Ask HN: is lean startup applicable to B2B?

[pilap82]

I'm looking for some feedback from entrepreneurs who launched B2B companies to understand what parts of lean startup methodology are relevant or not. Typically: experimenting might be tricky when your users have to perform a business process which is (supposedly) stable.

any additional tip is welcome.

thanks!

[BenjaminDyer]

Yep, my startup business Powered Now is pure B2B. The same methodologies apply regardless of the market, however I take your point about stable processes. I think (and would love a discussion on it) the idea of a "stable process" comes with scale, the larger the orginisation the less likely they are to consider adapting or trying new things, although that might be a sweeping generalisation.

Regardless of the size of the business there are always people on the cutting edge, the early adopters you need to find and involve.

Best of luck, I'll watch this thread with interest.

[pilap82]

I agree with you. But i think that beyond scale and state of mind, one key factor in B2B is the tolerance of the organisation (not only the leader) to change and experiments.

It takes a great deal of leadership to bring everyone on board and convince the naysayers. In my case, on of my customer has ~100 users. the problem is not my stakeholder, but a slice of the 99 other users, who have to deal with the change. Some request additional training, some complain...

With all the good will of the leader, i just fear that he eventually grows tired of fighting for each change, regardless the value brought by such change.

So the question about experiment is maybe more a question of overcoming user resistance (and, in a company, the associated cost).

The reactions to UI changes in Facebook are probably a good indicator that it's a tough battle :)