Market
Where buyers and sellers come together to exchange value – whether goods, services, money, etc.
Most of the time, market = your customers
Most of the time, market(s) are easier to define or hypothesize.
Industry (or sector)
A group of businesses or organizations that are selling similar goods, services, money to similar (but not always) customers.
Most of the time, industry = (competitors + you)
Often, your venture may belong to more than one industry - or it may be challenging to define your industry.
Often, industry data is used as a substitute for market data - and may even be called 'market data'
Example
Take a look at Canadian startup Frank & Oak.
Their market is (broadly speaking) millennial males - but what is their 'industry'?
Market research
Most of the time, market research = research about (market + industry)
TAM/SAM/TM
Total Addressable Market (TAM): How big is the universe?
Served Available Market (SAM): How many can your venture reach with your sales channel(s)?
Target Market (TM): Who will be the most likely buyers? Who will be the cheapest/easiest to sell to?
(Source: Blank and Dorf, The Startup Owner's Manual p. 72)
Top-down sizing
Sources: Industry analyst reports, market research reports, competitors’ press releases, library resources, discussions with investors
Metrics: units shipped or sold, dollars, page views, sales revenue, etc.
Bottom-up sizing
Sources: Consumer/customer counts and demographics, typical prices, aggregate spending habits
Metrics: Dollars spent, % or # of population, current prices
