https://www.figma.com/board/XWlfXtSswY5kVW63HNHC2l/SLDC-FigJam?node-id=0-1&t=V1qjSz0yZ9QnGBQi-1

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Thanks for stopping by! I built this SDLC market map for two personal reasons and one general one: first, to help me better understand how professional software teams actually work so I can become a better investor and builder myself; second, to push myself to publish more work publicly; and finally, because I couldn’t find a full, detailed market map of the SDLC anywhere -- so I made one!

-Dan

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• A few things you should know before/while reading this:

Exec Summary

The SDLC is a multi-stakeholder, complex process that has undergone tremendous transformation from a shift from on-prem / self hosted systems, to SaaS, to AI, and now towards agentic workflows

Today, the landscape is fragmented. Incumbents are layering AI into existing workflows, while next-gen startups are experimenting with AI-native approaches. As code-gen tools mature, bottlenecks in the software development process shift away from writing code to testing, deployment, and orchestration. The winners will be the tools that (1) meet teams where they are, (2) prove near-term ROI, and (3) evolve toward “agentic” platforms.

This market map is a point-in-time snapshot of a fast-changing space. Many of the most exciting companies don’t yet exist or remain in stealth. I expect to refine this over time and welcome feedback from founders, operators, and fellow investors.

Why this matters:

• Next-gen code-gen tools are the single biggest lever -- shifting the bottleneck further away from writing code and onto testing, planning, and deploying, especially for fast-moving organizations
• LLMs are lowering the cost of code creation, while organizations face pressure to ship faster with smaller teams and higher demands around security, compliance, and cost optimization
• This dynamic will reshape not only developer tools, but also the economics of software development itself

Personal PoV:

If I had $100M to go allocate towards high quality seed/Series A bets in the SDLC, I’d place it with Coframe, Mako, Daytona, Skyramp, Pixee -- based on product, approach, markets, and publicly available insights on founding team. That said, this is by no means a finished market, and I’m eager to meet stealth founders building indispensable workflow and agentic tools.

Ultimately, I’m excited about this space not just as an investor, but as someone continuously learning how to best build software myself. For me, this map is an exercise in understanding: what does it truly take to create a high-quality software product and push it to market?

How I thought through the buckets in my outline