Why product life cycle matters to a first-time founder
A product life cycle may run through introduction, growth, maturity, and decline. The stage you are in should change whether you are learning, pushing, defending, or stopping. It is not a timetable you can schedule from the launch date.
Examples of product life cycle
An invoicing tool in its first year, with a few dozen freelancers trying it, is at the start of its product life cycle. Years later, when most of that niche already uses it and renews out of habit, it is closer to maturity. The work shifts from finding out what to build to protecting what you already have.
Common misunderstanding
People move a product along its product life cycle because a year has passed. Stages follow what customers do, not an anniversary. A new feature can be in introduction while the rest of the product is mature.
When to use it
Use the product life cycle when you are deciding whether to invest, hold, or wind a product down. One product and a small group of early customers means you are in introduction. Talk to those customers before you make plans for decline.