1 tip & 3 resources per week to improve your Strategy, OKRs, and Discovery practices in less than 5 minutes.
B2B vs. B2C Product Strategy
B2B vs. B2C Product StrategyDear Reader, When I switched from B2C to B2B product management, I had to unlearn many tactical approaches - but the strategic fundamentals remained surprisingly consistent. The truth is that B2B and B2C product strategies share core patterns while differing primarily in execution. Key Similarities1. Blended Audience Considerations Even dedicated B2C companies must consider B2B-like behaviors. Take heycar, which sells used cars to consumers but must work with dealerships as B2B enablers of their B2C experience. Similarly, B2B products like Quantilope must manage the diverse needs of users, champions, and customers - with champions functioning "more like early adopters in B2C-like situations."
2. Pattern Recognition Over Templates Effective product strategy emerges from recognizing patterns rather than filling out rigid templates. As Stephanie Leue (Ex-CPO Doodle), "None of these frameworks really work properly. It's always a combination of 10,000 different things." Strategic thinking requires synthesis that transcends business models. 3. Collaborative Development The best product strategies emerge from both top-down direction and bottom-up input. Lucas Bremer from Quantilope calls this the "Ikea effect" - when teams build strategy together, they're more invested in its success, even if it's not perfect.
Key Differences1. Audience Input Dynamics B2B companies typically have deeper qualitative interactions with users and champions, whose voices "can really scream in your ear." B2C users, meanwhile, are "very, very far away" and harder to hear from directly, requiring more quantitative approaches and deliberate voice aggregation.
2. Risk Calculation Changing course in B2B carries higher stakes due to longer sales cycles and organizational commitments. As Stephanie explains, "In B2C a user is a user, and if their needs change, you probably don't have to shift your entire organization into a different setup." B2B pivots often require organizational restructuring with longer payoff timelines. 3. Expansion Trajectories B2C products can more easily expand into B2B markets by repackaging proven offerings (like Doodle and Blinkist did), whereas B2B companies expanding to B2C often face deadly distractions (which is why Slack deliberately avoided the community software market).
The fundamental patterns of product strategy transcend B2B/B2C distinctions, but the tools and tactics for implementing them vary significantly. Understanding these nuances helps you adapt your approach without reinventing strategic fundamentals and getting lost in self-doubt. Enjoy the newsletter? Please forward it to a colleague. It only takes 4 seconds. That's precisely how long it took me to pick a coffee brewing method before writing this newsletter. Thank you for Practicing Product, Tim As a Product Management Coach, I guide Product Teams to measure the real progress of their evidence-informed decisions. I focus on better practices to connect the dots of Product Strategy, Product OKRs, and Product Discovery. |
Product Practice Newsletter
1 tip & 3 resources per week to improve your Strategy, OKRs, and Discovery practices in less than 5 minutes.
Product Practice #361 Connecting North Star Metricsto Business Models READ ON HERBIG.CO PUBLISHED May 2, 2025 READING TIME 4 min & 45 sec Dear Reader, In many organizations, there's still a disconnect between product and business metrics. Product teams focus on customer-centric outcomes while business teams chase financial targets, with neither side fully trusting how one drives the other. When done right, a North Star Metric (NSM) can establish a middle ground that brings together both...
Product Practice #360 Why your Product DiscoveryFeels too Theoretical READ ON HERBIG.CO PUBLISHED Apr 25, 2025 READING TIME 4 min & 17 sec Dear Reader, Over the past two weeks, I've explored treating Product Strategy and OKRs like products to avoid Alibi Progress. Today, let's tackle the practice that often gets dismissed as "good in theory, impossible in practice" — Product Discovery. When teams tell me "we don't have time for proper Discovery," they're usually stuck in Alibi Progress —...
Product Practice #359 Make OKRs Drive Decisions,not Spreadsheets READ ON HERBIG.CO PUBLISHED Apr 18, 2025 READING TIME 5 min & 32 sec Dear Reader, Last week, we explored how treating Product Strategy like a product helps you avoid "Alibi Progress" — prioritizing correctness over value. Today, let's apply this same thinking to OKRs. If you've ever found yourself more relieved that the quarterly OKR-setting theater is over than excited about the OKRs themselves, you've experienced the symptoms...