Consumer internet startups feel like a hail mary/throwing it up there approach to scoring a touchdown. B2B startups feel like a sustained, grind it out drive to get the touchdown.
I started thinking about this when I was at an event where several classmates and I listened to the entire Sierra Ventures team talking. Towards the end, one of the partners asked the room how many people were starting consumer internet startups and how many were doing enterprise. I recall being the only one raising my hand for enterprise, but either way it was very few people compared to the consumer internet crowd.
That has interesting implications. I see why people want to go the consumer internet route -- it's what they get and understand as users of consumer internet applications. And it's definitely a lot sexier than enterprise. But it seems like the "throw it up there and pray" sort of route. How many consumer internet startups are there and how many of them have truly unique offerings? Yeah every once in a while you get successes like Twitter or Facebook, but you get hundreds of failures for each one that makes it.1
B2B startups are similar to a sustained drive in football. You know, the kind of drive in football where you rush the ball and get 4 yards per carry, and you slog and fight your way for every inch. It's just not traditionally sexy. But in the end, it may end up being a more successful approach to getting the touchdown, which in the case of a startup is profitability or a successful sale.2
Update: David has a great comment below, but I want to be clear that I feel both consumer internet and b2b startups are a total grind. I know because I've worked at both! However, see Troy's response because it's another great angle in this debate.
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1) I'm not implying that consumer internet startup successes are purely driven by market conditions, nor that consumer internet startups don't grind it out every day. You have to do little things along the way to be successful. The broader point is that less things are in your control when you do a consumer internet startup.
2) I searched far and wide but couldn't find a study comparing exit values of consumer internet vs. enterprise/b2b startups. Update: took out the claim without data -- even though it was throwing out a thesis, David's right that this footnote should be gone.
