SAM (Serviceable Addressable Market) and SOM (Serviceable Obtainable Market) narrow TAM to realistic targets. Learn how to calculate and apply these metrics.
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Request DemoSAM (Serviceable Addressable Market) and SOM (Serviceable Obtainable Market) are market sizing metrics that refine the Total Addressable Market (TAM) into progressively realistic targets. While TAM represents the entire market opportunity, SAM and SOM narrow that opportunity to what you can actually serve and capture.
Think of it as a funnel: TAM is everyone who could theoretically buy your type of product, SAM is everyone you could realistically serve given your capabilities and focus, and SOM is what you can actually capture given competitive dynamics and execution constraints.
These metrics matter because they bridge the gap between market potential and business planning. TAM tells investors the opportunity is worth pursuing; SAM and SOM tell executives what targets to actually plan for.
The total market demand for your category of product or service. This is the theoretical maximum if you had 100% market share and no constraints on what you could deliver.
Example: All global spending on project management software—every company that uses any project management tool.
The portion of TAM you can actually serve given your product capabilities, geographic reach, pricing, and target customer profile. SAM excludes market segments you can't or won't address.
Example: Cloud-based project management software for mid-market companies in North America and Europe—excluding enterprise (too complex), SMB (different needs), and regions you don't support.
The portion of SAM you can realistically capture in the near term given competitive dynamics, your market position, sales capacity, and brand awareness. SOM is your realistic market share target.
Example: 5% of the mid-market cloud project management software market in your regions—based on competitive position, growth rate, and sales capacity.
SAM calculation starts with TAM and applies filters for what you can actually serve:
Which regions can you realistically serve? Consider language support, local regulations, payment processing, support hours, and go-to-market capabilities. If you only support English and can't handle GDPR, exclude non-English-speaking EU markets.
Which customer types does your product actually fit? Consider company size, industry, technical requirements, and buying behavior. A tool built for SMBs shouldn't count enterprise in SAM; a vertical SaaS shouldn't count horizontal markets.
What problems does your product actually solve? If your project management tool lacks resource management, don't count companies that require it. Be honest about feature gaps relative to market needs.
Which customers can afford your pricing and see sufficient value? Premium pricing excludes price-sensitive segments; budget pricing may exclude enterprise. Match your price point to the segments you count.
TAM: $50B global project management software market
Geographic filter: North America + Western Europe = 60% → $30B
Segment filter: Mid-market companies (100-1000 employees) = 35% → $10.5B
Product filter: Cloud-based, marketing-focused = 40% → $4.2B
SAM: $4.2B
SOM calculation applies competitive and execution reality to SAM. This is the market share you can realistically capture:
Build from what you can execute: sales team capacity × average deal size × conversion rates × time period. This grounds SOM in operational reality rather than market share assumptions.
Estimate what market share you can capture based on competitive position, differentiation, and growth trajectory. New entrants might target 1-5% of SAM; established players with strong differentiation might target 15-25%.
Look at similar companies' market share trajectories. What share did comparable companies achieve at your stage? What factors would make you capture more or less than they did?
SAM: $4.2B market
Current market share: 0.5%
Growth trajectory: 40% YoY growth rate
3-year target: 2% market share based on execution capacity
SOM (3-year): $84M (2% of $4.2B)
SAM = TAM with geography. Geographic filtering alone doesn't make SAM. You must also filter for product fit, customer segments, and pricing alignment. A U.S.-only view of global TAM is not SAM.
Optimistic SOM. SOM should be conservative and defensible. If you can't explain exactly how you'll capture that share—sales capacity, marketing budget, competitive wins—you're not calculating SOM, you're wishful thinking.
Static analysis. Markets change. Your SAM expands as you add features, enter regions, or serve new segments. Your SOM changes with execution and competition. Update these numbers regularly.
Ignoring competitive dynamics. SOM must account for competitors. A 20% market share target in a market with an 80% dominant incumbent requires different assumptions than 20% in a fragmented market.
While SOM is about capturing more of your current SAM, expanding SAM itself is often the bigger growth lever:
SAM and SOM connect to several strategic frameworks. Total addressable market (TAM) is the starting point for SAM calculation. Market segmentation provides the filters that define SAM boundaries. Competitive analysis informs SOM estimation by revealing market share dynamics. Market share analysis tracks progress toward SOM targets. Competitive intelligence helps understand how competitors' SAM and SOM overlap with yours.
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