How to Create Your ICP for Your Startup
Pick your startup's customer like a club guest list. Who hurts most, who can pay, where they already are, and how to win your first 100.
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Your startup's launch is a club night. Your ICP (the exact type of customer you're building for) is the guest list. "Any B2B company with 10 to 500 employees" is not a guest list, it's a street.
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Help me write my ICP guest list. My website: [your website]. Read it first. Then work through three questions with me: who hurts most from the problem I solve (role plus situation), who can pay today (user vs buyer), and where they already hang out. Turn the answers into a one-paragraph ICP and a list of the first 100 people to talk to. Then read https://www.ekoslabs.com/skills/buying-signal-scan.md and use it to find buying signals for that ICP. Ask before using any paid API.
Two guest lists that worked
- Whoop: pro and college athletes first, whose careers depend on recovery. Consumers later.
- Clay: sales and growth teams who build lead lists daily, not "every business that needs data". Reported value over $1B.
Win who needs you most, then widen the door.
01Who hurts most
Start with pain, not company size. Whoever hurts most replies to cold emails and forgives a rough first version.
- Frequency: every week, not once a year.
- Cost: time, money or reputation they can name.
- Workaround: a spreadsheet or three duct-taped tools. Proof of pain.
Room test: 50 of them in a room. No shared nod? Add a situation, like "just hired their first sales person".
Do this today: the pain table
| Who (role + situation) | How often (1-3) | Cost (1-3) | Workaround today | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
- Fill three rows: role plus situation
- Circle the top two: your shortlist
02Who can pay
Pain without budget is a support ticket. Whoever hurts is not always who signs.
| Segment A | Segment B | |
|---|---|---|
| Who feels the pain | ||
| Who signs | ||
| What they already pay for | ||
| Can decide in 30 days? |
Quick test: already paying for worse? They can pay for yours. Pick the buyer who decides fast.
03Where they are
Places to look: role communities (Slack, Discord, subreddits), people they follow, job-title events, their tools, and buying signals (public signs they need you now, like job posts and funding news).
Do this today: your two doors
| Place | Why your buyer is there | First step this week |
|---|---|---|
- One sentence: "Our guest list is [who] at [what kind of company] who [signal or pain]."
Your first 100 customers
- 100 names, not 10,000. Your sentence is the filter.
- Pull from your two doors. Communities, signals, network.
- Check every name is real. Still in role, contact under a year old, email verified.
- Tag each with a reason. No reason, no outreach.
| Name | Company | Reason to reach out | Channel | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Guests check you first. Walk it in a private window.
- Website: what it is, who it's for
- Company LinkedIn: matches the site, posted in the last 30 days
- Founder profile: what you help with
- Proof: one specific, checkable result
- Alternatives: what you do differently
15 minutes. Learn, don't sell.
- "When did you last run into [problem]? Walk me through it."
- "What did you do about it?"
- "What does that cost you?"
- "What have you tried? What did you hate?"
- "Who else would care? Who would sign off?"
Five people use the same words? Put them in your copy.
Who hurts, who pays, where they are: then your first 100, one name at a time.
Want verified leads matching your ICP, each with its why-now signal?
Get leads now →Or let your agent do it, starting with buying-signal-scan. Skills built by one of the best GTM companies. Made in Germany.
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Your guest list is done. Now fill it.
We turn it into real leads on your tools: list, signals and first messages, held for your approval.
15 minutes, no deck.
