
Jonathan Fields, Assembly
From Nice to Have to Must Have: Repositioning a SaaS Product
Jonathan Fields is the co-founder and CEO of Assembly, an employee engagement platform that evolved into a modern company intranet. In 2013, Jonathan joined ZipRecruiter when it had just 15 employees. Over several years, he watched it grow to 1,500 employees and IPO. He became obsessed with the culture ZipRecruiter built and wanted to make that kind of employee experience accessible to companies that didn't have the same resources. In 2016, he and three co-founders started building Assembly nights and weekends while keeping their full-time jobs. They launched with a simple peer recognition and rewards product, but getting their first customers was brutally difficult. They didn't know what an ICP was, they had no idea whether to target enterprise or SMB, and they relied on personal networks and heavy discounts to close their first 10 deals. The SaaS positioning breakthrough came when Assembly evolved from a single-purpose recognition tool into a horizontal platform using no-code forms. Customers could create surveys, one-on-ones, announcements, and social channels all inside Assembly. Usage doubled and tripled every 12 months as companies turned on more workflows. Then customers started calling Assembly their intranet, and the founders realized they had stumbled into a must-have category. Today Assembly serves over 4,000 customers, has 35 employees, and has raised $14.5 million. The company uses a mix of Google AdWords, SEO, affiliate listicle marketing, HRIS marketplace partnerships, and referrals to drive growth. Jonathan explains why the SaaS positioning shift from engagement to intranet moved Assembly from a budget-cutting target to an essential line item.






















