Part I: Magic numbers to understand a market; Aside from the definitions, this section will also explain the benefits and appropriate applications of these numbers used for understanding markets. The risks are in mis-defining the market. To be meaningful and relevant, the user needs to understand the context. An extreme example: in the late 1990s, high tech start-ups regularly estimated market potential that was far larger than the actual target market they would ultimately serve. "We're in a USD50 billion software market growing 30 per cent per year and only need 1 per cent to be successful" was a typical comment. In actuality, the USD50 billion software market is really several dozen smaller markets (ERP, CRM, SFA and so forth), each of which had different levels of performance; 1. Market size; 2. Market growth; 3. Market coverage; 4. Market penetration; 5. Market loyalty; Part II: Magic numbers to understand your performance; Performance measures generally have universal