The Cohort-Based Beta Launch
by Karri Saarinen • Co-founder & CEO at Linear
Karri Saarinen is the co-founder and CEO of Linear, the cult-favorite issue tracking tool. Previously, he was the founding designer at Coinbase and a principal designer at Airbnb. He is known for his philosophy on 'opinionated software' and design craft.
🎙️ Episode Context
Karri Saarinen discusses how Linear defies conventional startup wisdom by operating with almost no product managers, ignoring A/B testing, and avoiding metrics-based goals. He details the 'Linear Method' of building opinionated software, their unique 'work trial' hiring process, and how they utilized a year-long private beta with cohort-based onboarding to achieve product-market fit.
Problem It Solves
Launching a buggy product to everyone at once, ruining the brand reputation and flooding the team with duplicate feedback.
Framework Overview
Instead of a massive public launch, run a private beta for a significant period (Linear took 1 year). Onboard users in small batches (cohorts) based on profile fit. Fix issues found by cohort A before inviting cohort B.
🧠 Framework Structure
Qualify the waitlist: Use surveys to ...
Iterative fixing: If Cohort A finds a...
Start small: Begin with friendly star...
When to Use
When launching a complex B2B SaaS product where reliability and trust are critical.
Common Mistakes
Opening the floodgates too early to get vanity metrics (signups) while the product retention bucket is leaky.
Real World Example
Linear managed a 4,000+ person waitlist by manually inviting ~10 people a week initially, ensuring they matched the 'startup' profile before expanding.
If you invite everyone at once... they will all send us feedback like, hey, there's this problem... it was a wasted effort.
— Karri Saarinen