Is Web 2.0 For Business Dead?

September 19, 2007

tombstoneThat’s certainly my impression after tracking the TechCrunch40 Conference. Of the 40 companies that presented, there was little in the way of real Business-to-Business (b2b) offerings. There was no shortage of Business-to-Consumer (b2c) plays with no business models…

A few of the companies at TechCrunch40 look very interesting: Xobni, Mint, MusicShake, GotStatus and orgoo. And there’s been plenty of great, in-depth coverage from the likes of Webware, Somewhat Frank, Read/Write Web and CenterNetworks.

Incidentally, the most amusing (insightful?) reviews of TechCrunch40 are from someone using Twitter.

Certainly there’s money to be made in b2c. The potential market in many cases for a consumer product is bigger. And video, mobile, mashups, and social networking are all the rage. But many of these companies bank on advertising as their business model (if that.) Advertising is booming, but I roll my eyes when I hear, “We’ll get critical mass and then find advertisers.”

I would have loved to see more companies tackling video, mobile, mashups, social networking, etc. for businesses. Web 2.0 for businesses. Take the principles and practices of Web 2.0 and apply them to business applications. I know those companies exist out there…

I’m not the only one that thinks there’s lots of opportunity for startups in the b2b world. And I’m sure plenty of b2b companies applied. But it looks like the people at TechCrunch don’t consider business applications sexy and interesting enough.

So what do you think? Where are the great Web 2.0 companies building business-related applications? Is Web 2.0 b2b dead?

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Comments
  • From what I learned from my long experience with a local B2B networks farm, I'm convinced that Web 2.0 can work extremely well for B2B within vertical markets.

    However, the only useful Web 2.0 feature would be geared towards towards strengthening business relationships and building/maintaining reputations to weed out the industry's bad apples. So we're looking at features along the lines of social networking and crowdsourcing; everything else could be superfluous.
  • For some reason, the twitter user mentioned was renamed from techcrunch40 to nottechcrunch40. I'm not sure of any of the details though...

    New link: NotTechCrunch40
  • I think there's plenty of opportunity for B2B in web2.0... we're just starting to see the possibilities.

    But frankly, business to consumer is just a very natural fit for a lot of the web 2.0 technologies...
  • My take is nobody has honestly figured it out. I have been following this all year.

    Half of all businesses are supposedly attempting to use Web 2.0 in 2008. If someone does come up with some B2B models they will make a pile of money.
  • Mat
    Actually I think Web2.0 for business is thriving, it's just not on the radar of the sources you and I track.

    The "Enterprise 2.0" meme has been going strong for sometime now since Andrew McAfee (at Harvard) starting thinking about this last year...

    I think there is plenty being done in this space, but it is inherently not sexy because it's just rehashing, and making more robust/stable/secure, the stuff that first emerges as B2C.

    The few innovation Enterprise 2.0 apps that would not first go through a gestation period in B2C are just not interesting enough for most of us to ever register on our radars...
  • JT
    You're fighting such an uphill battle trying to draw the attention of a business away from a business itself, no matter how much you are helping them.

    Businesses impose a lot of rules on surfing, etc. as well. Not saying its impossible, but finding a Web 2.0 type fit at this stage is harder. 10-20 years from now when the currently cell-phone using, MySpace teen generation is out there in the biz world, it will be a different story.
  • It seems like people are missing the point on B2B application of Web 2.0 applications. Web 2.0 is rooted in web-based software that has many applications. One of them is social networking for B2C markets that get a lot of press because of the velocity of its development. However, SaaS for B2B markets is alive and well. Saas for small to medium size businesses offers a very beneficial solution to their software needs. Web 2.0 just looks different for B2B markets as it should.
  • Jim - I'm with you. Thanks for stopping by and commenting.
  • I would love to hear additional thoughts on where Web 2.0 is being applied to or could be applied to B2B markets. From my experience, it seems that B2B professionals have become sponges for new information on how to evolve or better run their business and Web 2.0 networking could certainly help their business needs. I write articles/columns on marketing for international trade publications and speak internationally, so I get the opportunity to interface with a diversity of businesses. As such, I am continually amazed at the real lack of valuable, fresh and applicable information that is available for B2B markets
  • Jim - Thank you for continuing the discussion. I should post more on my thoughts of how the strategies and goals of Web 2.0 can be applied to B2B. As I mentioned in my email to you, we're applying many of Web 2.0's principles to my startup Standout Jobs, which I can't talk about extensively to-date...
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