Marty Cagan, Author at Silicon Valley Product Group · Marty Cagan
articleprincipleCommercial vs Internal Products
9 April 2026Product
Internal Products Are Hard; Commercial Products Are Harder We have spent a lot of time trying to convince product people and especially product leaders of the importance of internal products. We’re talking about services or solutions that are used by our own employees to take care of our customers (e.g. customer-enabling tools and services), or... The post Commercial vs Internal Products appeared first on Silicon Valley Product Group.
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Apollo layer
What a founder can learn
Founder takeaway
Treat internal tools as real products: understand the employees who use them and design them to help those employees serve customers. At the same time, do not assume success with an internal product translates directly to the greater challenge of a commercial offering.
Why it matters
Internal products shape how effectively employees can support customers, while commercial products present additional difficulty. Distinguishing the two helps founders set appropriate expectations and avoid neglecting customer-enabling systems.