The document provides tips for identifying the most suitable customer segment to target for an alpha product launch. It recommends focusing on a narrow, specific segment like "sales representatives of mature eCommerce startups" rather than broad segments like "all startups". The tips suggest choosing the segment that is easiest to target and most likely to value the product, based on what early customers were for successful SaaS companies like Amazon, Freshdesk and Paytm. A table is requested to outline potential customer segments with their demographics, jobs/gains, and pains, along with an explanation of the one segment chosen for the alpha launch.

2. Identify Customer
Segment for Alpha
Vishnu Gopal

3. Why?

4. See earlier Learn Session:
“Customer Segments &
Personas”

5. Identify at least 3 customer
segments you will target with
the product.

6. Then pick 1 to focus on for
the Alpha Launch

7. Tip 1: Drill down, and focus on
as narrow a segment as
possible.

8. Not good enough:
To say that your customers
could be “all startups”

9. Okay:
To say that your customers could
be “all startups that have a sales
team”

10. Wow:
To say that your customers could be
“sales representatives of mature startups
in the eCommerce space”

11. Tip 2: Focus on 1 customer segment
by picking
“lower hanging fruit” from the customer
segments you have listed down.

12. i.e. a combo of
1) the customers easiest to target
2) the customers who are most likely to
accept your product.

13. For 2) customers who are most likely
to accept = customers who are likely
to have the most value from your
product.

14. This is more art than science.

15. Tip 3: Learn from other
companies before you.

16. Go back to your Reverse
Engineer a SaaS company
target

17. & ask this question, “When they
started off, what customer
segment did they focus on?
Why?”

18. Who were the first customers
of Amazon?
of Freshdesk?
of Paytm?

19. Tip 4: Again: think about how easy
it is to address the customer
segment’s needs in 2 months for
Alpha.

20. Submit a document in tabular
form like this:

21. Customer
Segment
Demographics Jobs & Gains Pains
Segment Name
1
A one-line
description of this
customer’s
demographics
Which jobs of the
customer will you
be assisting
with?
Which problems
of the customer
will you be
solving?
Segment Name
2
Segment Name
3

22. + a written explanation describing
the
1 customer segment
you are focusing on for Alpha