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Kill Your Darlings - All Things Product Podcast with Teresa Torres & Petra Wille

Kill Your Darlings - All Things Product Podcast with Teresa Torres & Petra Wille

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In this episode of All Things Product, Teresa Torres and Petra Wille tackle one of the hardest decisions in product and business: when—and how—to kill your darlings.

They dig into the uncomfortable middle ground between obvious failure and runaway success: products that are profitable, loved by customers, but fundamentally flatlining. Teresa shares candid stories from her own business about sunsetting products that were bringing in real revenue, including a decision that cut 40% of her income—on purpose.

Together, Petra and Teresa explore why mediocre success can be more dangerous than failure, how team structure and org design make sunsetting harder, and what product leaders can do to normalize product lifecycles without traumatizing teams.

If you’re leading a product portfolio, running discovery, or struggling to let go of something that’s “working… kind of,” this episode is for you.

What this episode covers:

  • Why some traction can be more dangerous than no traction at all
  • The difference between early fans and real product–market fit
  • How “stable but not growing” products quietly drain discovery capacity
  • Why killing profitable products can be the right strategic move
  • The org and team implications of sunsetting products
  • How to create space for what’s next—without framing it as failure

Key moments & themes:

  • 00:00 – Why “kill your darlings” matters
    Teresa introduces the idea of letting go of products that feel successful but aren’t delivering the impact or growth you need.
  • 04:30 – The dangerous middle ground
    Products that are profitable and liked, but not growing, often escape scrutiny—and quietly block better opportunities.
  • 09:30 – The opportunity cost of “okay” products
    Every hour spent maintaining a flatlining product is an hour not spent discovering something better.
  • 14:30 – Sunsetting in product organizations
    Petra explains why dedicated teams and org design make decommissioning products especially hard—and why leaders need explicit sunsetting conversations.
  • 19:00 – Real examples of killing revenue streams
    Teresa shares concrete decisions from her business, including shutting down a popular Slack community and cutting deep-dive courses that made up 40% of revenue.
  • 28:00 – Designing for the right customers
    Why Teresa intentionally limits access and pricing to work with customers who show agency and commitment.
  • 33:30 – Burn the ships (on purpose)
    Letting go of short-term revenue to make space for experimentation and future growth.
  • 38:00 – Making sunsetting easier
    Practical frameworks product leaders can use:
    • Regular portfolio reviews
    • A visible “sunsetting” column
    • The Horizon (H1 / H2 / H3) model
    • Making portfolio decisions one level above teams
  • 46:00 – Normalizing product lifecycles
    Successful products don’t fail—they run their course. Markets change, and endings should be expected, not stigmatized.

Takeaways for product leaders:

  • Product–market fit isn’t binary—and “some success” can be misleading
  • Sunsetting is a portfolio decision, not a team failure
  • Teams shouldn’t be punished for working on products that reach the end of their lifecycle
  • If experimentation isn’t in your DNA, killing products will always feel traumatic
  • Making space is an intentional act—not a passive one

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