1 tip & 3 resources per week to improve your Strategy, OKRs, and Discovery practices in less than 5 minutes. Explore my new book on realprogressbook.com
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. Explore my new book on realprogressbook.com
Product Practice #383 When to recognizeYour OKR Planning takes too long READ ON HERBIG.CO PUBLISHED Nov 6, 2025 READING TIME 5 min & 37 sec Dear Reader, It's week three of Q4 planning. Your team has revised the OKRs five times. Leadership wants one more alignment session. The quarter starts in a week, but you haven't actually begun working toward the goals yet. The moment you're tweaking wording instead of committing to a strategic goal, you've crossed from Real Progress into Alibi Progress....
Product Practice #382 Discovery Activitiesover The Discovery READ ON HERBIG.CO PUBLISHED Oct 30, 2025 READING TIME 3 min & 52 sec Dear Reader, Most teams treat Discovery like a season: "We'll do Discovery for Q1, then build in Q2." This creates a problem. It separates learning from building, makes stakeholders impatient, and turns Discovery into something you have to defend rather than a practical way to reduce uncertainty. The real question isn't "Are we doing Discovery?" It's "Are we...
Product Practice #381 How to ConnectNorth Star Metrics and OKRs READ ON HERBIG.CO PUBLISHED Oct 23, 2025 READING TIME 5 min & 25 sec Dear Reader, I once worked with a team whose OKRs read like a best of every company's KPI dashboard: user engagement up 15%, conversion rate improved by 10%, feature adoption increased by 20%. When I asked how these connected to the specific intentions they want to pursue to drive long-term customer and business value, they couldn't link them. Their OKRs looked...