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    Make the TAM/SAM/SOM Slide Your Blueprint

    •Sidecut Ventures
    Make the TAM/SAM/SOM Slide Your Blueprint

    The TAM/SAM/SOM slide is one of the most misunderstood, awkward slides in the pre-seed decks I review. Most are confusing and hastily put together as most founders furiously Google nuances between "addressable" and "obtainable" or cut and paste charts and stats from McKinsey Quarterly without any context.

    When these are bad, investors ask questions like, "Is this really a venture scale business?" or "Do you really think you can execute your long-term go-to-market?"

    It's not a great place to be in a pitch, and to be honest, this question is asked more of underrepresented founders than their counterparts.

    My advice: Don't overthink it. Tell your story. Clearly, logically, and vulnerably. Yes, it's scary to say you are going to change the world or take down an industry when you are struggling to make your next payroll. Do it anyway, but do it with structure.

    This is the role of the TAM/SAM/SOM slide.

    If you are looking for help, you may find an unexpected hand from Jay-Z. I heard this during an outro of one of his songs. It went:

    "Hustler, Rapper, C-E-O … Hustler, Rapper, C-E-O …"

    (N.B. I cannot find a documented set of this lyric, but I know I chanted with a crowd. Hit me up if you can find it.)

    While Jay-Z has written some amazing lyrics, I've told countless founders he may have unknowingly crafted one of the best TAM/SAM/SOM slides ever written.

    Diagram showing concentric circles with CEO in outer ring, Rapper in middle ring, and Hustler in center

    Jay Z Presents The Blueprint 4: TAM/SAM/SOM

    Disclaimers: First, yes, I know there is no Blueprint 4. Second, I cannot attest to Jay-Z's track record as a Hustler, but take him at his word. He did OK with the second 2 parts. :)

    Here's why I love it as an investor:

    1. 1
      It's simple because I can read it in plain English. I don't need any big numbers that describe markets I don't understand.
    2. 2
      It's public because he actually demonstrated and publicly iterated his way through each phase. Every album was there for the world to see. Every investment has been covered by the press - most were good, some were bad, but he wins far more than he loses, Successfully working in public de-risks investors.
    3. 3
      It's bold. No small ball here, for sure.
    4. 4
      It gives me the permission to "logically dream." With Jay, the sky's the limit. He got there by building a track record of publicly doing simply stated things over and over. Founders need to do the same to dispel the numerous doubts investors have to believe they can build a unicorn.

    Here's how we used Jay's words with one of our portfolio companies

    SoleSafe: The Blueprint in Action

    When I pitch other investors on SoleSafe, some come with the objection, "That seems nitchy. Too small."

    What if I were to tell you that:

    We used that logic to help phil terrill, SoleSafe's CEO and founder to build his TAM/SAM/SOM Blueprint:

    • If we can insure the shoe, we can insure the closet.
    • If we can insure the closet, we can insure the home.
    • It's a $1.6T market.

    The draft looked like this:

    Concentric circles diagram showing Sneaker in center, Closet in middle ring, and Home in outer ring

    SoleSafe TAM/SAM/SOM Blueprint

    Keep the TAM/SAM/SOM simple!

    OK, "Sneaker, Closet, Home ..." doesn't have the same hook as "Rapper, Hustler, C-E-O …" but I'll take it.

    The final slide looked like this:

    Concentric circles showing market sizes - $79B Global Sneaker Market, $530B Global Collectibles Market, $1.6T Global Property & Casualty Insurance Market

    Market Opportunity

    Traction Legitimizes the SOM:

    Armed with this TAM/SAM/SOM narrative, investors can contextualize his traction as he builds the sneaker side of his business through his embedded finance integration to Shopify this holiday season. This legitimizes his SOM is real and SoleSafe has traction (see what I did there?).

    Mobile app interface showing SoleSafe collection tracking and insurance features with sneaker purchases

    SoleSafe App Interface

    Experimentation Validates the SAM:

    This slide also rationalizes some of the other aspects of SoleSafe's product offering, which is around building lightweight communities in the sneakerhead community. Said simply, if you can insure one sneaker, how can you insure the second, and eventually insure a whole room, or closet? This is an appropriate use of resources to start chipping away at your SAM.

    While this isn't the bread and butter of this round, we like that he is doing some capital-light and sensible experiments to ensure that SoleSafe's long-term growth thesis is sound.

    Mobile app interface showing community management features with sneaker groups, discussion channels, live video interaction, digital wallet, and data insights

    Community Management Hub