Whether you're making a pitch to investors or building a business case for a new product line, if you want “buy-in,” you’re going to need data. More specifically, you need the most defensible estimation of your product or service’s TAM, SAM, and SOM .    But what do TAM, SAM, and SOM stand for, and why are they valuable?   At the highest level, these three TLAs (or three-letter acronyms) form the framework that tells the story of your market opportunity.  Together, they show

A SaaS platform reached out about running research to optimize their pricing and packaging— textbook conjoint territory. But when we asked about their current pricing strategy, they said, "Well, our current pricing strategy is per-user-based pricing, but we're considering usage-based pricing and potentially a platform fee." They weren't   refining their pricing . They were completely rethinking their pricing model.  So we hit pause. Had we not asked about the business decisio

For startups, the idea of adding market research to the equation can feel overwhelming. When should you start market research? How much should you invest? How much is enough (or too little)? These questions challenge founders as they navigate the delicate balance between spending precious resources and gathering critical market insights. The truth is, market research isn't a one-size-fits-all approach. It's a dynamic strategy that evolves alongside startups, providing crucial

Market sizing helps businesses figure out if there's actually a crowd hungry for your product. It shows you where to find customers and how many of them are out there. With a clear understanding of market size, companies can avoid creating products no one wants, targeting the wrong audience, or missing out on significant opportunities. Poor market sizing can lead to wasted resources, failed launches, and disappointed investors.  It's the difference between a product that lang

I often advise clients to incorporate segmentation strategies to identify their target customers. An essential technique we employ is market segmentation, which typically leverages survey data to group customers based on their needs, attitudes, and behaviors. Businesses see greater returns on their marketing investments by tailoring products and messaging to segments rather than a one-size-fits-all approach. In this article, I will provide an overview of market segmentation,

As CEO of a market research firm that partners closely with product teams, people often ask me about best practices for building an effective product development roadmap. A roadmap is a blueprint for bringing ideas to market and transforming strategy into reality. When done right, roadmapping aligns organizations, secures stakeholder buy-in, and sets the stage for impactful innovation. As a product leader, one of your most critical responsibilities is charting the path to ev