An entrepreneur recently asked me why we don’t have more B2C startups in town. Consumer startups, as opposed to business ones, have a lower success rate. Much like the movie business, even experts have a hard time telling what’s going to do well financially and what isn’t — it’s a “hits” business. With the continued success of Yik Yak here, there’s a renewed interest, and hope, in more B2C startups locally. What’s the solution? More at bats. More swings. More strikeouts. More hits.
Here are a few thoughts on more at-bats for B2C startups:
- Incubators like Switchyards are working on developing institutional knowledge around what does, and doesn’t work, while catalyzing the community
- More local success will result in more local hires that get exposed to consumer startups, and in turn they’ll start their own companies (success breeds success but there’s a chicken and egg problem to get it going)
- More meetups, experience sharing, and public startup funerals will help give people confidence to take more at-bats, and if it doesn’t work, closure to move on
When someone asks about creating more B2C startups, tell them it’s a numbers game and that we need more at-bats.
What else? What are some more thoughts on at-bats and B2C startups?
David Cummings on Startups 
I think it’s a talent issue as Most big consumer talent is elsewhere. And, it requires being very in tune with and out in front of the trends to create consumer unicorns whereas B2B is a lot les sexy and more nuts and bolts.