Hiring Product Leaders Across Domains: Lessons from a B2C-to-B2B Transition

Part 4 in our Mastering Hiring Series for Product Management Leaders

Austin Chang is Chief Product Officer at our client Craft, where he leads the Supplier Risk Intelligence platform. Previously, he led product for Quest VR/MR Core software platform and Voice-based AI/Google Assistant platform powering Google Home devices, Android phones, and Android Auto. He is a YC alum, 2x startup founder, and former Initialized Capital operating partner.

Making an investment in a product leader is a significant step for your company, whether you’re an early-stage company whose CEO or co-founder is ready to start delegating some of these responsibilities or you’re a more established company that’s ready to have a stronger product presence and perspective.

To explore this topic, we interviewed Austin Chang, who recently made the transition from a successful B2C product career at Google (Google Assistant, Android) and Quest VR to his current role as Chief Product Officer at B2B company Craft. In this post, we’re taking a closer look at the differences between hiring product leaders for B2B (business to business or enterprise) vs. B2C (business to consumer) companies.

While it is possible to hire a product leader from either background, understanding their…