Six blocks: definition, demand signals, customer interviews, segments, trends, and open questions. Cite sources or admit it's a guess.
Layout
Market Research
6 blocks · 2-row grid
"The most valuable part of any market-research document is what you wrote in Open Questions."
What it is
A six-block memo. Definition fixes what you're researching. Demand Signals quantify pull from the market. Customer Interviews capture qualitative depth. Segments & Personas synthesise. Trends place the picture in time. Open Questions name what you'd need to know to be more confident.
Origin
Market-research as a written artefact predates the internet. The startup-era refresh adds two disciplines from the lean-startup movement: primary research over secondary (interviews, paid pilots, smoke tests over reports), and explicit Open Questions that drive the next research sprint rather than pretending the document is complete.
When to reach for it
You're entering a new market or vertical and want a shared understanding on the team.
You're shipping a major new product line and need a research backbone before the GTM.
You're reviewing the market quarterly — open questions get retired, new ones surface.
The blocks
Worked example uses Spotify (2008 European-market research).
What good looks like
What market you're in, what you're deliberately not. Size and growth rate with derivation.
Example — Spotify (2008 European-market research)
European digital music. In: licensed streaming, premium subscriptions, free ad-supported. Out: hardware, ringtones, music piracy enforcement.
What good looks like
Quantified evidence of pull — searches, waitlists, paid LOIs, smoke-test conversion.
Example — Spotify (2008 European-market research)
12M MP3 downloads/month in Sweden alone (IFPI 2007). Spotify private beta hit waitlist 100k in 6 weeks; conversion of waitlist to active user 38% on invite.
What good looks like
Count, segments represented, top patterns, the surprises (most valuable).
Example — Spotify (2008 European-market research)
60 interviews across Sweden, UK, Germany. 47 named "I already pirate" as their habit. 8 said they'd pay if Apple's catalogue gap was filled. Surprise: 80%+ valued zero-friction social discovery over discography depth.
What good looks like
Distinct segments ranked by fit and WTP. Each named with role/size.
Example — Spotify (2008 European-market research)
P1: 18–28 urban music-discoverers (highest WTP for premium). P2: 30–45 commuters (free + ad-supported acceptable). P3: indie-music labels (B2B partnerships).
What good looks like
Macro shifts with dates or triggers. Evidence the shift is real. Window of opportunity.
Example — Spotify (2008 European-market research)
Smartphone penetration crossing 30% in Western Europe (2008). EU copyright harmonisation enabling pan-EU licensing. Major labels actively seeking iTunes competition.
What good looks like
Unanswered questions ranked by how badly the answer would change the plan.
Example — Spotify (2008 European-market research)
Can we license major-label catalogue ex-iTunes? Conversion rate free → paid at scale? Mobile data costs on 3G? Each tied to a research method (legal counsel, pilot, telco partnership).
How to use it
Run primary research first. Surveys with under 30 responses don't count.
Quantify what you can. "We interviewed 22 founders, 18 named the same pain" beats "founders are frustrated."
Tag every claim with its source method. Interviews ≠ panel survey ≠ third-party report.
Open Questions drive the next research sprint. Without them, the document is finished and useless.
Common mistakes
Citing analyst-report TAM numbers as if they're primary research.
Customer-interview sections with no surprises. If everyone agreed, you talked to the wrong people.
No Open Questions. Done documents are finished; market-research documents are alive.
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