How Big Is Your Market, Really? Getting Your TAM Right

​This is part of the Female Founders Rise Summer School for Founders. Check out our other summer sessions here.

​"What's your TAM?" is one of the first questions every investor asks - and one of the easiest to get wrong. Most founders reach for the biggest number they can find, or default to "we just need 1% of a $70bn market". Investors can spot it a mile off, and it quietly undermines an otherwise strong pitch.

​In this Summer School masterclass, Edward Keelan, Partner at Octopus Ventures, will show you how to think about your Total Addressable Market the way investors actually do - what TAM really is, why VCs care so much about it, and how to build a number that's honest, credible and gets investors excited.

​Edward has delivered this workshop for founders at Saïd Business School and Hive Female Founders, and assesses market sizing in pitches every day at one of Europe's most active venture firms.

​You'll leave with:

• ​A clear understanding of what TAM actually is, why investors care - and why a great business doesn't need a billion-dollar market

• ​How to calculate a credible, bottom-up TAM (your customers x your price) using real-world examples, and how to avoid the classic mistakes: chasing the biggest number, quoting the size of the sector, or "1% of..."

• ​How to present your TAM so it strengthens your pitch: honest numbers, workings shown, your true target audience, and where your market goes next

​Speaker:
Edward Keelan, Partner at Octopus Ventures

​The Female Founders Rise Summer School for Founders is here to kickstart your business growth with 30 trusted experts in the ecosystem. Our mission this summer is to upskill 1,000 female and non-binary founders on all things entrepreneurship.

​Whether you're a founder, student, or simply curious to learn more, this is open to everyone (and it's free). And no need to be a member of FFR, but you can join free here.