Get a good night of sleep -- it might be the last you get for a long time.

I'd recommend giving yourself 1 extra week from the point you originally wanted to launch. Make sure everything is finished, and give yourself 1 week to actually use the product. Fix all the little things, and add the extra polish, things you really wish you had time to do before. But don't delay more than a week.

Realizing that you're not at the end of the journey, you're at the end of the start of it.

Ask YC a very vague question ;)

I highly recommend load testing. Good luck.

That is very optimistic.

I don't think so. Getting enough traffic to choke a small VPS is possible sooner than you may expect, especially if you have not rooted out all serious bottlenecks (which are often discovered during load testing.)

Pick out your favorite brands of personal jet, caviar and champagne.

Last task: get rid of your fear, doubt and disbeleif.

That all depends on what you haven't done yet. Assuming that all you need to do is tell people about what you've got and the money will come freely and nothing will break, I would just send out a press release announcing your launch.

> Assuming that all you need to do is tell people about what you've got and the money will come freely and nothing will break,

That's a pretty big assumption... ;-)

Take founding team to dinner.

Further: do this dinner at a cheap, stable, unpretentious place.

Come grand success or crushing failure, this will become the spot for founders' reunion dinners in the years or decades to come.

"I'll have a double-double animal-style launch burger."

+1 for the In-N-Out reference. Love that place.

Take a deep breath, pat yourself on the back, and prepare for round two: gaining traction.

Eat a sandwich.

The pickles must be on the side.

break up with your girlfriend

Drink a bottle of Cisco RED:

http://www.bumwine.com/cisco.html

If this sounds like a good idea, you are already drunk. But if you're drunk enough, it tastes like fruit juice! DON'T DO THIS!!

Except for the part about fruit juice, your advice is perfect for those considering doing a startup.

The last thing you need to do before launching is the first thing you remember to do after launching ;-)

Request clearance from the tower.

pray

Agree with yourself that you'll do whatever it takes to make it succeed. Otherwise, don't bother.

> Agree with yourself that you'll do whatever it takes to make it succeed.

Or, conversely, "fail fast".

Good point, failing fast is success if you learn from it.

Load test and optimize user experience. You have one crack at attracting users. If your site is down, or the user experience is sluggish,that's bad news. Make sure you have some external monitoring in place.

I don't know about this lack of sleep bit. I tried it and people have better ideas and do better work when not stressed. I'd rather substitute better planning for lack of sleep.

Close a deal to deliver your first product (or do the web-equivalent to be sure your market is there).

Have kids :D

Well, you're just about to give birth to one! Can you handle two?

Read some books about the startup experience, get ready to enjoy the ride.

Do usability testing and then some more.

convert everything to lisp?

... and have a 10% chance of not just having done something really dumb! ;-D

i would relaxxx.

pray ;)