The network effect is one of the most underrated growth engines in any SaaS company

The idea is simple: the value of a product increases as more people use it. A classic example is the telephone. The very first telephone was almost worthless — it had no one to call. Two phones created some value. Ten made it useful. A million made it indispensable.

The same applies to modern platforms. LinkedIn is valuable because everyone else is there. It’s not the features that drive growth — it’s the network.

I’ve seen this up close. When we built Mintra, a significant part of the strategy was to cultivate this effect. The more companies that joined the platform, the stronger the incentive became for their customers, suppliers, and employees to join as well. Data flowed more efficiently, costs dropped, and the entire ecosystem gained additional value. The network effect became one of the key reasons Mintra grew from a small environment into a global player.

For SaaS companies, this is something you must identify and amplify early. A few questions to ask:

• Does the product become more valuable with each new user or customer?
• Are there data flows, processes, or integrations that improve as more parties connect?
• Can you make it easier for customers to invite others into the system?
• Can you highlight the benefits of being part of the same ecosystem?

Many SaaS products have a latent network effect without leveraging it. Once you discover it — and build your product, go-to-market motion, and onboarding around it — you unlock a growth engine that’s extremely hard for competitors to copy.

Features create competition. Networks create advantage.

Features create competition. Networks create advantage.