Frameworks to Thrive for B2B Founders

I'm following up on my post with five business frameworks for founders which got a lot of traction and was focused more generally on anyone in the business of building technology products and companies.

Here I'm going to expand it with a couple of additional simple but useful frameworks I do recommend for first-time founders of B2B startups. If you ask why these are for B2B startups, then the answer is: "Because B2B startups are different".

Often, there's a different dynamics in user acquisition and sales. Even if we talk about product-led growth, the B2B buyer and user dynamic and usage patterns are very different from B2C products. That's why I recommend that B2B founders use these additional frameworks which frankly are universal but are more important and more useful in B2B setting.

Here are five helpful frameworks for B2B founders:

Jobs To Be Done Framework

Helps you understand the underlying "job" customers are trying to get done with your solution rather than just their stated needs.

Useful for developing products people will actually use and pay for. Check out also expanded JBTD framework from Tony Ulwick and get his free e-book.

Value Proposition Canvas

Tools to map out the unique value your product delivers to customers versus competitors. It's a tool for marketing experts, product owners, and value creators. based on the book - Value Proposition Design. Check it out at Strategyzer web.

Opportunity Framework

Helps you as a founder to define potential opportunities and prioritize their business growth trajectory across them.

Opportunity framework can be turned into scorecards to help with the evaluation of any and all opportunity types like - ideas, features, new businesses, or new potential customers. The main goal is to keep you focused on the most promising opportunities.

Buyer Personas

Define your target customers in-depth to tailor messaging and products to them. Helps with everything but especially with product features prioritisation, positioning, and messaging.

B2B specific is that more often than not - buyers are not users of your solution so it's good to understand them and learn about them. But you can't do it from your product.

Technology Adoption Lifecycle

Understand where different segments of your customers are in adopting your particular technology. So crucial for any product - B2B or B2C - especially in early stages.

Hint - almost alwasy when I speak to founders with products on the market, they're thinking Early Majority and it's almost always just Innovators using their product. This makes a big difference for everything - from product development to marketing and sales!

The key for B2B startups and their founders is not to use any of these recommended frameworks. You can build your own or maybe you already have some.

The key is to have frameworks that help you thoroughly understand your customers and buyers so you could ruthlessly prioritize your actions and product developments efforts, and so you could effortlessly communicate your unique value proposition.

Let me know if you have good (or bad) experience with any of these business related frameworks. I would like to know about practical issues you might be facing.