Essay · 15 min read

Selling to Carol: Why targeting an ICP brings 10x more customers than you expected

Jason Cohen · A Smart Bear Free Intermediate

Cohen answers the fear founders have about niching down, that naming one very specific, concrete customer actually attracts more business, not less. That reassurance matters before you commit to the acute pain slice your short answer describes instead of the whole SMB bucket, since narrowing your message sharpens it for the exact person deciding, without losing adjacent customers who share their problem.

  • A vivid, specific ideal customer sharpens your product and message more than a broad segment does
  • People who are not exactly your ideal customer but share their problem will still buy
  • Fear of excluding people by being specific is usually unfounded in practice
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It answers 6 questions

  1. How do I find my ICP when I'm selling to Indian SMBs who don't fit clean B2B categories?
  2. How do I define an ideal customer for a product no one is searching for yet?
  3. What's the difference between defining a niche and just being too small to matter?
  4. How do I define my ideal customer when I'm a domain expert who thinks everyone in my industry needs this?
  5. My ideal customer can't afford my product. Did I define them wrong?
  6. How do I keep my whole team aligned on who our ideal customer is once we start hiring?

Read with it

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  3. 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
  4. 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
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  6. The definitive essay on where good ideas come from: notice problems you personally have, don't force it. Use it as the lens for... paulgraham.com Essay · ~20 min read How to Get Startup Ideas Paul Graham
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