Build your second ICP before the board slide lands, not after pipeline collapses
A one-line strategy slide can redirect an entire go-to-market motion, but the retraining, domain language and demo assets all land on the SE leader. Nate argues for naming a second ICP as insurance long before anyone asks for it, and Ava pressure-tests whether a twelve-person team can afford that hedge.
What Nate and Ava discuss
- Why the decision takes an afternoon and the go-to-market consequence takes four quarters
- Domain depth as the real cost driver — some switches are cheap, deep vertical expertise doesn't transfer
- Re-messaging toward margin buys time; a second ICP with real deals behind it buys survival
The move
Name your second ICP now, assign two SEs to it, and run one live deal a quarter in that segment even when it's a stretch. After every call, write down the words your team didn't understand — that list is your enablement plan.
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Your hosts
Nate Hargrove
The Seasoned Pragmatist
Ava Vasquez
The Modern Builder