下一个伟大的公司将来自：B2B

    如今，全世界都在谈论苹果公司（Apple）刚推出的iPhone 6和苹果手表（Apple Watch），人们很难相信，这家价值数万亿美元的科技巨头曾经也只是一家很小的初创电脑公司。

    对于许多创业者们而言，苹果、Facebook或Twitter的发展轨迹，证明消费者市场才是创业的蓝海。

    但这一点并非始终都是正确的。如果放弃与公司做生意（与消费者市场相反）的潜力，创业者们将错失大量有利可图的好机遇。

    作为芝加哥创业服务组织1871的董事会成员，笔者接触过许多初创企业，因此很清楚B2C（企业对消费者）公司可以从B2B（企业对企业）初创公司学到什么，包括人力资源管理公司Fieldglass、在线企业硬件交易平台MarkITx和会议与活动在线交易市场Eved。

    B2B领域有巨大的潜力；通过将新技术整合到传统业务当中，创业者们可以显著提高效率，开发新市场，解决长期存在的问题，在某些情况下，甚至会颠覆整个行业。事实上，越来越多的B2B初创公司正在经历快速增长，同时获取了令人艳羡的利润。

    以Fieldglass为例。这家芝加哥软件公司最初规模很小，如今已成为全世界最大的供应商管理系统（VMS）提供商。据报道，该公司在今年五月被SAP公司以超过10亿美元的价格收购，这是近几年规模最大的私人科技公司交易。

    再比如企业IT硬件在线交易平台MarkITx，公司成立仅8个月，市值便已经达到1,200万美元。笔者从公司联合创始人弗兰克•姆斯卡莱罗那里了解到，公司今年的收入同比增长了300%。

    要创建下一家伟大的初创公司，创业者们应该从B2B公司学会以下六条经验：

    明智地确定第一批客户

    许多B2B公司往往会围绕最初客户来设计产品与服务，因此通过战略方法吸引第一批客户就变得至关重要。Eved成立之初，公司创始人兼CEO塔利亚•弥赛亚追逐的目标是戴尔（Dell）等大公司。后来，她设计了Eved平台和在线市场，以解决这些客户的需求，使客户可以直观了解会议和活动的总开支。而这为吸引其他大公司奠定了基础，帮助她将客户增加到5,000多家公司。

    With the world buzzing over Apple’s reveal this month of the iPhone 6 and Apple Watch, it’s hard to believe that this multi-trillion-dollar tech giant was once a small computer startup.

    For many entrepreneurs, the epic trajectory of Apple AAPL -0.87% — or Facebook FB -1.63% or Twitter TWTR 0.07% , for that matter — serves as evidence that the consumer space is where you go to launch a winning startup.

    But that doesn’t always hold true. By foregoing the potentials of selling to business (as opposed to consumers), entrepreneurs are missing out on a world of opportunities — and lucrative ones at that.

    As a board member at 1871, Chicago’s entrepreneurial hub for startups, I see a lot of startups and know what B2C companies can learn from B2B startups, including Fieldglass, MarkITx and Eved.

    The B2B space is rife with potential; by integrating new technologies into traditional businesses, entrepreneurs can dramatically improve efficiencies, uncover new markets, solve longstanding problems and, in some cases, disrupt entire industries. Indeed, an increasing number of B2B startups are experiencing rapid growth while achieving enviable profit margins.

    Take Fieldglass, for example. Once a small startup, the Chicago-based software company is now the biggest vendor management system (VMS) provider in the world. In May, it was reportedly acquired by SAP for more than $1 billion, one of the largest sales of a privately held tech company in recent years.

    Or consider MarkITx, an online marketplace to trade enterprise IT hardware, which earned a $12 million valuation after only eight months of operations. After speaking with its co-founder Frank Muscarello, the company’s revenues are up 300 percent this year compared to last.

    To launch the next great startup, here are six lessons that entrepreneurs can learn from B2B companies about how to launch the next great startup:

    Target your first customers wisely

    Many B2B businesses design their products and services around their initial clients, making it critically important to take a strategic approach to recruiting those first customers. Talia Mashiach, founder and CEO of Eved, went after large firms like Dell when her company was still in its early stages. She then designed Eved’s platform and online marketplace to address those customers’ needs and provide visibility into their meeting and the total amount spent on an event. That set the stage for the recruitment of other large-scale firms and helped her stock her online marketplace with more than 5,000 companies.