The 5 dimensions of a strong ICP
1. Firmographic fit
The structural characteristics of your ideal company:
- Industry/vertical: Be specific. "SaaS" is a category; "developer-tools SaaS" is an ICP.
- Employee count: Match to your product's complexity and price point.
- Revenue range: Proxy for budget. Series A = $1-5M ARR; Series B = $5-20M ARR.
- Geography: Only include markets you can serve (language, timezone, legal).
2. Technographic fit
What tools they use indicates buying patterns:
- CRM users (HubSpot, Salesforce) = process-oriented buyers
- Absence of a tool you complement = active gap
- Recent tool changes = open to vendor evaluation
3. Behavioral signals
What they're doing right now:
- Hiring in a specific function
- Raising funding
- Publishing content about a problem you solve
4. Negative criteria
What disqualifies a company:
- Too large (complex procurement, long cycles)
- Too small (no budget, too much hand-holding)
- Wrong industry (regulatory barriers, irrelevant pain)
5. Trigger events
What makes NOW the right time:
- "Just hired a VP Sales" triggers immediately
- "Raised Series A in last 90 days" triggers with urgency
Real example ICP
"B2B SaaS companies, 20-150 employees, Series A or B, selling to SMBs, US or Canada only. No fintech, healthcare, or government. Trigger: hired VP Sales or SDR in last 60 days."
Common mistakes
- Too broad: "any company that could use our product", no scoring signal
- No triggers: firmographic fit without behavioral triggers misses timing
- Ignoring negatives: waste cycles on companies you'll never close
- Copying a competitor's ICP: your product and motion may be different