Article · ~10 min read

A Framework for Defining and Refining Your ICP

Michael King · Andreessen Horowitz Free Intermediate

Five questions you can answer this afternoon from data you already have, including the underused one about what objections churned customers gave you. Written by a16z's GTM network partner, so it is built for operators rather than theorists.

  • A usable ICP answers nine dimensions including size, geography, industry, job titles, technologies in use, and buyer behaviours.
  • Triangulate best customers by fastest revenue growth, shortest sales cycle, and best retention, not revenue alone.
  • Mine churned and lost deals for recurring objections: that is where the ICP boundary actually sits.
  • ICP is not set and forget, it moves as the product and market do.
Open on a16z.com ↗

It answers 4 questions

  1. What is an ICP and how is it different from a persona? People use both words for the same thing.
  2. We have about fifteen customers and they are all different. How do I find an ICP out of that?
  3. Half my pipeline is outside our ICP because those are the leads that came in. Do I chase them?
  4. How do I get the team to actually use the ICP instead of nodding at a slide and then doing what they want?

Read with it

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