Market SizingEstimating a market from the top down and the bottom up.MarketingSize the market from population downward andfrom unit economics upward, then reconcile.TAM → SAM → SOMTAMEveryone who could ever buyTotal addressable.SAMThose you can actually serveGeography, segment.SOMWhat you can realistically winGiven resources.THE COMMON MISTAKEPresenting TAM as the opportunitySOM is the plannable numberA 1% share of a huge TAM is an assertion, not a plan. SOM forces theconstraints to be stated.Bottom-up sizing from real unit economics is harder to inflate, which isexactly why it is the more useful estimate.Market Sizinglearnposters.com
Market Sizing — printable business wall chart from LearnPosters. Free vector PDF, US Letter and A4.

What’s on the Market Sizing poster

The rule, 3 worked examples, and the mistake everyone makes.

Bottom-up sizing from real unit economics is harder to inflate, which is exactly why it is the more useful estimate.

Questions about the Market Sizing poster

What’s on the Market Sizing poster?
The rule, 3 worked examples, and the mistake everyone makes. Size the market from population downward and from unit economics upward, then reconcile.; TAM → SAM → SOM; TAM = Everyone who could ever buy; SAM = Those you can actually serve; SOM = What you can realistically win; Common mistake: Presenting TAM as the opportunity → SOM is the plannable number. Bottom-up sizing from real unit economics is harder to inflate, which is exactly why it is the more useful estimate.
Who is the Market Sizing poster for?
Market Sizing belongs to the Marketing section rather than to a school year, because business is not something one grade owns. Anyone learning research can pin it up — a beginner, a student mid-course, or someone revising years later.
When should you use the Market Sizing poster?
Do both. If they disagree by an order of magnitude, one assumption is wrong. A wall chart earns its place by being glanceable from where the work is happening, so Market Sizing belongs on the wall where that business work actually happens, within glancing distance, rather than filed away.
What other posters go with Market Sizing?
Analytics & Research, Concept Testing and Customer Interviews sit alongside Market Sizing in the Marketing section. Printed together they make a wall rather than a single sheet, which is how a reference set actually gets used.Analytics & ResearchConcept TestingCustomer Interviews
Is the Market Sizing poster free to download and print?
Yes. Market Sizing downloads as a free PDF with no account, no email and no watermark, like everything else in the Marketing section. Print as many copies as you like for a home, a classroom, a library or a tutoring group; reselling the file is the only thing the licence rules out.Read the licence
What size does the Market Sizing poster print at?
Market Sizing is a vector PDF laid out for US Letter, and prints on A4 with Fit to page — the same file, no separate download. Because every mark on it is drawn rather than photographed, it stays sharp enlarged to A3, A2 or A1 at a copy shop. Colour carries emphasis only, so a greyscale print of Market Sizing loses nothing.Printing guide

Related posters

Charts that sit alongside Market Sizing on the same wall.

Browse every Marketing poster, or start from the full catalogue.