A technology startup from Lithuania approached LeadAds with an idea for a B2B project management SaaS platform designed for small and medium-sized businesses. The startup wanted to create a digital solution that would help companies organize projects, manage tasks, collaborate with team members, and gain better visibility into project performance.
Case Study #7: B2B Project Management SaaS Development for a Lithuanian Startup
Intro:
However, the founders did not want to invest heavily in building a full-scale enterprise platform before validating the idea with real customers. LeadAds’ task was to help the startup develop a practical MVP, select the right combination of custom development and third-party services, and create a technical foundation that could evolve as the product and customer base grew.
Steps Taken
LeadAds recommended combining several SaaS development approaches rather than building every component from scratch. The project was divided into several stages:
1. MVP Product Definition. The first stage focused on defining the minimum functionality required to test the product with real users.
The MVP included:
- Project creation — users could create and organize multiple projects.
- Task management — teams could create, assign, prioritize, and track tasks.
- User accounts — users could register and access the platform securely.
- Basic dashboards — managers could get an overview of project activity and progress.
- Comments and notifications — team members could communicate within projects and receive updates.
The objective was to create a functional product that delivered the core value proposition without investing in features that had not yet been validated.
2. Integration of Third-Party Services. Rather than developing every supporting component internally, LeadAds integrated specialized third-party services where appropriate. The solution included:
- Third-party billing for subscription and payment management.
- External authentication for secure user registration and login.
- Cloud storage for project documents and files.
Supporting services for standard infrastructure requirements where developing an equivalent solution internally would not provide a significant competitive advantage. This hybrid approach allowed the development team to focus its resources on the platform’s core project management functionality.
3. Launch and Customer Validation. Once the MVP was ready, the startup introduced the platform to its first customers. Instead of relying exclusively on assumptions made during the planning stage, the team could now observe:
- Which features customers used most frequently.
- How teams organized their projects.
- Where users experienced difficulties.
- Which workflows required additional automation.
- What information managers needed from the platform.
- Which features customers considered valuable enough to influence their purchasing decisions.
This feedback became the foundation for the next development stage.
4. Identifying High-Value Features. Customer feedback revealed that automated resource planning and advanced reporting were particularly valuable to the target audience. For example, customers wanted better visibility into:
- Team member workloads.
- Resource availability.
- Project capacity.
- Task distribution.
- Project performance.
- Progress against planned work.
These requirements went beyond the functionality of the original MVP and represented an opportunity to differentiate the product in the B2B project management market.
5. Moving Selected Features to Custom Development. Based on customer feedback, LeadAds recommended investing in custom development for the features that created the greatest value for users. The next development phase therefore focused on:
- Automated resource planning.
- Advanced reporting.
- More sophisticated project analytics.
- Improved workload visibility.
- Additional automation around project management workflows.
At the same time, the startup continued using specialized third-party services for standardized functionality such as payment processing and authentication. This allowed the company to invest in custom technology where it mattered most without unnecessarily rebuilding services that were already available.
B2B Project Management SaaS Development by LeadAds: Results
The combined development approach helped the Lithuanian startup validate its product concept while controlling its initial development investment. Key outcomes included:
- A functional MVP launched without building an oversized platform from the beginning.
- Faster validation of the SaaS concept with real B2B customers.
- Clearer understanding of customer priorities based on actual product usage and feedback.
- Reduced initial development complexity through the use of established third-party services.
- A flexible hybrid architecture combining custom functionality with external services.
- Identification of automated resource planning as a high-value product feature.
- Identification of advanced reporting as an important customer requirement.
- Targeted custom development focused on features that could differentiate the platform.
- Reduced need to build standard functionality from scratch, allowing the team to focus on the core product.
- A development strategy that could evolve with the startup’s customer base and business requirements.
The project demonstrated that a SaaS startup does not necessarily need to build a complete platform before entering the market. By combining MVP development, third-party services, and targeted custom development, the Lithuanian startup was able to launch its core product, test its assumptions with real customers, and use market feedback to determine where additional development would create the most value.
The approach also helped the company avoid a common SaaS development challenge: spending heavily on features before knowing whether customers actually need them. This allowed the technology strategy to develop alongside the business — keeping the initial product focused while creating a clear path toward a more advanced and differentiated B2B SaaS platform.
Are you planning to build your own SaaS product? LeadAds can help you choose the right combination of MVP, custom development, low-code/no-code, and third-party services for your business goals. Let’s discuss your project.
