Hey, Aaron here! Welcome to this bi-monthly startup newsletter. In each write-up, I tackle questions about building products, financial planning, growth, and raising capital! Today we dive into -

Education:

Check out one of my recent videos

If you are looking for a handy guide to getting your startup off the ground or an initial checklist for idea validation, check out my breakdown in this video.

In just five days, you can build a solid foundation for your startup and have a better idea of where your idea stands in the market. If you’re past this phase in your startup journey, you can also peruse some of my other YouTube resources:

Opinion:

B2B is better for the Founder, B2C is better for the Customer

I get why everyone wants to build B2C startups. Said simply: it’s exciting. The idea of creating something that millions of people use daily - something that makes their lives easier, more fun, or more productive - is incredibly appealing. Who doesn’t want to be the next Uber, the next DoorDash, the next household name. But, from my experience I also know that building a successful B2C business is brutal.

On the flip side, B2B? It’s not sexy, but it’s often a better experience (in terms of efficiency / focus) for the founder. If you’re a founder who’s optimizing to make money, creating repeatable processes, and increasing your chances of survival in the startup game, B2B wins almost every time.

Why B2B is the Smarter Play for Founders

Building for businesses is like stepping onto a field where the demand already exists - you just have to position yourself correctly to capture it. Companies are constantly searching for tools that boost revenue, reduce expenses, or streamline operations. The process of executing a sale can be more complicated but fundamentally, the entire sales pitch boils down to:

a. “This will save you X dollars”

b. “This will make you Y dollars”

c. “This will reduce Z headaches for your team”

Beyond sales, B2B is just easier to wrap your head around as a founder. You’re typically solving a problem for a well-defined role (e.g., CFOs need better forecasting tools, and sales teams need better lead-gen software). Even better, many founders build for an industry they already know, meaning they have insider insights, access to customers, and a (somewhat) clear understanding of pain points.

Why B2C is Harder but More Rewarding for Customers

Consumers don’t need most new products. Businesses? They need to cut costs, optimize workflows, and grow revenue. But everyday people? They can live their entire lives without a new social app, fitness tracker, or productivity tool.

B2C startups tend to win when they either:

a. Solve a massive pain point in an obvious way (Uber, DoorDash, Airbnb) or

b. Create a new habit that people want to adopt (TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat)

This is of course, incredibly hard to do. You’re often competing for attention in an oversaturated market, fighting against deeply ingrained consumer behaviors, and (in many cases) trying to grow while subsidizing costs to get users in the door.

Now for the good news — when B2C works, it really works, and it changes lives. Uber turned car ownership into an option rather than a necessity, and DoorDash made getting food effortless. These represent enormous shifts in day-to-day living that can typically only be achieved in the consumer market.

The Tradeoff: Founder Success vs. Cultural Impact

If you’re a founder who wants a higher probability of success, B2B is your best bet. Sales cycles and development might be longer, but the path to revenue is clearer. The reality is that it’s often easier to land a few high-value customers than to convince millions of people to care about your product.

But, if your goal is to create something that truly shifts consumer behavior, I believe that B2C is the path - just be prepared for the uphill battle. Most B2C startups don’t fail because of bad ideas, but because of the sheer difficulty of getting (and keeping) people’s attention long enough to turn a product into a habit.

Regardless of which fight you choose, I wish you luck.

Notable News:

Cool Tool:

A lifesaver for my ADHD self

Managing operations is a pain. As someone with ADHD, I feel like I’m especially frustrated with this area of owning a business because of the volume of never-ending, daily tasks.

Regardless of how I feel about it, I know these things need to happen. A lot of founders don’t take operations as seriously as they should, but the reality is you won’t be able to scale, respond to client needs, and win if you ignore the day-to-day stuff that keeps you afloat.

After talking to a friend about the struggle, they suggested a platform called Wrike. Over the last couple of months, I’ve come to appreciate how much Wrike helps me streamline the things I need to get done, even when I don’t want to.

Startup Highlight: Doxci

Dominate the Future with AI

I wanted to share this demo about Doxci, an agentic AI product. This tool can transform and automate business processes (which I am all about) through quick analysis of vast amounts of data / documents.

There’s a lot of fluff out there when it comes to AI… but this is not. This could be a game-changer for companies in any industry - from sensitive medical documents to piles of legal paperwork. This is all about making manual document processing more straightforward, and saving tons of time (& money) along the way.

Check out the demo and learn more about Doxci by clicking below.

That’s It For Today!

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Written By Aaron @(un)conventional Team