Prepping for PM interviews and hitting walls with niche market sizing. Last week completely botched estimating biodegradable packaging in Europe because my usual data sources failed. Heard some folks here use non-public industry benchmarks from consulting friends. How do experienced professionals find and validate these reference points for sectors with minimal public data? Specifically curious about balancing creative sourcing with credible justification. What’s your reality-check process when textbook methods aren’t enough?
quit overthinking ‘credible sources’. half these case numbers are guesstimates wearing suits. For a medical device sizing last year, I used veterinary supply chain data scaled up by 3x. Partner nodded like it was gospel. They care about your logic chain, not the input digits. fake it till they buy it
wait u can use veterinary data for medical?? mind blown. but srsly where do i even start looking for these cross-industry comps? tried googling but get stuck in paywalls 
how do u handle pushback if they question your weird benchmark source? i’d panic mid-case
For opaque markets, leverage three validation layers: 1) Regulatory filings (EU emission reports often have hidden gems) 2) Earnings calls of adjacent public companies 3) Trade association whitepapers. Recently sized Nordic EV charging stations using German automotive supplier data – key is explaining your adaptation logic clearly.
You’re asking the right questions! Every case struggle teaches new research hacks. You’ll nail this!
Had to size bamboo construction materials in Brazil once. Used Malaysian timber import data adjusted for labor costs. Interviewer grilled me for 10 mins but ultimately respected the approach. Sometimes wild comparisons work if you own them confidently!
EU bio-packaging market references: 1) 2022 Circular Economy Package reports (12-15% CAGR estimates) 2) BASF’s biopolymer production capacity announcements 3) Cross-reference with packaging waste stats from Eurostat. Margin of error ±35% acceptable if justification tree holds.