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1-Page Path to Launch Timeline: From Idea to Live Product

1-Page Path to Launch Timeline: From Idea to Live Product
Published

10 Jun 2026

Author
Akash Shakya

Akash Shakya

Table of Contents

Every product launch follows the same six phases. This is the one-page map.

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Why We Wrote This

Founders want a single honest view of the journey. Not a 40-slide deck. One page with phases, decisions, timelines, and costs.


According to a Geneca study, 75% of business and IT executives believe their software projects are "doomed from the start" due to unclear requirements and scope. The timeline below is designed to prevent that by structuring every phase around specific decision points.

The Six Phases

Phase 1: Validation (2 to 6 weeks before engagement)

10 to 15 customer interviews, competitive scan, one clear problem statement. Cost: your time.

Phase 2: Discovery Workshop (1 to 2 weeks)

Locked Scope Document, Fixed-Price Proposal, RAT design. AU$3K to $8K.

Non-Obvious Truth: Discovery Is the Highest-ROI Phase

The Discovery Workshop (AU$3K to $8K) saves 2 to 4 weeks of development time. ROI is existential, not incremental.

Phase 3: Design (2 to 4 weeks, overlaps with Phase 4)

User flows, wireframes, mockups. Two review checkpoints. 48-hour turnaround keeps the schedule.

Phase 4: Development (6 to 10 weeks)

One-week sprints. Five ceremonies. Your role: prioritise, unblock, decide.

"We treated the Discovery Workshop as a checkbox exercise. The founder sent a junior product manager instead of attending personally. The scope document came back with 'marketplace functionality' as a single line item. During development, 'marketplace' expanded into buyer profiles, seller verification, escrow payments, dispute resolution, and a rating system. What was estimated as 2 weeks became 9 weeks because no senior decision-maker was in the room to define what 'marketplace' actually meant for the MVP." Composite founder story drawn from multiple EB Pearls engagements

Phase 5: QA and PRR (1.5 to 2 weeks)

Production Readiness Review: reliability, measurability, usability, scalability.

Phase 6: Launch and First 30 Days

Launch Monday. 72 hours: monitoring, billing, on-call. 30 days: feedback loop, 70/20/10 sprints.

"I remember the moment I realised we could have launched 5 weeks earlier if I had just shown up to the Discovery Workshop myself instead of delegating it. Five weeks of my team's salary, my runway burning, and my competitors learning. All because I thought a 4-hour workshop was not worth my time." Composite founder story drawn from multiple EB Pearls engagements

Timeline and Cost Ranges

Product Type Discovery to Launch
Simple app (1 feature) 8-12 weeks (AU$25-50K)
Medium app (3-5 features) 12-18 weeks (AU$50-120K)
Complex app (10+ features) 18-28 weeks (AU$120-250K)
AI product (pre-built API) 0-16 weeks (AU$40-120K)
Full platform 22-36 weeks (AU$150-400K+)

Decision Points

  1. Validation to Discovery
    Is the problem validated with evidence?

  2.  Discovery to Design
    Is the Locked Scope Document estimable?

  3. Design to Development
    Can a new user complete the core task in the wireframe?

  4. 4. Development to QA
    All Must items complete and demonstrable?

  5. QA to Launch
    PRR score above threshold?

  6. Launch to Iteration
    Activation above 40%? Retention trending?

Common Mistake: Skipping Discovery to Save Time

Founders who skip save 1 to 2 weeks and lose 3 to 6 during development from scope negotiation that should have happened before sprint 1.

  • Validation complete

  • Discovery Workshop scheduled

  • Locked Scope reviewed

  • Budget covers build + 25-35% post-launch

  • PO availability confirmed

  • Post-launch plan documented

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I skip some phases?

Skip Validation if you have existing user data. Never skip Discovery. Compressing QA creates post-launch risk.

What if my budget does not cover the full timeline?

Start with Discovery Workshop. Stage the build: Phase 1 (core), Phase 2, Phase 3.

How does AI change this timeline?

Adds 2 to 6 weeks to development for prompt engineering, data pipeline, and evaluation. Other phases unchanged.

Most common cause of timeline overrun?

Unlocked scope (40% of overruns). Second: slow product owner decisions (20%).



How do I use this with investors?

Present as phase-gated investment. Board can approve Discovery without committing to full build.

Free Founder Resources

  1. Path to Launch 1-Page Timeline (PDF) Printable visual of all six phases with decision points.

  2. Budget Planning Calculator (Google Sheets) Phase-by-phase budget breakdown.

  3. Phase Gate Decision Template (Notion) Questions and criteria for each go/no-go decision.

Final Thought

The path to launch is a sequence of six phases, each with clear inputs and outputs. The founders who navigate it well understood the map before they started.

The best time to understand the path to launch is before you take the first step. The second best time is right now.

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