Software development has evolved beyond simply building useful products to now crafting solutions that create entirely new market categories. This fundamental shift requires rethinking how technology products are conceived, built, and scaled. Jessica Nicole Mahoney, founder and CEO of ImageCue, brings unique insights from her experience as a Columbia University graduate and former software transformation officer at Berkshire Hathaway, where she’s spent a decade building and transforming software ventures.
Prioritizing Stakeholder Voice
Most tech companies pay lip service to user feedback. They build something, then ask if anyone wants it. Jessica flips this model on its head. “When we talk about category leaders, they’re not just tech first, they’re stakeholder first,” she says. It’s not a minor difference – it’s everything. At both Berkshire and now ImageCue, Jessica built systems that put users into the process before a single line of code gets written.
This isn’t just feel-good customer service. It’s practical business strategy. “We build playbooks around embedding user voice into every stage of the product lifecycle,” she explains. The payoff? Less risk and faster validation. Jessica’s seen this pattern play out repeatedly across markets. The winners aren’t necessarily the most technically brilliant – they’re the ones who understood problems nobody else spotted. “The companies that dominate these markets are the ones who understand the unmet needs better and earlier than anybody else,” she notes.
Designing for Scale from Day One
Too many founders code for today’s problems, creating tomorrow’s technical nightmares. Jessica rejects this approach entirely. “You don’t just scale into greatness, you architect for it,” she insists. At ImageCue, this means building platforms that can grow, shift, and adapt from day one. “We design platforms with modularity, elasticity, and go-to-market velocity from the first line of code,” she explains. This approach pays dividends when it’s time to expand. Their products can move across different industries and customer types without massive rebuilds. It’s not just technical wisdom – it’s business sense. “A scale-ready architecture isn’t a nice to have. It’s a foundation for all that you do to be responsible with your business,” Jessica adds.
Validating Before Rushing
The tech world worships speed, but Jessica’s seen too many companies crash and burn from moving too fast. Her alternative? Disciplined execution. “Velocity matters, but speed without precision burns cash and erodes trust,” she warns. Instead of rushing features out the door, her team runs tight experiments. “We run with tight validation loops – prototype, deploy, measure, refine before scaling any bet,” she describes. This measured approach might seem cautious, but the results speak for themselves. “Precision-first execution protects cap tables, accelerates your product market fit, and compounds stakeholder credibility,” she points out. The fastest-looking companies aren’t always the ones that get there first. “In software, sustainable velocity is earned through ruthless focus early, not reckless sprints.”
You’d expect a technical founder to focus solely on software. Jessica doesn’t see it that way. Great technology without great people is just code waiting to fail. “True market creation isn’t just about the tech. It’s about the leadership that you can build internally,” she emphasizes.
This isn’t abstract philosophy – it’s specific strategy. “Your first 10 hires will set your leadership DNA. Your first 50 hires will refine your scale trajectory,” she advises. Jessica applies this thinking religiously at ImageCue and teaches it to the early-stage companies she advises. The logic is simple: culture moves faster than software development.
“Invest early into leadership category and decision-making frameworks because culture commands faster than code,” she says.
For Jessica, market creation boils down to three essentials: “Category-defining software companies win by doing three things. They obsess over stakeholders, design for scale, and lead with precision.” Get these right, and you don’t just take market share – you make markets where none existed before.
Connect with Jessica Nicole Mahoney on LinkedIn to follow her work on market creation and software leadership.
