Jobs to be Done (JTBD) has helped our portfolio companies shift from building features to delivering real customer value and accelerating growth. But for many product teams, the gap between theory and application still feels wide. What does JTBD look like when implemented effectively? How do teams identify and validate customer jobs? And most importantly, what impact does it have on equity value?
Theory isn't enough. Frameworks only create value when they're executed effectively, and our most successful portfolio companies use JTBD not just as a research tool, but as a decision-making framework across product, marketing, and sales. Whether refining positioning, choosing what to build next, or aligning stakeholders, our JTBD method offers clarity and drives growth.
In this article, we'll show you how our portfolio companies use JTBD to:
Each example includes practical insight into the company's process, results, and key takeaways. Whether you're new to JTBD or looking to improve your growth strategy, these real-world cases will help you see how our method creates equity value.
Our portfolio companies recognize that customers don't buy products or features—they "hire" them to make progress in specific circumstances. This fundamental shift in thinking changes how we define markets, develop products, and communicate value.
Instead of competing on features or technological advantages, we focus on understanding the progress customers are trying to make. This customer-centric approach enables more strategic decision-making across the organization:
At thrv, our proprietary JTBD platform organizes each job into 10-20 steps with 50-100 measurable customer needs. This structured approach helps our portfolio companies make better decisions that accelerate growth and create equity value with less risk.
The case studies that follow demonstrate how our approach has helped real companies achieve remarkable results across different industries and circumstances.
In 2020, AutoQuotes, a prominent online foodservice equipment marketplace, faced the challenge of sustaining growth in a mature market where it already had deep penetration. The company needed innovative strategies to deliver additional customer value and drive revenue growth amidst a rapidly evolving industry landscape.
By working with our team to apply the JTBD methodology, AutoQuotes shifted their focus from simply providing quotes to helping customers "efficiently select, price, and purchase foodservice equipment that meets specific operational needs." This broader job definition opened up new opportunities beyond their core quoting function.
Using our JTBD platform, AutoQuotes implemented a comprehensive approach to validate these customer jobs:
Our JTBD framework yielded significant results for AutoQuotes:
Takeaway: Even in mature markets, our JTBD method can reveal overlooked opportunities for growth by expanding your understanding of the customer's complete job, creating substantial equity value in the process.
In 2022, Biscom, a 30-year-old fax services company, sought to change its business model to address more complex customer challenges beyond traditional fax services. Recognizing the limitations of their existing offerings, the CEO aimed to pivot towards solving more significant problems for clients, particularly in the healthcare sector where secure information handling is critical.
Using our JTBD platform, Biscom shifted its focus from "fax services" to the job of "securely sending, receiving, and acting upon private health information." This redefinition changed how the company viewed its market and opportunities.
To facilitate this transformation, we implemented our Jobs-to-be-Done methodology through several key steps:
Our JTBD framework led to significant outcomes for Biscom:
As ParkerGale Partner Cici Zheng noted: "Understanding our customer's problems with their job-to-be-done in contrast to their problems with our product uncovered actionable growth opportunities the company would have otherwise missed."
Takeaway: Our JTBD method helps mature companies pivot beyond their traditional offerings by redefining their market around customer goals rather than existing solutions, creating substantial equity value through multiple expansion.
In 2016, Target's Registry team faced declining revenue and was losing market share to Amazon. The team found themselves in a reactive position, continually trying to match Amazon's features without achieving significant growth. This approach led to stagnation, with the team struggling to differentiate Target's offerings in the competitive retail landscape.
Rather than focusing on registry as a product feature, we helped Target redefine their understanding around the customer's job of "preparing for life's major milestones by acquiring necessary items with help from friends and family." This broader definition allowed them to identify unmet needs beyond feature parity with competitors.
To address these challenges, Target worked with our team to implement our Jobs-to-be-Done methodology. This approach shifted the team's focus from competing on features to understanding and fulfilling the underlying jobs that customers aimed to accomplish.
By identifying these core customer needs, the team could develop solutions that directly addressed them, moving beyond the cycle of feature imitation. The validation process included extensive customer research and quantitative analysis of which job steps were most underserved by existing solutions—all conducted using our JTBD platform.
Our JTBD framework led to a significant transformation within Target's Registry team:
As Matt Bjornson, Director of Product Management at Target, reported: "This was the best investment that we've made... I had multiple people saying, 'This is the best thing that we've ever done at Target.' We were really successful."
By centering their strategy around the actual jobs customers sought to complete, Target's Registry team not only revitalized their growth but also established a sustainable competitive advantage in the retail sector.
Takeaway: Instead of playing catchup with competitors' features, focusing on customer jobs can transform a follower into a market leader, creating substantial equity value through accelerated revenue growth.
When we look across our portfolio companies, some clear patterns emerge that drive equity value creation:
Our JTBD method isn't just theory. It's a system that turns customer insight into strategic clarity, accelerated growth, and superior equity returns.
If these examples show the potential of our approach, here are first steps you can take:
Our platform is built to guide teams through every phase of Jobs to be Done—from research to roadmap. We help portfolio companies implement these steps and align their teams around customer jobs to create equity value faster and with less risk.
These real-world examples show how our Jobs to be Done method isn’t just a change in language - it creates equity value. By focusing on the progress your customers are trying to make, we help you build better products, accelerate growth, and strengthen customer relationships.
The most successful organizations don't just collect customer feedback—they understand the underlying jobs their customers are hiring products to do. This deeper understanding enables companies to:
Whether you're scaling your SaaS product, repositioning in a competitive market, or launching something new, our JTBD method can be your unfair advantage for creating equity value faster and with less risk.
Book your demo to see how our JTBD platform helps portfolio companies accelerate growth and create equity value faster—with less risk.