In my last post, I outlined what I see as the three foundational laws of growth funnels: volume, velocity, and conversion. These forces are universal, but their expression looks very different depending on whether you’re building in B2B, B2C, or B2B2C contexts. Having spent most of my career in B2B technology companies — across healthcare, the future of work, developer tools, and recruitment software — and a stretch leading growth for a consumer social mobile app, I’ve seen firsthand how the physics remain constant, but the systems they act on vary, shaping what effective go-to-market strategy looks like.

B2B: Precision & Consensus

In B2B, volume is rarely about mass reach. Instead, it’s about precision—targeting the right accounts and the right stakeholders within them. The funnel starts with carefully defined accounts and stakeholders rather than millions of anonymous prospects.

Velocity is constrained by the realities of multi-threaded buying cycles, procurement processes, and (especially in healthcare) compliance requirements — all of which introduces drag that must be managed. Conversion often hinges less on a single user action and more on consensus among decision-makers and other folks on a buying committee. That makes activities like account-based marketing, solution selling, and rigorous ROI storytelling central to the B2B growth playbook.

The physics of growth here is about carefully managing energy across a long and complex funnel, ensuring momentum doesn’t dissipate before deals close.

B2C: Scale & Retention

In contrast, consumer growth often starts with sheer scale. Volume is the name of the game: how many people can you attract, how quickly, and at what cost? Growth depends on reaching and attracting large audiences quickly, preferably at relatively low cost per acquisition.

Velocity can be lightning-fast: downloads, sign-ups, and first-use moments often happen within minutes or hours. But conversion in B2C is fragile, and retention can be difficult. Consumers' expectations are high, and switching costs are low. Having worked on a social app for a fickle demographic (viz., college students), I saw how critical it is to engineer “aha” moments early and often, to build viral loops that keep volume flowing, and to optimize onboarding for instant clarity. Personalized engagement is also critical to reducing leakage and sustaining growth at scale.

The physics here feels closer to fluid dynamics—lots of inflow, lots of outflow, and a constant battle to reduce leakage.

B2B2C: Dual-Sided Dynamics

B2B2C introduces its own twist: you’re often selling to businesses while simultaneously needing to drive adoption among their end users. Volume is two-tiered: you need to win enterprise customers, while activating their end users. Velocity depends on how quickly you can activate both sides, which are interdependent, in tandem.

Conversion is measured not just in closed contracts, but also in ongoing user engagement and satisfaction. In healthcare, for example, you might sell to a provider group or payor (the B2B motion), but your ultimate growth depends on physicians or patients engaging with the platform (the B2C motion).

The physics of growth here is about managing interdependent systems: winning one side is necessary but not sufficient. Success requires aligning incentives between businesses and end users, with strategies like embedded distribution, user-first product design, and enterprise enablement.

One Framework, Many Applications

The universality of volume, velocity, and conversion is what makes the physics of growth such a powerful framework. But the strategies, tools, and even the organizational structures needed to optimize them vary dramatically by context. B2B requires precision and patience. B2C demands scale and stickiness. B2B2C is about orchestrating two sides of the system.

Understanding both the constants and the variables is what allows teams to design growth strategies that hold up across markets and models. Recognizing those differences while holding onto the fundamentals has been critical in my own journey leading growth across industries and models.