The Integration Advantage: How Integry Helps SaaS Companies Win on User Experience

For SaaS founders, the demand for integrations is no longer optional — it’s table stakes. A CRM without a Google Calendar or Slack connection? Dead on arrival. But while the need is obvious, the execution is often anything but simple.

Muhammad “Nash” Nasrullah, founder and CEO of Integry, saw this challenge firsthand while serving as VP of Engineering at a workplace collaboration tool. His team’s customers loved integrations — but only if they were built inside the product. Send users to a third-party tool like Zapier and the drop-off rate skyrocketed.

“When we built the integrations in-house, the success rate was 20–40x higher,” Nash says. “It was obvious — in-app integrations remove friction, keep the UI familiar, and drive adoption.”

That insight became the foundation for Integry: a platform that lets SaaS companies deliver beautiful, native-feeling integrations to their users — without burning engineering cycles reinventing the wheel each time.

Lesson 1: Start With the Problem, Not the Idea

Nash is blunt about it:

“Ideas are nice, but you really want to start from a problem. Solve a real pain, and the audience is already there.”

Because he was the customer — an engineering leader trying to scale integrations — he didn’t need months of discovery to validate the market. This shortcut is a key advantage for founders building in spaces they’ve lived and breathed.

Consulting takeaway: Many SaaS companies overcomplicate their product roadmap chasing “cool features.” Focus instead on mission-critical pain points your target buyers already feel deeply.

Lesson 2: The UI Is the Integration

The tech plumbing matters, but Nash learned that the user experience drives conversion. A seamless connect-authorize-go flow inside your product outperforms “off-platform” flows almost every time.

For SaaS leaders: Treat integrations like first-class product features, not side projects. Your UX and product teams should own the integration experience alongside engineering.

Lesson 3: B2C Habits Are Coming to B2B

Having built B2C products in the past (including Pakistan’s largest mobile social network), Nash saw that many “new” trends in SaaS were old hat in consumer tech. Product-led growth? Standard in B2C for years. Self-serve onboarding? Facebook and Instagram never needed sales calls.

Consulting takeaway: Study consumer product patterns — fast feedback loops, obsession with UX, viral mechanics — and adapt them for B2B buyers.

Lesson 4: Distributed, Asynchronous, and Output-Focused

Long before the pandemic, Integry was built as a distributed, asynchronous company. Employees work when they want, from wherever they want, with unlimited, permissionless vacation.

“Old work focused on inputs — how many hours you sit at a desk. We focus on outputs — the value delivered.”

For scaling SaaS companies: An async culture requires heavy documentation, clear metrics, and trust — but it can massively expand your hiring pool and resilience.

Lesson 5: Growth Requires Letting Go

Nash admits he misses coding. As Integry grew from 12 to 49 employees in a year, his role shifted from “building product” to “building teams.”

For many founders, this transition is uncomfortable — but essential.

“Early on, it’s talk to customers, build product. As you grow, management becomes the third problem you have to solve.”

Lesson 6: Accelerators Can Collapse the Timeline

Joining the Alchemist Accelerator (focused on B2B SaaS) gave Integry immediate credibility and connections that would have taken years to build organically. From investor intros to meeting the former head of Salesforce’s AppExchange (now an adviser), those early network wins still pay dividends.

For early-stage founders: A well-chosen accelerator can be a force multiplier — especially if you’re outside Silicon Valley’s “insider” network.

Lesson 7: The Mentorship Flywheel

Nash’s mentor philosophy is simple:

• Ask for advice, not investment.

• Act on the advice.

• Close the loop and share results.

Do that, and mentors will lean in harder. Fail to execute, and the relationship withers.

The Buyer-Centric Integration Strategy

Integry’s success hinges on one insight: Integrations aren’t just a technical necessity — they’re part of your product’s buyer experience. A clunky third-party flow says “afterthought.” A seamless native flow says “we built this for you.”

For SaaS companies, that difference is often what wins or loses the renewal.