1. Selling to Carol: Why Targeting an ICP Brings 10x More Customers Than You Expected
Jason Cohen (founder of WP Engine and Smart Bear)
Source: longform.asmartbear.com · January 2024
The counterintuitive thesis: targeting a narrow Ideal Customer Profile actually expands rather than contracts your addressable market. By speaking clearly to one specific customer type, you create messaging so compelling that it naturally attracts 10–100x more customers beyond your core target.
The Bullseye Model
- Center — Carol (your ideal customer)
- Has all your target problems, values your specific advantages, desperately needs what you offer. Define her by professional attributes: title, challenges, decision-making style, budget.
- First ring — Diana (~10x larger)
- People who value your strengths and aren't dissuaded by your weaknesses.
- Outer ring — Eddie (~100x larger)
- Those making trade-off decisions who still choose you.
The specificity that attracts Carol creates clarity that naturally appeals to concentric circles outward.
Key Ideas
- Generic messaging fails. Broad appeals to "everyone" communicate nothing meaningful to anyone. You must be evocative and specific to grab attention in 3–10 seconds.
- Segment your customers. Distinguish Carol from Diana from Eddie from complete misfits. Focus cancellation analysis exclusively on Carol-type customers. Ignore feedback from customers outside your bullseye — it's noise that derails strategy.
- Turn down high-revenue deals outside your ICP. This separates experienced founders from first-timers and protects profitability and product focus.
The Subaru Example
Subaru targeted lesbians in 1990s advertising (when this was commercially risky), became 4x more likely to be purchased by this demographic, yet paradoxically achieved the fastest growth among car companies — because straight buyers valued the same attributes (affordable, safe, rugged) that made lesbians passionate advocates.