Build a SaaS product that solves a recurring business problem at scale, while evolving into a defensible and globally trusted platform.
A software engineer plays a crucial role in fulfilling this JTBD across six key pillars:
A global SaaS company must evolve from solving a specific problem (PMF) to building an extensible platform (PMF → Platform-Market Fit). A software engineer ensures this transformation by:
- Delivering reliable, scalable, and maintainable code to handle growing user bases.
- Optimizing for performance to meet the needs of enterprise clients (e.g., uptime, low latency).
- Creating modular, future-proof architectures that can evolve to serve new markets and integrations.
- Building APIs and integrations that allow the SaaS product to plug into enterprise workflows.
👉 Value Delivered: The engineer enables the product to scale without breaking, a key requirement for becoming a global SaaS standard.
Global SaaS companies thrive on rapid iteration to maintain relevance and competitiveness. A software engineer plays a critical role by:
- Automating deployment pipelines to ship features faster (CI/CD).
- Introducing feature flags and A/B testing frameworks to experiment safely.
- Reducing technical debt to ensure ongoing agility.
- Improving the developer experience for faster internal productivity.
👉 Value Delivered: The engineer accelerates the feedback loop between customer needs and product evolution.
A global SaaS company must meet enterprise-level requirements in security, privacy, and compliance. Engineers fulfill this by:
- Implementing security best practices (e.g., OAuth, SSO, encryption, etc.).
- Ensuring compliance with global standards (GDPR, SOC 2, ISO 27001).
- Building audit trails and permissions systems for enterprise clients.
👉 Value Delivered: The engineer ensures the product meets the standards expected by global enterprises, a prerequisite for scaling.
A global SaaS platform needs to provide actionable insights to users and stakeholders. Engineers achieve this by:
- Building data pipelines and analytics systems to extract insights from usage data.
- Implementing machine learning models to personalize user experiences.
- Ensuring observability by integrating logging, monitoring, and alerting systems.
👉 Value Delivered: The engineer ensures the SaaS platform becomes smarter and more valuable over time, reducing churn and increasing adoption.
Global SaaS companies often follow a Product-Led Growth (PLG) strategy, meaning the product itself drives adoption and revenue. Engineers support this by:
- Building self-serve onboarding flows that reduce friction.
- Optimizing the product for virality (e.g., referral systems, collaboration features).
- Introducing usage-based billing systems that align with customer value.
👉 Value Delivered: The engineer ensures the product is the primary driver of growth, reducing reliance on sales-led motions.
To become a global standard, a SaaS company must differentiate from competitors. Engineers play a role by:
- Exploring emerging technologies (AI, blockchain, etc.) to add new capabilities.
- Developing integrations and partnerships to expand the platform’s ecosystem.
- Enabling customization and extensibility through SDKs and APIs.
👉 Value Delivered: The engineer helps the SaaS company evolve beyond a commodity product into a differentiated, indispensable platform.
| Behavior | Impact on JTBD |
|---|---|
| Writing scalable code | Ensures product handles growth |
| Automating deployments | Accelerates feature delivery |
| Building secure systems | Earns enterprise trust |
| Implementing analytics | Supports data-driven decisions |
| Innovating on features | Keeps the product competitive |
The software engineer fulfills the startup’s job to be done by:
✅ Building a scalable, secure product that delivers continuous value at a global scale.
✅ Enabling rapid iterations to meet evolving customer needs.
✅ Supporting enterprise-level compliance and security.
✅ Driving product-led growth through self-serve features and insights.
✅ Innovating to differentiate and future-proof the SaaS platform.
In short:
A software engineer helps the startup move from a scrappy product to a scalable platform that global enterprises trust and depend on.