Podcast · 45 min

'Ideal Customer Profile' Truth Bombs, with Aditya Tulsian

Aditya Tulsian · SaaSBoomi Podcast Free Intermediate India

Aditya Tulsian built Numberz for Indian small businesses before it was acquired by Chargebee, and this episode is a blunt, India specific conversation about the mistakes founders make defining their ICP, including whether to start with the problem or the person. SaaSBoomi is a community built by and for Indian SaaS founders, so the examples and pricing assumptions in this episode actually match what you are likely building against. A good listen if most of the other resources here feel too US centric for your market.

  • Decide upfront whether you are anchoring on the problem first or the person first, both are valid but different.
  • Buyer, user, and influencer can be three different people in a B2B sale, know which one you are targeting.
  • An unclear ICP shows up later as a messy or failed acquisition conversation, not just slow sales.
Open on saasboomi.org ↗

It answers 2 questions

  1. What is an ideal customer profile and how do I define mine?
  2. How do I use the customers I already have to sharpen my ideal customer profile instead of guessing?

Read with it

  1. The single best thing ever written on customer conversations. It teaches you to ask about the customer's life and past... momtestbook.com Book · ~130 pages The Mom Test Rob Fitzpatrick
  2. Market size is meaningless until you know exactly who you're for, and Lenny turns that into a concrete, repeatable ICP exercise... Lenny's Newsletter Article · ~15 min read How to identify your ideal customer profile (ICP) Lenny Rachitsky
  3. The best book on positioning against competitors by understanding the alternatives customers actually consider. Directly turns... aprildunford.com Book · ~200 pages Obviously Awesome: How to Nail Product Positioning so Customers Get It, Buy It, Love It April Dunford
  4. Video · ~25 min How to Talk to Users Eric Migicovsky
  5. Turns the vague feeling of product-market fit into a number you can move. Ask users how they would feel if they could no longer... First Round Review Article · ~20 min read How Superhuman Built an Engine to Find Product/Market Fit Rahul Vohra
  6. Michael King runs a16z's go to market network, and this piece is aimed squarely at the moment your first guess at an ICP needs... Andreessen Horowitz Article · 12 min read A Framework for Defining and Refining Your ICP Michael King
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