A live SaaS deployed to Vercel with a custom domain, Sentry error tracking, PostHog product analytics, and a documented launch checklist you can reuse for every future product.
Pre-Launch Checklist
Go through this before every launch. Skipping items here causes embarrassing bugs and lost signups in your first 24 hours.
Deploy to Vercel with Production Environment
Deployment is the same as earlier courses — but now every environment variable matters. One wrong value means no payments, no auth, no AI.
# Deploy to Vercel
vercel --prod
# Required environment variables in Vercel:
# DATABASE_URL — Neon/Supabase PostgreSQL URL
# NEXTAUTH_SECRET — openssl rand -base64 32
# NEXTAUTH_URL — https://yourdomain.com
# GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID — from Google Cloud Console
# GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET — from Google Cloud Console
# STRIPE_SECRET_KEY — sk_live_... (switch from test)
# STRIPE_WEBHOOK_SECRET — from Stripe Dashboard webhooks
# ANTHROPIC_API_KEY — from console.anthropic.com
# Add custom domain
vercel domains add yoursaas.com
# Run Prisma migration in production
# Add to Vercel Build Command:
# npx prisma migrate deploy && next buildAdd Error Monitoring and Analytics
You can't fix bugs you don't know about. Sentry catches errors in production. PostHog tracks user behavior. Both have free tiers that work for early-stage SaaS.
# Sentry: error monitoring
npm install @sentry/nextjs
npx @sentry/wizard@latest -i nextjs
# Follow prompts, creates sentry.config.js automatically
# PostHog: product analytics
npm install posthog-js'use client'
import posthog from 'posthog-js'
import { PostHogProvider } from 'posthog-js/react'
import { useEffect } from 'react'
export function PHProvider({ children }: { children: React.ReactNode }) {
useEffect(() => {
posthog.init(process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_POSTHOG_KEY!, {
api_host: 'https://app.posthog.com',
capture_pageview: true
})
}, [])
return <PostHogProvider client={posthog}>{children}</PostHogProvider>
}
// Track custom events anywhere:
// posthog.capture('generation_created', { plan: 'FREE', tokens: 500 })Growth Loops for AI SaaS
Traffic doesn't come automatically. These are the three growth loops that work for early-stage AI SaaS with no marketing budget.
What You Learned Today
- Ran through the pre-launch checklist: full user flow test, Stripe test payment, mobile layout, environment variables
- Deployed to Vercel with all production environment variables and connected a custom domain
- Added Sentry for error monitoring and PostHog for product analytics — both on free tiers
- Reviewed the five growth loops that drive early-stage AI SaaS growth without an ads budget
Go Further on Your Own
- Set up a Stripe test webhook in your Vercel dashboard pointing at /api/webhooks/stripe — test the full payment flow in production
- Add a /dashboard/settings page where users can see their subscription status and open the Stripe Customer Portal
- Write your first SEO blog post targeting 'AI [your use case] tool' and publish it to your /blog route
Course Complete!
You finished all 5 days. Ready to go deeper?
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