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Understanding the Business

5 min read

Cto

You translate tech to the board and board to tech. Business fluency is non-negotiable.

Solutions Eng

You're in the room with customers and money. Understanding the business is the job.

Understanding the Business

TL;DR

  • Engineers who understand how the company makes money make better decisions.
  • "We need this feature" makes more sense when you know if it's for retention, acquisition, or an enterprise deal.
  • AI can't tell you your company's strategy. You learn that by paying attention.

You're not "just" building software. You're building software that serves a business. The more you understand that business, the better your technical choices.

Why It Matters

  • Prioritization — Why is this urgent? Is it revenue? A customer commitment? Regulatory? Context shapes how you trade off.
  • Scope — "We need the full thing" vs. "we need an MVP for the pilot" — different if you know the business case.
  • Communication — When you talk to non-engineers, "this helps us convert more free users" lands better than "we're refactoring the auth flow."
  • Career — The engineers who get promoted to leadership are often the ones who can connect their work to business outcomes.

What "Understanding the Business" Means

You don't need an MBA. You need to know:

  • How we make money — Subscriptions? Ads? Enterprise? Usage-based?
  • Who our customers are — Developers? Enterprises? Consumers?
  • What matters this quarter — Growth? Retention? Cost reduction? A specific deal?
  • What would kill us — Compliance failure? Key customer churn? Security breach?

You learn this from: all-hands, strategy docs, talking to product and sales, and just asking.

The AI Angle

AI can explain business concepts. It can't tell you your company's strategy, your competitive position, or your board's priorities. That's internal knowledge. You get it by being in the room (or reading the right docs, or asking the right people).

When you combine technical skill with business context, you become the person who can say: "We could do X, but given our runway and this customer, we should do Y." That's the engineer who gets listened to.

Quick Check

Product asks for 'the full feature' with a tight deadline. Understanding the business helps you do what?

How to Build It

  1. Read the earnings call transcript (if public) or the internal strategy deck. What's leadership saying?
  2. Ask product — "What's the business case for this feature?" They usually know.
  3. Join a customer call (if you can) — Hear what customers actually care about.
  4. Connect your work — "This refactor reduces latency, which improves conversion. That's revenue." Practice the chain.

Do This Next

  1. Write down how your company makes money, in one paragraph. If you're fuzzy, ask someone.
  2. Connect one project you're working on to a business outcome. "This matters because..." Say it out loud.