GTM Navigator: Expanding from B2C to B2B GTM

GTM Navigator is our ongoing series where we break down the essential components of nailing the right go-to-market strategy. 

In this episode, Ren Riley, General Partner at Fin Capital, speaks with Matt Wolf, SVP of Business Development at Fin portfolio company, Greenlight. Matt brings a wealth of experience in developing successful strategic partnerships and revenue-generating platforms. Having previously led Business Development and Partnerships at SimpliSafe (acquired by Hellman & Friedman), Cit, and others, he now drives Greenlight’s mission to promote financial literacy among children. 

In this discussion, you’ll gain insights into Greenlight’s expansion from a B2C to a B2B go-to-market motion, the challenges and opportunities this shift presents, and strategic advice on building and scaling B2B operations. We’re grateful to Matt for sharing his expertise and hope this episode of GTM Navigator empowers you to enhance your B2B partnership strategies. 

Key Questions Discussed: 

• How do you evolve your existing sales team and revenue operations to cater to a new B2B motion? 
• How has Greenlight evolved to cater to an enterprise client? 
• How has your business model and pricing strategy evolved? 
• How do skill sets differ between B2B and B2C salespeople? 
• What goes into building scalable B2B operations 
• How do you effectively run both B2C and B2B GTM motions concurrently? 

Transcript (edited for brevity and clarity): 

Welcome to another edition of Fin Capital’s Go-To-Market interview series where we speak to a number of subject matter experts on specific go-to market topics. Delighted to have Matt Wolf, Senior Vice President of Business Development at Greenlight on today. Key topics for today’s discussion include expanding from a B2C to a B2B go-to market strategy, the challenges, considerations, opportunities, advice that Matt can share with us. 

As a quick aside, Matt, I have a handful of kids in my family who are Greenlight users, so I was really looking forward to having this discussion today. As my kids continue to grow with this product, I too want to raise financially smart kids and obviously Greenlight is helping me do that. So welcome Matt. Thanks for joining us today. 

Matt Wolf (01:17): 

Yeah, thanks Ren. That’s awesome to hear that your kids are involved in it. 

Ren Riley (01:20): 

Absolutely. It’s very cool and Greenlight’s become a verb, so that’s a good thing is you continue to build the business. “Greenlight me this, Greenlight me that.” So my kids certainly appreciate what you all are doing. Before we jump in, first off, just tell us about your background. What is Greenlight? What led you to Greenlight, and what is your focus there today? 

Matt Wolf (01:17): 

Thank you, Ren. I’ll start just with the what is Greenlight and then I can share a little bit about my background. As you were alluding to, we’re a family finance company that offers a family digital wallet, debit card for kids. Recently, we’ve developed a gamified financial education experience that provides parents and caregivers convenience and peace of mind when sharing money with their children, while also teaching kids smart financial habits that can really benefit them now and for the rest of their lives. My background, I really spent the majority of my career in consumer businesses. I like to joke, like many people you see in fintech, that I am a recovering banker. Having been at Citi for a few years before deciding that I wanted to go back into startups, I’ve been an entrepreneur in various forms probably since high school and for nearly the past decade I’ve been really focused on developing what I call “seed stage startups/early stage startups” within high growth startups and high growth companies.  

At my last startup, SimpliSafe, a leader in the smart home IOT SaaS space, I founded the commercial partnerships practice there really to help them on their mission of making every home secure. That experience was all about taking a company that was a heavy direct response-advertiser, advertising a kind of do-it-yourself home security product directly to families, and introducing a very efficient, low cost growth commercial partnerships, which also happened to be in very heavily regulated spaces.  Greenlight was looking to do a similar kind expansion that I had done at SimpliSafe, so I jumped at the opportunity to join Greenlight on its mission to help parents and caregivers raise financially smart kids. 

To set the stage at Greenlight, we’d had a really successful direct-to-consumer business, we did a lot of Facebook and CPC advertising, a lot of TV–even in the start of 2022 had a Super Bowl commercial — 

Ren Riley (04:47): 

I remember that. Yep. 

Matt Wolf (04:48): 

Exactly. But we always knew that the product really lent itself well to certain very attractive segments of a commercial market. We could serve a population that was very valuable to financial institutions, to employers and to several other types of partnerships. So we’ve set out over the last three years or so to really identify where there’s a need for our services and where we can create that unique win-win, whether that’s for the end user, the family, or for our commercial partners that are typically banks or credit unions or enterprise employers who want to promote financial wellness. 

Ren Riley (03:10): 

That’s fantastic. In terms of jumping into the GTM motion, how did Greenlight transition to including a B2B strategy alongside its already successful B2C operations? 

Matt Wolf (03:10): 

Our initial B2C success created a robust foundation for B2B growth. We leveraged our established brand to attract potential B2B partners at conferences and through direct outreach, finding that our educational tools were well-suited to the needs of financial institutions and other organizations focused on financial literacy. 

Ren Riley (04:47): 

What strategies have proven effective in balancing and scaling both B2C and B2B channels? 

Matt Wolf (04:48): 

We adopted a ‘crawl, walk, run’ strategy to gradually integrate our services into B2B markets. This approach allowed us to tailor our offerings to meet specific partner needs while leveraging our B2C insights to ensure alignment and mutual benefit. 

Ren Riley (05:42): 

Can you share an example of a successful B2B partnership? 

Matt Wolf (06:22): 

Certainly. Our partnership with US Bank exemplifies our strategic approach, where we integrated our services into their operations to enhance their financial education offerings. This not only benefited US Bank by enriching their service portfolio but also allowed us to reach a broader audience through a trusted financial institution. 

Ren Riley (08:45): 

Looking ahead, what challenges do you anticipate, and how do you plan to address them? 

Matt Wolf (09:56): 

One of the main challenges is ensuring that our B2B solutions can adapt to the diverse needs of our partners without compromising the quality and integrity of our B2C offerings. We’re committed to continuous innovation and alignment across our operations to maintain high standards and scalable growth. 

Ren Riley (14:32): 

What key learnings can other companies take from your experience in developing B2B strategies? 

Matt Wolf (15:25): 

It’s crucial to ensure that both parties derive significant value from a partnership. This involves understanding and addressing the partner’s needs while aligning them with your strategic goals to foster a long-term, successful collaboration.