Why Gamma Bet on Consumer Over B2B

Key Takeaways

• Gamma conducted 100 user interviews across different professions before building any product
• Universal presentation problems emerged regardless of profession (consultant, teacher, doctor, tech employee)
• Two core pain points: fear of judgment based on slide appearance and excessive formatting overhead
• Users reported spending 90% of time on formatting and only 10% on actual content
• Consumer-focused approach revealed that presentation needs are fundamentally similar across industries

The Foundation: 100 User Interviews

Before launching a single feature, Gamma made a strategic decision to deeply understand user needs. The company conducted 100 user interviews with people from diverse professions and industries. The simple question: "Tell me the last time you made a presentation. What was that like?"

Participants walked the team through their process—what they created, how they created it, what worked, and what failed. This foundational research became the north star for the company's consumer-focused strategy.

Universal Problems Across All Professions

The breakthrough insight: presentation challenges are remarkably similar regardless of job title. Whether interviewing consultants, teachers, doctors, or tech employees, the feedback was nearly identical.

While some profession-specific nuances existed, the overwhelming majority of problems were consistent. This universality became the key justification for pursuing a consumer product approach rather than vertical-specific B2B solutions.

The Two Core Pain Points

1. The Judgment Problem

Users across all professions expressed a shared anxiety: they felt judged based on how their slides looked, not on the quality of their ideas or message. This psychological barrier affected how people approached presentations, creating unnecessary stress beyond the content itself.

2. The Formatting Tax

A massive time drain emerged in every interview: users spent disproportionate effort on visual alignment and formatting. Moving boxes around, ensuring proper spacing, and perfecting slide layouts consumed the majority of presentation-building time.

The single most common quote from all 100 participants, regardless of profession: "I spend 90% of my time on formatting and 10% of my time on content."

This 90-10 split represented a fundamental inefficiency in how presentations were being created—and it was universal.

Why Consumer Orientation Matters

By identifying these cross-industry, cross-profession pain points early, Gamma recognized that a consumer-focused product strategy made more sense than building vertical-specific B2B solutions. One product addressing universal problems would serve a broader audience than specialized tools for particular industries.

Conclusion

Gamma's bet on consumer over B2B wasn't arbitrary—it was grounded in systematic user research revealing that presentation challenges transcend professional boundaries. By focusing on the universal pain points of judgment and formatting overhead, the company could build a solution with mass appeal.

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Original source: Why Gamma bet on consumer over B2B

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