Member-only story
The marvelous differences between building B2B and consumer startups
Building B2B startups is very different from building B2C startups. As a startup operator — you’ve probably considered whether you’ve wanted to build B2B products or consumer products. Maybe you’re considering your first or second career in the startup world and want to understand the differences better. Product Management, Design, and more are very distinct depending on the type of product and who the end user is. As a founder, you may have wondered whether it’s best for you to start a B2B company or a consumer-focused company. Potentially, you may be an investor evaluating B2B and consumer companies on a daily basis.
Let’s try to break down both types of products using an analogy of movies and comic books. If you’ve watched Marvel’s Avengers movies, you can understand key differences in building B2B software versus consumer software products.
What is B2B? What is B2C?
B2B refers to a “business-to-business” company that provides services or products to other businesses. B2C refers to a “business-to-consumer” company that sells directly to individual consumers (Source).
At its core, B2B is focused on businesses creating products and services that can be sold to other businesses. As an example, Salesforce is a CRM (customer-relationship management) that helps teams track communication and the relationship journey with their customers — and more.
B2C is focused on businesses creating products and services directly to consumers — you, your friends, your family, and more. As another example, Robinhood is a digital brokerage and trading platform that allows traders to buy securities, such as stocks and ETFs. It’s primarily known as a consumer company, but it does have B2B components. It generates most of its revenue from payment for order flow.
