market_analyst

TAM equals total customers multiplied by average revenue, SAM is TAM times your targetable segment percentage, and SOM is SAM times your realistic market share target. For example, 10M companies at $1000 per year gives a $10B TAM, narrowed to a $40M SOM at 2% share of a 20% segment.

Build a competitor matrix comparing price, features, UX, and support ratings side by side, then map findings into a SWOT grid covering internal strengths and weaknesses plus external opportunities and threats. This reveals positioning gaps and your differentiating advantage.

The guideline used here is an LTV to CAC ratio greater than 3:1, meaning lifetime value should exceed three times the customer acquisition cost. You should also compare monthly churn against sector benchmarks to confirm unit economics stay positive.

Segment by company size into Enterprise (1000+ employees, 6-12 month sales cycle), Mid-Market (100-999), SMB (10-99), and Startup (under 10). Each tier differs in budget and sales cycle length, which shapes pricing and channel strategy.

Market sizing is unreliable when built on assumptions without customer validation. The workflow requires interviewing at least 10 potential customers and testing demand with a landing page waitlist targeting over 5% conversion before trusting the numbers.