Startup Competitive Analysis
Use this skill to produce decision-oriented competitive intelligence: define the competitive set, collect evidence, synthesize match / ignore / bet decisions, and ship practical artifacts teams can use (briefs, landscapes, battlecards, win/loss).
Operating Principles (2026) Prefer decisions over inventories: make explicit match / ignore / bet calls with rationale and owner. Treat competitor claims as hypotheses: validate with buyer reality and current evidence. Date-stamp key claims and keep an evidence trail (link + capture month). Triangulate important facts across sources (at least two). Stay ethical: respect ToS; don’t scrape behind auth/paywalls; don’t misrepresent identity. Intake Checklist (Ask First) Objective: sales enablement, positioning, strategy, fundraising, churn reduction Market: category, geography, segment (ICP), and time horizon (now vs 6–12 months) Known competitors and “do nothing” alternative (status quo / DIY / services) Constraints: available sources, web access, internal docs, legal/compliance requirements Choose the Right Output If the user asks… Produce… Use… “Who are the competitors?” / “Map the landscape” Market map + competitor set references/market-mapping-guide.md, assets/competitive-landscape.md “How do we differentiate?” / “What category are we in?” Category structure + differentiation thesis references/industry-structure-and-differentiation.md, assets/competitive-analysis-brief.md “How should we position?” Positioning canvas + statement + tests references/positioning-playbook.md, assets/competitive-analysis-brief.md “Deep dive Competitor X” Deep dive + (optional) battlecard references/competitor-deep-dive.md, assets/battlecard.md “Why are we losing to X?” / “What’s driving churn?” Win/loss + churn patterns + remediation assets/win-loss-analysis.md Workflow Define the competitive set: direct/indirect/substitutes/status quo, segmented by ICP and job-to-be-done. Collect evidence: product/docs/pricing, changelogs, job postings, reviews/VoC, partnerships, distribution signals. Analyze on buyer criteria: switching costs, time-to-value, risk/procurement, integration ecosystem, ROI proof. Synthesize into decisions: match/ignore/bet, wedge, proof points, landmines, and “walk-away” criteria. Produce artifacts: narrative brief, landscape, battlecards, win/loss summary (use bundled templates). Operationalize: set an update cadence and monitoring sources; refresh battlecards and decisions as signals change. Evidence & Freshness Rules Prefer primary sources first (docs, pricing pages, release notes, filings), then triangulate. Use dated evidence labels like [YYYY-MM] and include the source URL. If web search is available, verify “current state” (pricing, positioning, major launches, funding, M&A). If not, state the limitation and proceed with provided context. Lightweight CI Monitoring (No Tool Assumptions) Seed sources from data/sources.json; add category-specific sources for the market. Track changes to: pricing pages, docs/changelogs, security/compliance pages, partner directories, job postings, ad libraries, review sites. Keep a simple change log and review it on a fixed cadence (weekly/monthly/quarterly based on sales cycle). Resources Resource Purpose competitor-deep-dive.md Full competitor analysis framework market-mapping-guide.md Market map creation positioning-playbook.md Positioning methodology industry-structure-and-differentiation.md Porter 5 Forces + JTBD alternatives + strategy canvas Templates Template Purpose competitive-analysis-brief.md Decision-oriented narrative brief competitive-landscape.md Full competitive overview battlecard.md Sales enablement win-loss-analysis.md Deal analysis Data File Purpose sources.json Competitive intelligence sources