How to decide market orientation on the early stage

There's no straight answer to this. Test, test and test. Try not to spend too much time researching but deciding what are key factors you need to focus on to make your decision and then start talking to potential users as soon as possible. Key factors might be: - Length of the sales cycle - Value provided (saved) in $ - Market potential (size, growth etc.) - Market approachability Factors are subjective to your particular case that's why they need to be tested and can't be found online. For example if you are in Marketing it's more probable you'll be able to approach Marketers more easily than Construction Managers etc.

I think surveys and market research are extremely important. After gathering those metrics, it kind of makes you, as an entrepreneur, more sober-minded. We all have pretty heavy bias towards our own ideas. That in itself is a major barrier. You may believe your vision will be successful in a particular market, all to find out after getting investment and building out a platform tailored to a niche, there is no product-market fit. By testing and ingesting metrics while you're introducing yourself to another market, you're saving yourself a lot of pain and heartache if you find your orientation was wrong, and can stop before a larger commitment. This can truly 180d turn a company from a failure to a success.

You can assess your market orientation at any time by taking into account several factors, for example if you understand customers' desires and needs.