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Success story · Software development company · Silicon Valley

SaaS ProductionTwice the clients and margin up from 20% to 60%: I took a software company from almost 80 people to 12 with AI

SaaS Production is a Silicon Valley company that builds software for clients: AI systems, healthcare and fintech platforms, enterprise and mobile apps. It hired me as fractional CTO to transform the company. In the first three months I took the team from almost 80 people to 12, moved the work to AI tools and cut payroll by about 80%. Projects now ship 2 to 3 times faster, the project margin went from 20% to 60%, and the company serves twice as many clients as before. Most software shops can only grow by hiring, and this one doubled its clients with a sixth of the team. I still run the team and sit in on client calls.

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Client
SaaS Production
Business
Software development for clients
Where
Santa Clara, Silicon Valley
My role
Fractional CTO, hired to transform the company
Team
~80 → 12 people, with twice the clients
Project margin
20% → 60%
SaaS Production: the product

In numbers

project margin, with a team of 12 working on AI tools
20% → 60%
as many clients, served by a sixth of the old team
2×
payroll, once the work moved to AI tools
−80%
people: a sixth of the team now carries the work
80 → 12
faster delivery of client projects
2–3×
for the whole transformation, a pace few companies manage
3 months

The company

The company I transformed, and two of the products it builds. Pictures from saasproduction.com.

saasproduction.com
  • Featured work: AppMaster.io and Koder.ai
01

The starting point

SaaS Production is a software development company in Santa Clara, in Silicon Valley. It builds AI systems, healthcare and fintech platforms, enterprise software and mobile apps for its clients.

A company that sells engineering hours can grow only as fast as it hires, and most of the industry still works that way. With almost 80 people on the team, payroll decided how many clients it could take on. The company brought me in to break that link.

02

What we did

  1. Hired to transform the company

    I came in as fractional CTO with one task: change the way the company builds software, so that growth no longer depends on headcount.

  2. Almost 80 people to 12 in three months

    In the first three months I took the team from almost 80 people to 12. Restructurings of that size usually drag on far longer.

  3. AI tools took over the work, payroll fell about 80%

    We brought AI tools into the daily work and handed them the tasks that used to need people. That is what cut payroll by about 80%, and it is why projects now ship 2 to 3 times faster.

  4. Twice the clients without new hires

    With the new team and the new tools, the company now serves twice as many clients as before, and a new client no longer means new hires.

  5. Project margin from 20% to 60%

    Lower payroll and faster delivery went straight into the economics of every project: the margin on a project rose from 20% to 60%.

  6. Still leading the team

    I still run the team, and I work out the technical solutions the company uses internally.

  7. On calls with clients

    I join calls with the company's clients and help work out the solutions they need, so they get CTO-level answers before the work starts.

03

The result

In three months the same company went to a sixth of the team and about 20% of its old payroll. It now serves twice as many clients, delivers projects 2 to 3 times faster and earns a 60% margin on a project instead of 20%. Its growth no longer depends on hiring.

The resultBeforeAfter
TeamAlmost 80 people12 people
Payroll100%About 20%
Project margin20%60%
ClientsCapped by payrollTwice as many, with a sixth of the team
Project deliveryThe usual pace2 to 3 times faster
How the work gets doneBy peopleWith AI tools
oleg.isSent on request

Full case · PDF

SaaS Production

Twice the clients and margin up from 20% to 60%: I took a software company from almost 80 people to 12 with AI

  1. 01The three-month transformation plan
  2. 02Which work moved to AI tools, and how
  3. 03The team of 12: roles and structure
  4. 04Payroll before and after
  5. 05How a sixth of the team takes on more clients
  6. 06The tools the team works with today
Prepared by Oleg SotnikovPDF

The full SaaS Production case

The public story stops here. The PDF has the rest: the architecture before and after, the migration plan, how the team works with AI agents, what it all costs to run and where the savings came from.

I send every case myself and use your email for nothing else.

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