What is serviceable addressable market?

Serviceable addressable market (SAM) is the portion of the total addressable market your product can actually serve given its current form — the segments, geographies, price points, and use cases you genuinely cover. If the TAM is everyone who could theoretically buy, the SAM is everyone you could plausibly sell to this year.

SAM is where competition gets concrete: it is the slice of the market where you and specific rivals chase the same buyers. Defining it honestly — and knowing who else defines their SAM the same way — tells you how contested your actual playing field is.