. There is no free tier to give them. * **This is not launch day.** No marketing, no announcement, no press. The app being purchasable in September is a distribution mechanism, not a launch. **The hidden benefit:** submitting in September means the App Review rejection cycle happens on a week that does not matter. A first-time cannabis app can reasonably expect one rejection round. Absorbing that in September protects the October marketing date. ## W5 — Aug 31: Submit * [ ] Screenshots (5–6 frames: track → insights → notebook → database → Professor High) and a 15–30s app preview video from the video pipeline * [ ] App Store metadata: title, subtitle, keyword field (keyword research process: `docs/planning/growth/[plan]-growth-marketing-playbook-jul03.md` §6.1) * [ ] **Age rating 17+**, category Lifestyle * [ ] App Store privacy labels — must match the actual retention policy * [ ] Review notes: education/journaling/tracking only, no commerce, no dispensary ordering; invite code; reviewer account credentials * [ ] Support email live and monitored * [ ] **Submit** ## W6 — Sep 7: Review loop + first invites * [ ] Respond to any App Review rejection within 24 hours * [ ] Once approved: invite the first 5 people. Watch them use it in person or on a call. Do not coach them. Write down every hesitation. * [ ] Fix whatever the first 5 stumble on, same week ## W7 — Sep 14: Widen to 15–30 * [ ] Second invite wave * [ ] Set up the feedback channel (a form, a group chat — anything with a persistent record) * [ ] Daily triage of feedback into: ship now / v1.1 / never ## W8 — Sep 21: Fix and polish * [ ] Work the feedback list in order of how many people hit it * [ ] Ship via **EAS Update (OTA)** where possible to avoid review round-trips * [ ] Confirm at least one full paid journey by someone who is not you: purchase → notebook → second session ## W9 — Sep 28: Launch prep * [ ] **GA4 funnel events, UTM convention, App Store campaign links, RevenueCat attribution** — all live and verified before traffic arrives * [ ] Email provider live with a 5-email welcome sequence (you already have addresses from Apple/Google sign-in) * [ ] Launch content batch: 15–20 TikTok videos queued * [ ] Reddit accounts have karma and comment history in 2–3 subs * [ ] Decide the invite-gate removal date *** # Phase 3 — Public Launch (October, W10–W13) **Goal:** the invite gate comes off and strangers start paying. **Exit gate:** 10+ paying subscribers who have never met you. ## W10 — Oct 5: Remove the gate * [ ] Flip the invite requirement off (**remote feature flag**, not an app release) * [ ] Verify the full cold-start path: install → guest browse → onboarding → paywall → purchase → notebook * [ ] Launch email to the list * [ ] Launch video series across TikTok / Reels / Shorts * [ ] Respond to **every** App Store review in week one ## W11 — Oct 12: Read the funnel * [ ] First honest read on install → account → paywall view → purchase * [ ] First Reddit data drop (earned by six weeks of warming) * [ ] Triage refund requests and 1-star reviews as product signal ## W12 — Oct 19: First creator collabs * [ ] 2–3 micro-creator collabs (gifted Pro, stitch/duet — no payments) * [ ] Double down on whichever TikTok hook format is winning ## W13 — Oct 26: First monthly review * [ ] Kill-or-double-down call per channel by time-CAC * [ ] **Do not touch pricing yet** — see the decision rule below *** # Phase 4 — Learn and Retain (November, W14–W18) **Goal:** stop the leak before pouring in more traffic. ## W14–W15 — Nov 2 / Nov 9: v1.1 — Push notifications Push moves here rather than v1.0 deliberately: a permission prompt fired at the wrong moment permanently caps your opt-in rate, and there is no content strategy behind it yet. The weekly email digest covers the retention job in the meantime. * [ ] APNs key in App Store Connect; `expo-notifications` wired * [ ] Permission ask **after a value moment**, never on first open * [ ] Three notification types only: notebook ready, weekly stash digest, restock prediction * [ ] Target ≥50% opt-in ## W16 — Nov 16: v1.1 — Share cards * [ ] Ship the deterministic share card — your only built-in viral mechanism * [ ] Target shares/WAU ≥5% ## W17–W18 — Nov 23 / Nov 30: The first pricing decision Four to six weeks of real purchase data now exist. Read them in this order: | Signal | Meaning | Response | | ----------------------------------------- | ---------------------- | ----------------------------------------- | | Paywall view → purchase under \~2% | Paywall or positioning | Rewrite the paywall, not the price | | Purchase → notebook generated under \~70% | Value not reachable | Fix onboarding, not the price | | Month-1 churn above \~15% | Value does not repeat | Push annual harder; ship retention | | Repeated "love it, too expensive" | Real price resistance | **Now** consider \$9.99 or an intro offer | Only the last row is a pricing problem. The first three look like pricing problems and are not. *** # Phase 5 — Compound (December–January, W19–W26) **Goal:** 100 paying subscribers and a repeatable acquisition loop. * **W19–W20 (Dec 7 / Dec 14):** Gmail sync + Historical Import go live the day Google verification clears — remote flag flip, no App Store release. If verification has not cleared, escalate rather than wait. * **W21–W22 (Dec 21 / Dec 28):** Holiday content batch; light build weeks. Rest is a scheduled item, not a failure. * **W23–W24 (Jan 4 / Jan 11):** v1.2 — the highest-signal feature request from 90 days of real users. Do not decide this now. * **W25–W26 (Jan 18 / Jan 25):** Six-month review. Re-plan the next horizon against actual numbers. ## Milestone targets | Date | Installs (cumulative) | Paying | MRR (SBP net) | | ------- | --------------------: | ---------: | ------------: | | End Sep | \~30 (invited) | 0 (comped) | \$0 | | End Oct | 300 | 10 | \~\$110 | | End Nov | 1,000 | 30 | \~\$330 | | End Jan | 3,000 | 100 | \~\$1,100 | **100 paying subscribers by January is the real goal, not 1,000.** With a hard paywall at full price, install→paid of 1–3% is the honest expectation, so 1,000 subscribers implies 35,000–100,000 installs. That is a 12–18 month number. At 100 subscribers you can still talk to every single one, which is worth more at this stage than the revenue. *** ## What is deliberately not in this plan | Item | Why | Earliest | | ------------------------------------ | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------- | | Shopping agent, menu extraction | Commerce dependency; also the highest App Review risk in the catalog | v3.0 | | Safari extension | Separate App Store review, separate rejection surface | v2.0 | | Professor High in-app chat | Personal-data tooling needs tightening; stays a *brand* asset on TikTok regardless | v5.0 | | Notebook media (video/audio/stories) | Rights, privacy, cost, and quality gates all open | Post-launch | | Studio tier | Wait until AI media cost and support load are known | v4.0 | | Android | Founder decision; do not reopen under launch adrenaline | — | | Paid ads | Founder decision, independent of platform policy | Never | ## Pre-charge checklist Do not accept a real dollar until every line is true: * [ ] Sandbox purchase, restore, and webhook→entitlement sync all proven * [ ] Monthly and annual live in the **same subscription group** * [ ] Paywall shows price, period, auto-renewal terms, EULA and Privacy links * [ ] Restore Purchases reachable from the paywall * [ ] Account deletion reachable in-app * [ ] Data export works and includes notebook records * [ ] Retention policy disclosed in privacy policy **and** App Store privacy labels * [ ] Support email live and monitored * [ ] Sentry alerting on production crashes * [ ] A notebook generates end-to-end in a production-profile build * [ ] At least one person who is not you has completed the full paid journey ## Related * [Pricing Strategy](/planning/pricing/strategy) — the model of record * [Launch Readiness Overview](/planning/launch-readiness/overview) * [Feature Readiness Matrix](/planning/launch-readiness/feature-matrix) * [Certification Gates](/planning/launch-readiness/certification-gates) * [Notebook Launch Runbook](/planning/notebooks/launch-runbook)