Book: Lean B2B – Build Products Businesses Want

"Lean B2B – Build Products Businesses Want" is the ultimate lean startup book for selling to enterprises. Author: Étienne Garbugli.

Inspired by the lean startup methodology, Lean B2B is an exceptionally important book for anyone choosing the challenging path of selling to businesses. Étienne Garbugli approaches enterprise sales through lean startup methods with detailed, step-by-step guidance, spanning from the big picture down to specific preparations and execution steps.

Stemming from the Greatest Difference & Unique Hardships

Comparing selling to enterprises to David meeting Goliath, the author points out how arduous and highly demanding the preparation process is for a startup when selling to a business: “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” Unlike B2C sales where there is usually only one decision-maker, selling to businesses forces startups to be ready to convince various groups within a company, each with different criteria, knowing that the final decision-maker is not a single individual. Businesses have multifaceted concerns that require you to be prepared, knowledgeable, and above all, always ready to negotiate. That is why B2B sales feel like an unequal battle between the seller and the customer. For a startup selling to businesses, lean B2B is about finding the product-market fit as efficiently as possible.

What Does This Book Offer You?

Instead of rushing a trial product straight into the market, B2B startups need to thoroughly equip themselves with industry knowledge, insights into corporations, a strong network, networking skills, as well as a clear understanding of the actual onboarding processes of corporate clients and how to develop their own internal teams before launching to potential partners or first clients.

Through these preparatory steps, B2B startups will dive deep into understanding the market, forming hypotheses, and identifying test clients for their initial products using smart approaches. This helps them clearly comprehend the problem, prioritize which issue to solve, and only then develop a Minimum Viable Product (MVP). The book also highlights the challenges that businesses must face during each stage of B2B sales.

Who Is This Book For?

Not only designed for B2B founders, this book serves product managers, product developers, and marketing professionals who need to understand how the process of winning the hearts of corporate clients actually works.

The book also provides highly practical insights for angel investors and venture capitalists to evaluate the startups they intend to invest in, particularly regarding the B2B startup's capability to build a product that fits market demand.

Finally, this is an excellent book for corporate sales representatives. Every enterprise salesperson needs to understand what truly happens behind the scenes when selling to a business.

Author: Nguyen Dang Tuan Minh, Manager & Co-founder of KisStartup.

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¹ B2B – Business-to-Business refers to companies whose products are designed for other businesses, as distinguished from B2C (Business-to-Consumer), which refers to businesses whose products target individual retail customers.