---
title: "Do You Know When to Sunset a Feature?"
section: "Product"
sectionId: "product"
date: "2026-06"
---

*From the Jason Calacanis startup checklist.*

Every feature has a cost — engineering time to build, maintenance to keep running, and complexity added to the product. When a feature isn't working, the question is: how long do you let it breathe before cutting it?

Watch out for the **sunk cost fallacy** — the tendency to keep investing in something because of what you've already spent, not because of its future value.

## Uber Pool: A Case Study

Uber Pool launched in 2014 as a carpooling option: cheaper rides for passengers, better route efficiency for drivers, lower emissions. The idea was sound. The economics were not.

Pool was lower-margin than standard Uber rides and never turned a profit. Uber sunset the feature in 2020, citing pandemic safety concerns — but it's widely believed the pandemic simply accelerated a decision that was already coming.

It took six years. That's six years of maintaining a feature that was eroding margins rather than improving them.

## Questions to ask before sunsetting

- Is the feature being used? By how many users, how often?
- Is it profitable — or at least contributing positively to unit economics?
- Is the low usage a distribution problem (users don't know it exists) or a value problem (users tried it and didn't come back)?
- What would it cost to improve it to the point where it works? Is that a worthwhile investment?
- What is the opportunity cost — what else could the team build with that time?

Sometimes sunsetting is the right call. Ship the decision cleanly, communicate it clearly to users, and move on.