What Is MRD? Complete Guide (2025)

Great products aren’t born from hunches. They emerge from a deep understanding of the people they’re meant to serve. Yet data from 2025 shows that around 90 percent of startups fail, and a third of those failures can be traced back to building something people simply don’t need. That’s where an MRD comes in. 

You’ve probably heard people ask what is mrd? An MRD — or market requirements document — is a concise, actionable summary of the market you want to serve: the problem, who has it, how pressing it is, and why your team should invest in solving it. When there’s clear alignment on these points, everything that follows — product design, development, marketing — has a fighting chance.

In this guide I’ll break down what an MRD is, why it matters for founders, product managers (PMs) and design leads, and how to create one without drowning in process. I’ll share lessons learned from my own work with early‑stage AI and SaaS teams, as well as insights from product‑management leaders. The goal is to give you a useful framework you can adapt, not another deliverable to tick off. Let’s get into it.

What an MRD is – and why it matters?

At its core, an MRD is a research‑based document that explains why a product should exist and for whom. It lives in the problem space, not the solution space. According to Dovetail, an MRD “helps define the market’s requirements or demand for a specific product”. It pulls together information about a product’s goal, revenue opportunity and target audience into a single source of truth that guides development.

Many teams confuse MRDs with product specifications. The market requirements document answers the questions: What problem are we solving? Who is experiencing it? How widespread or urgent is it? What opportunity exists if we solve it? Product School’s 2025 guide emphasises that an MRD captures the “why” behind a product or feature, outlining the market problem, target customers and high‑level needs without diving into how the product will be built. Pragmatic Institute draws a clear line: the MRD focuses on market problems and customer pain points, while the product requirements document (PRD) translates those problems into specific features and technical specifications. In short, MRD = problem space; PRD = solution space.

Why early‑stage teams need MRDs?

When you’re running fast with limited resources, pausing to document market insights might feel like overkill. But skipping this step is costly. Recent data show that only 10 percent of startups sustain long‑term success, and 34 percent of failures cite lack of product demand. An MRD acts as a guardrail: it forces you to articulate the unmet need and validate that it’s real before you write a line of code. Here’s why it matters:

• Alignment with reality – Many products flop because they’re built on internal assumptions. An MRD compels you to interview customers, look at usage data, and describe pain points in the customer’s own words. Pragmatic Institute stresses that MRDs identify and prioritise customer needs to ensure innovation is driven by real‑world problems.
  
  
• Prioritisation and focus – Early startups are inundated with feature ideas. Without a clear view of the market problem, it’s easy to prioritise the wrong thing. An MRD provides a rubric for comparing opportunities: market size, urgency, competitive gaps and business impact. Silicon Valley Product Group’s Marty Cagan suggests asking questions like What problem does this solve? How big is the opportunity? Why now?. Those questions form the basis of a good MRD.
  
  
• Risk mitigation – By documenting competitive threats, regulatory constraints and technology limitations upfront, you reduce nasty surprises later. Dovetail notes that a good MRD includes an overview of customer personas, competitors and the capabilities required to meet customer needs. Knowing this early helps you plan realistic timelines and budgets.
  
  
• Efficient resource allocation – When the whole team understands the market context, it’s easier to justify or challenge investments. A clear MRD helps founders make tough calls about MVP scope, pricing models and marketing spend. It also acts as a communication tool across design, engineering and marketing; everyone can refer to it rather than second‑guess assumptions.

Key components of an MRD

There’s no one “right” template, but most strong MRDs cover a consistent set of themes. Aha!’s 2024 guide lists seven sections: executive summary, vision, target market, personas, competitor analysis, high‑level capabilities and metrics strategy. Let’s unpack these and expand with additional elements drawn from industry practice and our own work.

Market analysis

• Market size – Estimate the total addressable market (TAM), serviceable available market (SAM) and serviceable obtainable market (SOM). Be explicit about your assumptions; many teams overestimate adoption.
  
  
• Segmentation and unmet niches – Identify underserved segments where pain is acute. Marty Cagan recommends assessing the size of the opportunity and existing alternatives to decide if it’s worth pursuing.
  
  
• Trends and macro forces – Capture trends (e.g., AI adoption, regulation, demographic shifts) that could expand or shrink your market. In regulated industries, highlight upcoming policy changes.

Target audience and personas

• Buyer vs. user personas – In B2B settings, the buyer and end‑user are often different. Dovetail suggests detailing multiple customer personas. Capture demographics, goals, pain points and behaviors for each.
  
  
• Stakeholder requirements – Beyond end users, consider influencers (e.g., IT, procurement) who could block adoption.

Customer needs and problem definition

• Real and urgent problems – Use quotes from interviews, support tickets and usage patterns to describe pain points. Product School advises framing problem statements in specific, user‑centric language. Instead of “customers want better reporting,” say “mid‑sized event organisers spend four to six hours a week formatting attendance reports, causing delays in client hand‑offs.”
  
  
• Mapping needs to opportunities – Link pains to measurable business outcomes (cost savings, time reduction, revenue lift). This helps later when prioritising features.

Value proposition

• Unique benefits – Explain how your solution addresses the pain better than existing alternatives. Use competitor analysis to highlight gaps you can exploit.
  
  
• Evidence of willingness to pay – Outline pricing assumptions and early signals (e.g., pilot commitments, LOIs).

Competitive landscape

• Direct and indirect competitors – Document who else is solving the problem, including non‑obvious substitutes (spreadsheets, manual processes). Aha!’s template emphasises competitor analysis to understand strengths, weaknesses and differentiators.
  
  
• Gaps and differentiators – Identify areas where competitors fall short (e.g., poor integration, high cost), then link them to your value proposition.

Product features and high‑level capabilities

• Essential vs. nice‑to‑have – Group capabilities into must‑have, should‑have and could‑have categories. This not only guides MVP scoping but helps manage internal expectations.
  
  
• Constraints – Note technical constraints, integration requirements or regulatory obligations that may limit what you can deliver.

Brand and positioning

• Positioning statement – Describe how you want the product to be perceived relative to existing options. Consider tone of voice, messaging pillars and differentiators.
  
  
• Brand attributes – For consumer products, include design principles and emotional cues that should be reflected in the user experience.

Pricing model

• Options – Summarise potential pricing strategies (subscription, usage‑based, freemium, tiered). Relate pricing to the value delivered and cost to serve. Identify price elasticity and willingness to pay if data exists.

Sales channels and distribution plan

• Channels – Detail how you’ll reach buyers: direct sales, partners, marketplaces, self‑serve. Each channel has implications for product requirements and support.
  
  
• Go‑to‑market tactics – Outline how you’ll create awareness and drive adoption (content, events, community). Marty Cagan warns that go‑to‑market strategy can significantly impact product requirements.

Marketing goals and campaign objectives

• Acquisition, conversion, retention – Define what success looks like. Are you focused on lead generation, user activation, long‑term retention? Tie these goals back to the problems and personas you’ve identified.
  
  
• KPIs – Pick a handful of metrics (market share, revenue, adoption rate, churn) and set baselines and targets. Aha!’s metrics strategy section advises articulating how you’ll measure success.

Timeline and budget constraints

• Milestones – Map key phases such as research, prototyping, beta, launch and post‑launch iteration. Be realistic and bake in time for research and validation.
  
  
• Resource needs – Estimate people, tooling and marketing spend. Early under‑scoping can be fatal.

Regulatory and other constraints

• Legal/compliance – Outline any industry‑specific requirements (privacy laws, safety standards). Actuation Consulting highlights legal, regulatory and compliance requirements among non‑functional requirements.
  
  
• Technical dependencies – Note platform constraints, integration points, data residency issues and other factors that may limit implementation.

How to create an MRD – process & best practices

Writing an MRD isn’t a solo endeavour; it’s a synthesis of research and collaboration. Here’s a process that works in early‑stage environments:

1. Gather cross‑functional input – An MRD is typically championed by a product manager, but product marketing, design, sales and engineering all contribute. Dovetail notes that product managers usually lead the process with help from cross‑functional colleagues.
   
   
2. Time it right – Create the MRD before committing to building. Product School stresses that it should be completed once you’ve gathered enough market insight but before you lock in features or user flows.
   
   
3. Use diverse research methods – Combine qualitative interviews, surveys, customer‑support data and competitive analysis. Product School recommends listening to customers’ workflows and pain points and cross‑referencing with product usage data. Don’t over‑index on the loudest customer; look for patterns across the market.
   
   
4. Define and validate personas – Create detailed buyer and user personas. Pragmatic Institute advises articulating use scenarios that explain what the persona is trying to achieve, the problem they face and how often it occurs. Share early drafts with colleagues and customers to validate assumptions.
   
   
5. Prioritise problems, not features – List the problems you want to solve, then rank them based on impact and urgency. Avoid prescribing solutions at this stage. Pragmatic Institute advocates using tools like impact/effort matrices and weighted scoring to prioritise market problems.
   
   
6. Make it a living document – Markets change quickly. Revisit the MRD periodically when you’re planning new features or when market conditions shift. Aha! recommends keeping MRDs lightweight and flexible so you can cycle in fresh insights.
   
   
7. Keep it clear and concise – An MRD should be persuasive and easy to digest, not an academic report. Product School warns against filling templates blindly; include sections only when they add value. In practice, one to three pages of clear problem statements, data and context are often enough to guide a team.

A note on MRD authorship and ownership

Who writes the MRD? Typically, the product manager owns the document, but they collaborate with product marketing and other stakeholders. Dovetail states that while a product manager usually leads the writing, it’s often done by a team with cross‑functional roles. Actuation Consulting reminds us that the core of an MRD is a clear definition of the target market and problem scenarios. In early‑stage settings, founders may take on this role, but as teams grow, product marketing becomes an essential partner.

MRD vs PRD vs BRD vs SRD

Confusion often arises between MRDs and other requirements documents. Here’s a quick comparison:

Pragmatic Institute emphasises that MRDs describe customer problems and priorities, while PRDs translate those problems into features and technical specifications. Chisel Labs similarly notes that an MRD defines what customers need and how the product will meet those needs, whereas a PRD outlines how you should produce the product.

Common pitfalls (and how to avoid them)

Even well‑intentioned teams misuse MRDs. Marty Cagan points out that in many organisations, MRDs end up as heavy product specs that go unread. Based on that caution and my own experience, here are common mistakes and ways to dodge them:

• Assumptions masquerading as facts – Don’t write an MRD from your desk. Talk to customers, sales, support and prospects. Use real data and quotes to validate pain points. If you’re short on time, start with five to ten interviews and a scan of support tickets.
  
  
• Describing features too early – The MRD should avoid specifying solutions. Focus on problems, user scenarios and business context. Save feature lists for the PRD or feature brief.
  
  
• Ignoring stakeholders – Engage design, engineering, sales and customer success early. They bring perspectives on feasibility, adoption barriers and messaging that you might miss.
  
  
• Overly ambitious timelines or budgets – Capture high‑level resource needs and dependencies, but don’t commit to detailed schedules in the MRD. Use it to align on scope, then refine estimates during planning.
  
  
• Neglecting regulatory or compliance needs – If you’re in healthcare, fintech or any regulated space, consult legal early. Actuation Consulting highlights the importance of non‑functional requirements like legal, regulatory, support and packaging considerations.
  
  
• Letting the document grow stale – Markets shift. Revisit and update the MRD whenever you discover new insights or pivot your strategy. An outdated MRD is worse than none.

Tools, templates and resources

You don’t need fancy software to create an MRD, but certain tools make collaboration easier:

• Templates – Aha! offers downloadable MRD templates and a guided note template inside their roadmapping toolaha.io. Dovetail’s guide includes a checklist of what to include. Use these as starting points and modify to fit your context.
  
  
• Research tools – User‑research platforms like Dovetail, Typeform or UserTesting help collect and synthesise interview data. Use spreadsheets or simple CRM tools to organise patterns.
  
  
• Collaboration platforms – Shared docs or wikis (Notion, Confluence, Google Docs) keep the MRD accessible. For early‑stage prototypes, Figma or FigJam helps visualise flows without diving into specs.
  
  
• Competitive analysis – Tools like Semrush, SimilarWeb or built‑in analytics can help size markets and understand competitor strengths. Combine quantitative data with qualitative observations.

Conclusion

Markets aren’t static, and product success rarely happens by accident. A well‑crafted MRD anchors your team in reality, forcing you to validate assumptions, prioritise the right problems and align stakeholders. It’s not a bureaucratic hurdle — it’s a practical tool to improve your odds when nine out of ten startups fail. By clearly articulating the unmet need, your audience and the landscape you’re entering, you lay the groundwork for a solution that people actually want.

My advice: take an afternoon to draft an MRD for your next idea. Talk to five potential users; summarise their pain points; map the market opportunity. Share it with your team and iterate. You’ll likely discover blind spots and new opportunities that change your direction. In my experience, that clarity is worth more than any feature list.

FAQ

1) What is a marketing requirements document? Are MRD and marketing requirements document the same?

The terms market requirements document (MRD) and marketing requirements document are often used interchangeably. Both refer to a high‑level document that summarises the market problem, target audience, opportunity and high‑level capabilities. Dovetail defines an MRD as a document that consolidates market research into an easy‑to‑share summary. Chisel Labs echoes this, describing an MRD as a strategic document that outlines market opportunity, customer types and competitors. Some organisations label the document differently depending on whether it’s owned by product or marketing, but the purpose remains the same: capture the why behind building a product.

2) What is the difference between an MRD and a PRD?

An MRD defines the problem space: it identifies the market problem, who experiences it, the size of the opportunity and why it matters. A PRD sits in the solution space: it details how you intend to solve the problem, with features, user flows, edge cases and technical requirements. Pragmatic Institute notes that MRDs focus on market insights and customer pain points, while PRDs translate those into product features and technical specifications. Product School summarises the distinction succinctly: MRD asks is this worth building? whereas PRD asks how will we build this?.

3) How do I write marketing requirements?

1. Do your research – Start with customer interviews, surveys, support tickets and competitive scans. Document real pain points, not features.
   
   
2. Define personas and scenarios – Capture buyer and user personas and describe when and how the problem occurs.
   
   
3. Articulate the problem and opportunity – Write clear problem statements and estimate market size and value. Use data to support your claims.
   
   
4. Prioritise the problems – Rank problems by impact and urgency; use impact/effort matrices or weighted scoring.
   
   
5. Summarise the competitive landscape – Identify current solutions and gaps. Explain how your product will stand out.
   
   
6. Outline high‑level capabilities – List must‑have capabilities without detailing how they’ll be implemented. Leave feature specifics to the PRD.
   
   
7. Include success metrics – Define how you’ll measure success: revenue targets, adoption rates, cost savings, etc.
   
   
8. Validate and iterate – Share the document with stakeholders and potential customers, then refine it based on feedback.

4) Who writes the MRD?

The MRD is usually owned by a product manager or product marketing manager, but it’s not written in isolation. Dovetail notes that while a PM typically takes charge, they often lead a team with cross‑functional roles—including development and marketing. Founders of early‑stage startups may draft the MRD themselves, then involve designers, engineers and marketers to refine it. Ultimately, the goal is shared understanding, so ownership matters less than collaboration.

5) When should you update an MRD?

Update the MRD whenever significant market shifts, new insights or product pivots occur. Aha! recommends revisiting MRDs periodically—especially before major product enhancements—to keep teams aligned with current market conditions. Treat it as a living document rather than a static artifact. When your understanding of the market evolves, the MRD should evolve too.

6) How long should an MRD be?

There’s no fixed length. The key is clarity, not volume. Pragmatic Institute suggests that well‑written market requirements should be concise—often one or two paragraphs per requirement. In practice, a good MRD can be as short as two to three pages if it captures the core problem, audience and opportunity. Avoid padding it with unnecessary sections; include only what helps the team make better decisions.