How do I define my ideal customer when I'm a domain expert who thinks everyone in my industry needs this?
The short answer
Deep industry knowledge is an edge, but it makes you assume the whole field shares your urgency, and it almost never does. Split your industry by who feels this pain daily versus occasionally, who has budget to fix it versus who just complains, and who can adopt without a committee. Your ICP is the intersection of acute pain, real budget, and fast decisions, which is usually a small slice, not the sector. Interview people outside your own bubble to check whether your certainty is expertise or blind spot, and treat your first cut as a hypothesis.
Go deeper, your way
3 hand-picked resources, 2 link-checked. Pick how you want to dig in.
📖 Book
✓ Link checkedPaidBeginner
Why we picked it
The single best thing ever written on customer conversations. It teaches you to ask about the customer's life and past behaviour, not your idea, so you can't be lied to. If a founder reads one thing before talking to a single customer, it's this.
Why we picked it
The definitive essay on where good ideas come from: notice problems you personally have, don't force it. Use it as the lens for judging whether your idea is a real problem or a solution in search of one.
Why we picked it
This is the practical step after you accept that not everyone in your industry is your customer. It walks through turning a vague 'everyone in my field' into a sharp, testable ideal customer profile, with concrete before and after examples (from 'small businesses' to 'boutique marketing agencies with under 10 employees'). For a domain expert convinced the whole market needs their product, it is a clear push to pick the narrow segment that needs it most and start there.
