Glossary — metrics
TAM, SAM, SOM
Also known as: Total Addressable Market · Serviceable Addressable Market · Serviceable Obtainable Market
TAM (Total Addressable Market) is the entire global revenue opportunity for a product, SAM is the slice the company could realistically serve, and SOM is the share they can realistically capture in the near term.
How it works
These three numbers structure the 'market slide' of every pitch deck. TAM is computed bottoms-up (units × price) or tops-down (industry size × penetration). SAM accounts for geography and segment limits. SOM is the next-3-year target. Investors are skeptical of TAMs over $10B (often inflated) and TAMs under $1B (too small for venture).