Linear open-only pilot import before archive drag
Pilot the migration with a few teams and open issues first before dragging years of stale backlog into the evaluation workspace.
Why this can grow a startup
A switch stalls when the first demo workspace already feels bloated, historical, and hard to parse. Linear's importer docs are blunt about that tradeoff: some teams use the move as a clean break, some keep a fuller history, and evaluators often start by importing only a few teams. Pair that with the option to bring only open issues while sending old work to the archive, and the trial starts to feel like current work instead of a museum of the old system.
Source-backed example
Linear recommends considering whether old data needs to live in the new workspace at all, suggests piloting with just a few teams during evaluation, and lets import assistants bring only open issues or also place closed and stale work into the archive.
Source-reported evidence
Source: Linear Docs: Importer · Browse Linear Docs: Importer tactics
Linear import assistants let teams choose open issues only or also import closed and stale issues into the archive, and the docs recommend piloting with just a few teams during evaluation.
Attributed to the cited source; GrowthDex has not independently verified it. Use this as context, not as a forecast, benchmark, or recommended target.
Evidence scope: claims and metrics are attributed to the linked source; GrowthDex has not independently replicated the reported result. Check the original context and validate fit before applying it. Read the evidence methodology.
When to use it
Use this when Migration, Onboarding, Developer Tools is relevant to switcher intent, activation, migration and you can run a bounded test with a low budget.
When not to use it
Do not use it as a substitute for customer evidence, a clear owner, or a measurable stop condition. Local platform rules and market behavior still need checking.
How to do it
- Choose one target segment and define the exact next action this tactic should prompt.
- Adapt the tactic to Migration and Onboarding, using evidence from Linear Docs: Importer as context—not as a promised result.
- Record a baseline for: Share of target users completing the product's first-value action. Set a guardrail that would make you pause the test.
- Run a narrow pilot and choose a test window that fits the normal decision or use cycle; do not scale before you have observed the full cycle.
- Compare the signal with its baseline. Scale only if the intended action improves without crossing the guardrail; otherwise revise one variable or stop and record what you learned.
Compare a stack for your situation
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