Most entrepreneurs are taught to focus on Total Addressable Market (TAM), but is that really the best way to start a business? In this conversation, we challenge traditional startup thinking and explore why focusing on a minimal viable audience, rather than a massive market, leads to real success.
Using examples like Facebook’s unexpected growth, we break down why building for one person first—yourself—can be a more powerful approach than chasing an abstract billion-dollar market. If you’re an entrepreneur, startup founder, or product creator, this episode will shift the way you think about scaling.
Key Topics:
- Why Total Addressable Market (TAM) isn’t always relevant for startups
- How Facebook started with a niche audience and expanded over time
- The power of Minimal Viable Audience (MVA) over Minimal Viable Product (MVP)
- Why solving your own problem first is a great way to build a product
- How to grow from one user to many through advocacy and organic demand
- Why scaling a business should start small and expand naturally
Quotes:
- "You don’t need a billion users to start—you just need one."
- "Facebook didn’t begin with a global market. It started as a college yearbook replacement."
- "Forget Total Addressable Market. Focus on making something valuable for a single person first."
- "Scaling starts with solving your own problem—then others will follow."
- "The best businesses grow by building advocates, not chasing abstract numbers.
