Whose your addressable Mark(et)?
So a buddy of mine just started working as a full time Associate at DFJ Gotham Ventures though he’s really been working there for months. Every time I run an idea by him or introduce him to someone his first question is “what’s your addressable market?” with complementary probing such as “it’ll be tough to figure out but well worth it”.
So in honor of his starting his new gig, I got him a present. I custom made a tshirt with his mug on it and the saying “Whose your addressable Mark(et)?” on one side and a DFJ logo on the back. He got it and said he was laughing his ass off and wants to frame it. I’m attaching a picture of the shirt to share with everyone out there.
Now a few comments on Addressable Market.
1) First off, what does it mean? It is NOT the size of your entire industry. It is the size of the niche in your industry that your product can go after and what you can justify that you can tackle. So if you are a tech guy and doing computer repair work. Your addressable market is now $10BN. It is maybe the 300 customers you can service in a year. It is a mixture of target niche size and what you can handle / achieve.
2) Second its useful data for your own internal thinking.
3) Sometimes it is irrelevant. If you are creating a new type of business and someone bugs you what you’re market is and they don’t believe you are creating a new market - well, then they are probably wrong since some things don’t have an existing market. However, those things are inherently riskier. It’s important to understand what market you are going after and even if you don’t have an actual addressable market - to have some kind of guidance as to how people will use your product, what you will charge and potential customer numbers. Then add them all together for a hacked out addressable market. 
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Anon Says:
