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Why Your ICP is Probably Wrong
Most ICPs are wish lists, not customer profiles. In this issue, we break down the difference and show how to define an ICP that actually drives results.
This is an excerpt from Issue #47 of the Outbound Kitchen newsletter.
Every company has an ICP. Very few have a useful one.
The typical ICP looks like this:
- Industry: Technology
- Company size: 50-500 employees
- Revenue: $10M-$100M
- Title: VP of Sales, Head of Revenue, CRO
This describes half of LinkedIn. It’s not an ICP. It’s a TAM description.
The Real Purpose of an ICP
An ICP should answer one question: Who is most likely to buy, use, and get value from our product?
Not “who could we sell to.” Not “who has budget.” Not “who matches our pricing.”
Who will actually succeed?
The Three-Layer Framework
A useful ICP has three layers:
Layer 1: Firmographic fit Yes, industry and size matter. But they’re table stakes, not differentiators.
Layer 2: Situational fit What’s happening in the company right now that makes them a good fit?
- Recent funding?
- Leadership change?
- Scaling challenges?
- Tech stack migration?
Layer 3: Pain acuity How much does the problem actually hurt them?
- Is this a “nice to have” or “must solve”?
- What happens if they don’t solve it?
- Who feels the pain most acutely?
Most ICPs stop at Layer 1. The best ones go deep on Layers 2 and 3.
How to Validate Your ICP
Don’t define your ICP in a conference room. Validate it with data:
- Look at your best customers (not biggest, best)
- What do they have in common beyond industry and size?
- What was happening when they bought?
- Why did they choose you over alternatives?
The patterns will surprise you.
This is just the highlight. Read the full analysis including the ICP Definition Workshop framework on Substack.
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