Startup Sales: Framework for Identifying a First Market Segment to Attack For Pre-revenue and early revenue companies

For many entrepreneurs, unless you pick the right first market and the right people to engage with, you won't be able to generate the traction you need to either attract outside capital or produce capital on your own to finance your startup's growth.

Hence, the way you approach and determine where to attack first will decide whether your startup gets off the ground or crashes and burns before it even gets started.

This framework is designed to help you determine where your best first market opportunities lay.
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1. Identify a segment which will be quickest to embrace your offering.  Time matters, there is limited time and money available for most startups. 
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The goal is to create a beachhead that will generate early momentum, speed your learning, and create reference points for other prospects as well as show your investors or potential investors that you are gaining traction. 
 
In this first phase, revenue is secondary. 

• Make sure you can define the segment using descriptive attributes. 
• Collecting and assessing data will be critical to understanding what is working and scalable (e.g., won deals vs. lost deals)

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